I do indeed carry aquarium tubing when backpacking, and consider it essential... last time I took some of the new, soft (vinyl, I think it was) type that seems to pack even smaller. I do have a short length of teflon tubing in one of the PSKs. Surgical tubing seems very bulky by comparison, but perhaps I'm missing something? Tracing this thread back to the beginning didn't seem to reveal what the intended use was...

Many years ago I noticed a surplus store that had a roll of surgical tubing... they told me it was to replace the tubing used in "wrist rocket" type slingshots. It's a thought..