IMHO, the only reason to have a forest of circuit breakers on the panel is because it's always been done that way, which is a dumb reason.  I also buy Bob Nuckolls' argument, and have put almost everything running through B&C fuse panels back on the avionics shelf.  If something pops a breaker or blows a fuse, you want to figure out why before you simply reset the breaker or replace the fuse.  You can't do this in the air, so what's the advantage of having the breakers on the panel?  Design for backup in the event of failures, and fix 'em in the hangar.

Regarding the gear hydraulic pump, you do want either a circuit breaker or just a switch on the panel.  If you see the gear pump light blinking on and off in flight, you have a leak.  You want to be able to shut it off and then turn it back on just before landing, hoping you haven't pumped all the goo out in flight.

Jim Cameron
Legacy N132X