I guess the issue is one of making sure that the kit is set up for that job at hand. I'm in the UK so there's no value in me packing food gathering kit for emergencies. We really don't have that kind of wilderness. Need to make sure I've got stuff to give me appropriate shelter, to alert rescuers and to give appropriate first aid. Of course knowing how to navigate is pretty important. I suspect much of continental Europe it's pretty much the same issue.

Now if I was in some parts of North America or Russia then it may be that distances are much greater. Feeding myself whilst either waiting to be found or making my to civilisation might be more important.

Reading some military history though shows that some soldiers have had to feed themselves from the land, for example British and Australians left behind in Malaya when the Japanese invaded. I guess that's where some of Lofty Wiseman's ideas come from. Most of the stuff I've read does emphasise that the SAS and such like do pack the kit needed for the area they are going into.

Justin