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You can usually intimidate a predator into leaving you alone. Preds don't like a fight if they can help it as injuries can be fatal in the long run if not immediately
the key word there though is
>usually
if a kill is involved, or cubs, or the pred is starving, or having a bad day, etc then you're fucked, ignore the stories about some guy killing a lion with his bare hands, they usually omit key details or involve an insane amount of luck and frankly the fact that they're news at all is because they're so fucking out of the ordinary, fact is if a predator close to your body weight decides to make a meal out of you you're fucked, we have thin skin, no fur to protect against claws and teeth, and we go into shock a fuck lot faster than other species do. Even if you do manage to put up enough a fight that it decides you're not worth it you're likely to be in very bad shape.
The always carry people are correct, and anyone who says different is retarded, carrying protection from potential local wildlife is just as important as any other piece of kit you might need, at worse you just have a couple lbs more of kit to carry