In 2003 I went to Nepal for Outside magazine with Martin Schoeller, who was photographing the surviving sherpa climbers who had helped Hillary (Sir Edmund) climb everest on the first summit.
I had planned to only take the M4-P and 35F2 I had at the time...and on the advice of a journalist friend was told
to bring a back-up camera. On day two with the Leica, the camera quit working. Nothing I could do would make
it work. My back up camera was a trusted EOS 1N with 20-35 2.8. If I hadn't brought it, I would have had nothing.
Those images are some of my best memories.
Leica's are great, but just like any camera, even a German camera...they can take a dump. When one goes to
great effort and expense to get themselves to a place where great images await, it is sheer stupidity to rely on only one camera. It's a gamble...and gambles rarely pay off. Even if the Leica was new out of the box, I would take a back-up.
Would you drive across country without a spare tire? You have four good ones, why bother?