In any Military survival situation most items are designed to be a one-time use. I guess you could re-use the blanket but it is just easier to get another one issued.
In a non-training environment I can stuff items into my other gear any way I want but you cannot exchange your boot laces for Para-cord. You have to use the issued laces. For the training you must fit all items into the dish but once you pass the training you can do whatever you want (like a lot of the little tricks you mentioned) the dish thing is to make it more challenging.

In the scenario you will notice that the issued SUUNTO compass was one of the items on the allowed list as you are expected to have this item on you anyway.(a bit hard to swallow this one though

The whistle is because your rescue team may be dropped off a distance away and come to search on foot. If you see that they are friendlies you can blow the whistle to get their attention first without causing surprise. If you come shouting and waving your arms while running out of the trees you may get blown away by the very people that are there to rescue you.
I only chose the zip-loc bag because it could zip and un-zip easily to store water for later use. Can you seal a turkey bag? Or do you have to be constantly fighting with a knot?

The weather was fairly cool but true; you would want more tabs in a hotter situ.

Thanks for all the replies guys, getting some good feedback on this