It doesn't matter what else you carry, why would you not carry a source of fire??? You wouldn't even notice the weight difference between carrying it and not carrying it.

"Most likely survival situations"... do you mind if I laugh just a little? No? Then may I just grin?

Getting into a survival situation is because you miscalculated somewhere, made a mistake and multiplied it, or from pure bad luck. You're never thinking, "Today is a good day to get myself into trouble", are you? Or do you plan your personal disasters so you know precisely what gear to have on hand?

Fire isn't just heat, fire is signaling. So you fall in an area that has nothing to offer but grass and rocks, and you've dropped your fancy cell phone into the same rock crevice your broken foot is caught in. You told both the wife and the girlfriend when you would be back, so they both call the authorities when you don't show up. People are looking for you.

You find some dry grass and twist it together and make a knot. You hear that heavy whump-whump-whump of chopper. So you set your grass knot afire with the lighter you brought along accidentally. A helicopter crew with night-vision ability can see that fire from more than a mile away. Another hiker might see a fire where there isn't supposed to be a fire.

Neither your bivy, your water bottle or your broken cell phone will get you out of that bad spot, but a fire might.

Dying of exposure seems like a pretty silly way to die just because you didn't feel the need to carry a small piece of kit.

We've had quite a few hikers here in the U.S. who like to travel light. Some of them are dead.

"Miscalculation is a nasty word."

Sue