For me riding dirt bikes is more enjoyable because of the people I ride with and others in the sport. They don't give a rat's *** whether you are riding alone or with an avalanche beacon or weather your backpack is with you or on your sled/bike. People on this site for instance are way too uptight on how/where/how you dress/where you store it riding. It is none of any ones business on all that. It is my life. Dirt bikers are less likely to push their views on someone else. Sorry I don't invest in the thousands of dollars worth of gear to sit in my garage 9 months per year. It is probably worth it for some of you but not me. Just my opinions.
Marty
You realize that 2/3 of your gear you carry is not for YOU right?
YOU not carrying a shovel for example doesn't at all affect your safety, it affects your buddy's safety. The reason people "are way too uptight" is because THEIR lives are in the hands of other people they ride with, and even those of other crews around the area.
If this issue is that big for you, perhaps the comments by others should be a sign you're not taking other people's safety into consideration. If you're riding alone though, UNLESS you're around other people, I don't see why what you carry matters to anyone else... it's rare though that people are in an area all on their own though, so the idea that you're 100% alone is probably unlikely.
As to riding alone... not putting anyone else at risk, most of us have done it, I don't see a big reason for others to give you SH** about that! I ride bikes alone all the time, if I fall & break my leg or bust my melon, it's my own dumazz fault, it is what it is, no reason for other people to have anything to say about that