MM,
Makes two great points.

You would be surprised how much buoyancy you can lose just with your choice of footwear. Jimbo knows firsthand about this.

If you wear those rubber knee boots and have a lot of extra weight on your PFD, you might not float high enough to keep your head above water. Try a warm water test sometime with your paddling gear on and see how your PFD performs before PIMPING it out.  ;) ;D ;D

I have 2 big pockets on my Cabelas mesh vest. The basics for making a fire are with me at all times. A small mylar space blanket along with some BIG heat packs that IF you dump and get hypothermic before you can get a fire going, you stick under your shirt on your kidneys to get your core temp up while wrapped in your space blanket of choice.

I clip my ditch bag like MM does. That has more gear IF somehow I can't get to canoe/packs.

You should always have your packs secured in a canoe while solo. You go over, you don't want to be chasing your gear. If all the gear is in the canoe, it may be swamped but the wind and waves will push it and unless it's headed for a big open stretch you won't survive, you can let the waves/wind work for you by pushing you onto that canoe. With you kicking you might just be able to rudder it to someplace you can beach canoe and re-group.