Well, the idea of floating it is more on the side of doing a travois or a cart for non-snowy weather. Once the snow is flying, forget river crossings. But for summer to fall, certain back up routes open up to me, and in mud season floating is a good thing period. :P

As for breaking PVC... The -40 sleeping bag that I want to get before I declare any kitI build all-season ready isn't a joke. But at that point, I'm digging in, deep and as fast as I can without sweating.