Some examples:

- This guy was trapped under a flipped ATV in cold weather and could only grasp gear that was in immediate reach.

- This guy was caught in an avalanche and had his pack stripped from his body in the tumble.

- I don't have any links but I have read about a few incidents where people have wrecked their cars over an embankment, been trapped/injured, and could only get to equipment that was in immediate reach.

- As I have posted before, my Wilderness EMT instructor works seasonally for a group that does jungle expeditions. His boss was on one such expedition in the Amazon when he needed to step into the bush for '#2 time'. He left his backpack with the group, went off-trail for a ways to take care of business... and became completely disoriented. He wound up being lost in the jungle with almost no gear for 3 days. Miraculously while wandering around he bumped into a military group and they saved him, no joke. Company policy now calls for a simple belt system with a survival pouch & water bottle attached. If you leave the pack, the belt rig must be on you. This goes for everyone on the trip, both employees and clients.