>>535550Most gear is entirely up to the rider to decide whether they want it or not.
Kinda why i'm against helmet laws - if you don't want to wear one on a motorcycle, more power to you; i'm still going to laugh at you and call you a moron. But it makes no difference to me whether you ride with one or not. (That being said, i'm probably not going to ride with you unless you have and wear one...)
Rest of the gear's the same way. I'm usually armored more than most people I ride with, but it really doesn't bother me if someone else doesn't want to wear a chest protector or elbow pads when they're in the snow.
Avalanche gear's one thing I do require - don't have it, we're not riding. I have extra gear for people that don't have or forget theirs.
There's people I won't ride with because of their attitudes and lack of training/equipment when it comes to avalanches.
>at the truck: "Nah, I don't need that shit, I stay off avalanche terrain">5 minutes later: riding on a slope that's clearly avalanche terrain 