I came recently from a jungle trip in Amazonas. It was quite a short trip - 3 nights in jungle and 2 night in jungle lodge - though it allowed me to practice my survival skills and enjoy the scenery.
I had with myself survival kit based around the kit of Doug Ritter. And I found my kit not particularly adequate - the quality of items in the kit is good, but I have not thought how to carry it when I wear only swimming shorts and sandals, and this was most of the time. Therefore, I ended up with carrying only my Delica knife and a short length of cord around my neck.
Anyway, this trip revealed me quite a few things about my survival kit. I would say the most important in the survival kit is its compactness and ease to carry and if this problem is not solved, then the kit is near to useless, you would leave it in the camp with the rest of your kit. "It is better to have 22 calibre pistol in the pocket instead of 45 at home".
Therefore I am reconsidering my survival kit specifically for such situations - bearing in mind that you usually end up in a survival situation unexpectedly, I want to have something that I can have on me day and night. At the moment I am expeirmenting with putting SwissChamp on my neck with 2m paracord, but it is too heavy for comfort and I want to add compass, fishing kit, wire, whistle (I guess I will take it from my existing kit) and a waterproof lightweight lighter (in a stressful situation, when you are wet and cold, it would be very difficult to find tinder in a wet forest/jungle).
I also thought about other survival kit. For example, knife - I think it is a good idea to use your survival knife instead of having one specifically in a survival kit, because if you double items you increase the weight, hence you hamper your mobility. Another example is rubbish bin - if you have a sleeping bag and have to carry it with you all the time, I do not see much point to have rubbish bag: it is too large to carry on you, therefore it will end up in a rucksack next to your sleeping bag. So if you lose you rucksack with your sleeping bag, you will lose the rubbish bag as well.
If you are in a survival situation, half-panicing, I think there is a risk to consider that you may freak out and drop your gear off if you conclude it is too heavy for you to carry it to the shore (if you swim from a sinking boat) or restricts your movements (in case you need to run because of some emergency). Therefore, I copncluded that compactness and weight are much more important than I thought before.
What are your thoughts?
Thanks,

There's a rule of thumb for cooking that goes "You can always add more, but you can't take away." In the wilderness the opposite is true. You can always take away, but you can't add more.

I bring what I think I might need. If something proves to be more hassle than it's worth, I can drop it. You might see this as a waste of money. I see it as being better safe than sorry.

You've brought up an issue that we all need to think about. Everyone's survival kit isn't the right one for everyone for any number of reasons. One fundamental reason is that a survival kit has to be right for the situation. There is no 'one size fits all' for survival.

I would look at the Ranger Rick's Survival Necklace for a basic idea for this type of set-up.

http://www.therangerdigest.com/

M40 has some good ideas on how to modify this kit to make it better.

http://www.m4040.com/Survival/Ranger_Rick_SOS_Necklace.htm

And, you might want to consider a zippered belt to hold the stuff that won't fit around your neck:

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/BLT501-2753-1965.html

Though really, I would switch to a swim trunk with a zippered cargo pocket, A PSK isn't THAT bulky.

As far as redundancy, yes, it adds weight, but also increases peace of mind. Knives break and get lost. Tents burn down, Sleeping Bags get soaked, etc etc. You have to weigh everything carefully and come to a comfortable compromise between light and fast and having a safety net. Personally, I'll blow a pound or two on a Plan B.

Well, it is a POCKET Survival Pak; if you choose to go without pockets, that's a choice. In that environment the contents of the kit might not be what you need. I'm not too sure how useful a signal mirror is under a triple canopy and I doubt the whistle travels far.

An observations though: If you are cold and wet, then you should not have been in swim trunks. If you are wearing something else, is the kit still too big? Maybe consider layering your gear rather than having it in a single pack. I wear shorts a lot here in SOCAL and I could easily distribute the contents of a Ritter PSP in my pockets and it would disappear.

So what specific items do you need? What do you anticipate needing to be able to do in a survival situation. Insect repellent?

If you find yourself wanting a kit that can be carried without pockets, perhaps you should eb thinking about something like: http://www.wilderness-survival-skills.com/pocket-survival-kit.html

You could get one of the 5 in 1 survival whistles (put some tinder inside), a firesteel, and sometype of knife edge, out it on a chain, and wear it.

The smaller the kit, the less you carry, and the less you will have. That's the big decision even with a lot of things, such as a BOB. How big a BOB do you need to carry what you need? How big is so big that you really will not be able to carry it.

There is no reason your EDC of kit cannot adapt and be differnet things on different days, changing with the activity and environment.

I like the idea of a belt pouch -- waterproof -- like these:

$30 fold over pouch similar -- just a pic

or this waterproof box

I certainly agree that the content of the survival kit should vary depending on conditions.
However, how you intend to carry your kit is also important. Please understand me right, it is good to have the kit with you all the time, but most of the time we are in a civilised society, therefore we follow some dress code and don't want to look ridiculous.

I agree. I find it humorous that a guy wearing nothing but swim trunks is concerned with how to carry his survival kit. IMO, your clothing is the first layer of any survival kit. If you choose to go virtually naked into the wilderness, you need to get creative with the "outer layers" of your kit.

I really dislike stuff hanging on my neck. I'd opt for six pocket shorts that I wear in SOCAL a lot. The only time I'd wear just swim trunks would be at the hotel swimming pool and I'm not going to wear a survival kit while doing laps.