The various "Ten Essentials" lists (often containing 15 or so items) are excellent aids for wilderness preparation, but they need to be tweaked for prevailing environmental conditions. I perused Byrd Hunters fine list and gasped, "He has no canteen! He's gonna die out there." Well, he would in the arid Southwest, my home range, but this is not the case in Lake Wobegone country, where the problem is likely to be too much water, rather than too litle.
Well said. Although DW and I always carry 27 oz steel water bottles with us on day hikes, we don't consider them essential survival items here. In the winter we have 3+ feet of freeze-dried water in the woods, and in summer we could probably float home on a log from most any point in the state if it weren't for those pesky patches of land in the way.
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