I commend you on your efforts. You have some lucky friends!

http://www.bestglide.com is a nice source for signal mirrors and other good stuff. They're my standard source for Fox40 whistles, ORANGE heavy duty space blankets (hard to find), SparkLite kits, replacement TinderQuick tabs, and Streamlight Polypro 4AA flashlights... but they don't have waterproof paper.

Another nice source of gear is http://www.basegear.com .

My suggestion might be to go to an office store (Staples, Officemax, ...) and find some of the tiny Sharpie Mini markers (http://tinyurl.com/b6kkn ) that can be attached to a lanyard, and then carry some white, or better yet orange, trash bags. The markers can then write on the bags and be left as easy-to-find messages.

I really think a few orange 55 gallon trash bags would do better for emergency situations than a poncho. I'd include at least two - one to sit on or use for signalling, making flags, etc, and another to go over the top as shelter. Users should tear a face-hole just below one corner. Don't tear arm holes since they let heat escape. They keep the user MUCH warmer than a poncho and take less space than a HD space blanket. Source: http://www.spectrumbagsonline.com . A box costs something like $50 with shipping, but you get 100 of them. These are great shelter bags. There goes the budget again.

Ken K.