If i wanted to make my data close to unrecoverable without having to destroy my hard drive, would using a good encryption program and then a drive wiper such as DBAN make data very very very very difficult to recover?
Actually, many security pros suggest fully encrypting a hard drive with strong encryption, a very strong password (that you don't even have to remember) and consider the drive and its contents protected forever. The wipe after the above would just be icing on the cake.
I agree about open-source and encryption. So....how does BestCrypt get on your list? Did you maybe mean Truecrypt?
The Gutmann 35-pass method is no better for modern drives than a random 3-pass wipe. Gutmann says so himself! Why recommend a time wasting and obsolete method?