but outside investment portfolios, there is not that much that is absolutely dependent on gold
This might be a common misconception. Most people just consider gold in jewelry/accessories and investment, but they are actually used a lot in modern gadgets. A lot of smartphones, laptops, and computers use gold in their connections. Gold is a good conductor, and doesn't corrode, and needs little maintenance. I even read that NASA uses gold a lot in things they send to space because of its dependability. I think that is also the reason why gold has a high value, it is necessary in a lot of things outside of just jewelry. This is also probably why gold purists, don't like crypto, because they don't really serve much purpose as a digital currency.
Gold doesn't need to come in bars similar to what we see in movies. There are much smaller options, and even coins, so it isn't as unwieldly as you think. But I don't really like holding it physically, because if there comes a time where it is the best form of currency, then I think the world might be a horrible place to live in at that point.
Yes, but it isn't the only thing it can be used for. As said, things might move a bit slower and astronauts won't have quite as good radiation protection, but there are alternatives for gold - I don't think that there is anything that relies only on gold, is there? I didn't even consider the value of jewellery, as that is useless as it is :)
Coins printed with the "dollar value" as legal tender are the most efficient - as if you notice, you can only carry something like "10K in cash" through an airport. that is 10,000 gold dollar coins - worth a few million.
But as we have seen, the law would mean very little at that point, wouldn't it?
Modern electronics, gadgets, vehicles, and Space equipment NEED to use gold. Sure there are alternatives like silver and copper, but they corrode easily and are not dependable. When you need security, dependability and quality, gold is necessary. With space equipment, where any problems or replacement would require millions/billions of dollars, there is no alternative. I find it concerning that you think astronauts not having quite as good radiation protection is a minor thing.
I don't really know why you suddenly brought up dollar value tokens as legal tender, as well as why you would even bring them through the airport, when we were just talking about them as physical investment. Do you print your stock certificates and bring them with you all the time? haha.