Off topic, but it made me giggle: "Canada, the land where you can get a sunburn and frostbite in the same day."

On topic : Today was the perfect example - sun, high winds, rain, hail and snow, alternating all day long. I don't know what the actual temps were, but it went from warm to chilly and back again several times, and it's almost cold now. (By Canuckian standards.) I would've hated to be voluntarily camping in it, never mind getting caught out it in. My kits, especially in Spring and Fall, need to cover all the elements dependably. Shelter, fire and water are top priorities, and in these seasons of heightened hypothermia risk, high energy food makes the list too.

If you're going to take along a pocket kit to help you battle these elements, you need good quality stuff that you can depend on. That doesn't mean top of the line but, especially if you're less experienced or with less experienced people, you don't want to have to depend on cheap, easily broken stuff

Of course, a wise person would have checked the weather report and planned accordingly, including getting out of it when things started turning ugly.