Really good post. Thanks for sharing your story and thoughts.

My two cents: I always bring my Folstaff wading staff when I fish rivers. It's a folding staff that fits in a holster on my wading belt and springs into action when needed. Got mine from Cabela's if anyone's interested. It's a tad bulky wearing it all the time, but it's worth the extra weight, because I like to do a lot of wading and exploring.