Let's say (and I am NOT recommending this) a pilot decides to put all his navigational eggs in the GPS basket. He brings a paper chart with him, but hasn't opened in in a while and doesn't stay current / "bookmarked" with it during his GPS-only cross country. He's not totally crazy though, he brings with him a "nice" aviation GPS (his primary), a box or spare batteries, and not one but two very inexpensive but "will get your butt out of a jam" GPS's in addition to a (for example) SP-400 NAV com radio.
In theory, in order for him to be completely, 100% up a brown colored creek with no paddle he would have to have all three GPS units fail, or have the 24 piece satellite constellation fail pretty much all at once, (or have some sci-fi bizarre radiation coming out of nowhere from space that blocks the GPS signal entirely...or something of the like), have his panel mount COM radio fail, AND have his handheld COM radio fail (no vectors from ATC) AND happen to be truly and completely lost when all this happens.
Again I am NOT saying what I exemplify above is anywhere NEAR a "good idea" but at what point does the chance of dying in a car accident on the way to the airport exceed by a few orders of magnitude the chance of the string of events I outline above happening?
Just some food for thought / constructive argument material
Cheers.
