Having not read the article ...it seems a more representative test than had he spent significant time and effort getting a lot of hands on training. And gives credence to the ideal that "nothing but a knife" could be real hard for anyone but the well trained. And I for one don't have 40 days, or 18 days, or even a week that I can bring myself to commit to such a singular activity.
So, where does that leave the rest of us ? Especially if we have kits store even a few more rudimentary tools ? Sounds to me like our odds of surviving grow exponentially with each tool we can have. This kid seems to me to have been able to show that even some of our more imperfect attempts at making a kit should be beneficial and able to allow us to get by fairly well (depending on the weather etc).
The kid didn't have a flint and apparently had trouble making fire. How much more successful would he have been with the single addition of a flint ?
I'll have to find that article and read it.