Great story. And reinforces the old concept. What’s on your body lets you survive, what’s on your web gear lets you do your mission, and your pack gives you comfort and do things better.
That basic boy scout knife, a firestarter, signal mirror, a ziplock bag to use as a canteen with some water purification pills, and a space blanket would nearly fit in the space of a pack of playing cards and weigh nothing.
And he sounds like very comfortable in the ourdoors, but if you are out there a lot, those personal locator satellite beacons are about 300 bucks. Sit down, press the button and wait for the rescue.
That basic survival kit you listed is excellent.
When I was 12, a friend and I went out in the jungle near my house in Subic Bay in the Philippines.
Heh, no map. No compass. And we got lost and wandered around in circles for a couple of hours. I climbed a tree and spied a familiar road a few hundred yards away, but without climbing that tree, it might have been a thousand.
We knew the area pretty well, and there were established boar paths we followed, but...there you have it.
I was lost enough to get nervous. I respected things a bit more after that.
Throw in a cheap, decent orienteering compass (or a military lensatic if you're ok with a little more bulk) as well. Then you have directional awareness as well as a fire starting magnifying lens. But as this story reinforces, and others have noted, the most important piece of survival gear is the right mental state.
Great stuff
Imagine the suffering he could have saved by having just one shiny survival blanket tucked in a pocket….and a signal mirror!