It's my impression that the concept of the ditch kit is that you're not going to get sepparated from it.  No matter how wet & cold you are, you still have the ditch kit.  This is something that's on your person at all times.

In a survival situation what's normally outrageous is often perfectly acceptable.  I might normally say that a fire you need to stand away from is too big and just a waste, it's the order of the day when hypothermia/survival is a reasonable concern.