[quote author=Preacher link=1289304593/0#3 date=1289341459]One other take-away, especially for the solo tripper.  The ditch kit.  It must have what you need to survive.  It must be on your person.  Something I'm shamefully lacking.   :-[/quote]
That was a specific consideration when I picked the PFD I take on canoe trips ... large pockets.  One pocket is devoted to my ditch kit (fire starting tools/material, space blanket, hand sanitizer, etc.).  However, after reading the story, I've decided that I may need to upgrade to a larger knife.  I don't think I would be cutting much wood with my pocket knife (although the idea for carrying it was to create tender rather than "hack down trees".)

dd