This soloist got injured away from his pack, which had his cellphone. Though he may not have gotten cell service anyway, he was stuck with whatever he had on his person at the time. This is why I keep my PLB in a waist pouch, not in my backpack.

It was blundering into some recently deposited silt in Paria Canyon (after an 18hour layup due to a pretty decent storm) with the missus and seriously considering ditching both our packs (which were packed to the gunnels with survival gear) as we were sinking rapidly ,that I suddenly realised that I had put all my eggs in one basket. I did have a small folding blade in my pocket but other than that it was all in our packs.

Since then I have been a keen practitioner of keeping a psk on me when out and about. Fortunately, I was able to learn from my mistake.

Moab

The odds are that your packs are at least as buoyant as you are, unless they are loaded with scrap iron and water. I have been in one situation where an on body psk does make sense - flying on a relatively small charter aircraft. In most of these, your pack, even a small day pack is placed in a cargo compartment. in case of an unplanned landing and exit, you would have only on body items for immediate use. I usually just beefed up my EDC

The survival situation I mentioned in my thread came about because I had to ditch my gear and was prevented from retrieving it. The best laid plans and all that. One reason an on the body PSK is so important. As well as EDC and spare gear in one's pockets.

This should be a cardinal rule!

Probably true, although at the time both hands were fully engaged in getting out of the silt and the packs were dragging us down faster into the river, we came pretty close to going under and that was when they were nearly jettisoned. Floating would have been fine but it was the dragging under that had my attention!

It certainly focuses the mind when experiencing something like this, and finding ETS and all the contributors has improved my skills/kit selection - which can only be a good thing.

ATB
Moab

On one trip in the West Fork of Oak Creek Canyon, we were confronted with about a 300 yard stretch where swimming was the only feasible option. After waterproofing critical gear (like sleeping bags) and emptying water bottles, etc, our packs (the classic external frame Keltys) were merrily bobbing along, actually serving as impromptu floatation devices, while we thrashed downstream. That, of course, was clear mountain spring water, not silt, which is truly the invention of the devil.

When sea kayaking, or skiffing through surf, I use a large dry bag with shoulder straps and waist belt, and it floats at least as well as I do.

This story (part 1, part 2) is from 2010 but I just now found it. Great example of surviving on your 1st-line gear after losing your main equipment.

'Nelson had stowed his food supplies, extra clothing, camping equipment and satellite phone among the boat’s cargo. A knife, some snare wire, a signal mirror, a can of highly-flammable Sterno, a space blanket, a tincture of iodine, three fishing lures and some fishing line were the only items he had on his body. His clothing included a warm shirt, a pair of water-resistant dry pants, good boots and his life jacket.

“The most important thing you need to remember about survival gear is that it’s not survival gear if it’s not on your body,” he said.'

Wow, that's an awesome read, Glock-A-Roo! Super story. The guy was smart, resourceful and very lucky! Obviously you make your own luck to a degree but had those European canoers not come by when they did who knows what would have happened.

Interesting too some of his comments. I see he found the space blanket to be useless and that's my take, at least on the cheapest ones. They will keep you dry- that's a huge plus- and they're good reflectors but not at all warm. Since they pack so small I still think they're useful to have but I'm under no illusions that they're gonna keep me warm like my Wiggy's bag would. I missed in the article just how he was carrying the gear he did manage to keep. With a canoe you have special advantages but special dangers, too. Since you're moving on water you can carry heavier stuff easily, but it's easy to get separated from your boat in fast water, especially when you're alone. And any pack you wear can increase your risk of drowning or getting hung up on something if ejected.

Today I was chatting with my doctor and he told me about a situation he got into that is in line with this thread.

Doc and his brother were on a big-time hunting trip in Canada in September, an area accessible only by bush plane. In the afternoon they were a few miles from basecamp and a member of the group bagged an animal. The guides were helping with the processing and told Doc and his brother that unless they wanted to stand around for the next 2 hours, they should just go on back to basecamp. "Which way is it?" they asked, and the guide pointed "that way". So they began walking along the treeless, nondescript rolling terrain with clear visibility.

Then the clouds & fog rolled in. They got disoriented. Where was the GPS & compass? Back at basecamp. Doc said it felt like they had walked forever, and he knew there was no major road or settlement for at least 100 miles in any direction. He was scared.

By a special stroke of luck Doc saw what he thought was a rockpile where he had hung out the previous day. Turned out he was right, and from there they made it to basecamp.

In addition to sussing out my 1st/2nd/3rd line loadouts, I think I'd try a different guide next time.