Seems to me that your proclaimed EDC covers the basics that everyone is attempting to compensate for with the $10. In your case you state that if you had none of these items you would only consider the need for water and attempt to get by without these items you would otherwise be carrying. In my case I presume that I will not be able to count on carrying enough water to get me through so I will get enough water to attempt to find more and also get some gear to make it possible to handle a longer duration situation. Seems like merely two different approaches. For you $10 you might be able to acquire enough water to safely march out - OTOH you might not. For my $10 I won't attempt to get that much water but hope to get enough to make it to the next water source and have the minimal gear to use that source when I get there and also the gear to deal with a few eventualities along the way. We don't disagree on the priority of water (I think). Let's say you can get water for $1 per gallon and spend $10 on water. At 8 pounds per gallon for 10 gallons you are carrying 80 pounds. Walking during the day with 80 pounds of anything will use up water extremely fast. You will probably go through around 2 gallons a day merely staving off dehydration. This will yield a 4 day march at most. (yes, as you drink it it becomes lighter so you might make 5 days). This leaves no margin for mistakes / eventualities of any sort. By neglecting to acquire any other gear you will be exposed (no shelter roof even if you can scoop out a trench), you will not have a knife to slice open that Yucca cactus for it's moisture, You will not have any thing to start a signal fire when it hits day 10 and you have long since run out of water and you still haven't found your way out. If you luck upon an oasis you will have to drink and take your chances since you cannot boil or bleach the water. The resulting diahrea will simply kill you.

In my case I will carry 16 pounds of water as 2 gallons and attempt to find water within the first 48 hours. I may succeed or not. My trip out will be a wander from water source to water source in the general right direction. I will not attempt a forced march of 50 miles. I will stop during the early dawn each day and attempt to build a signal fire and a shelter with shade. I will be equipped with aluminum foil for signaling passing aircraft and may be rescued on the first of second day rather than having to walk out on my own. I will watch the skies and what livestock I can see during the day for indications of water sources. I will walk in the direction of water within 90 degrees of my homeward path at night only. I may be a month getting out or a day if rescued but I will focus on surviving rather than on traveling. A shift in focus not a difference in priority. We both will choose our activities and gear with the priority of water in mind.