@Desperado : in my specific situation, purchasing a PLB doesn't make a lot of sense. Being a SAR volunteer, I weighted the pros and cons of such a purchase and quickly came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it. A PLB would stay in the closet 98 % of the time (we don't get called out THAT often). We usually search in teams (6+ persons), everyone has a GPS/compass and the corresponding skills to use them, we have radios, cell phones, spare batteries, headlamps... You know what? The command post knows which area we are supposed to be searching in, and we don't check out after a given period of time, they would start looking for us. No need to activate a PLB really... regroup, build a nice fire, chat and just wait it out until the morning comes. Nothing risky there. I'd even make it a fire building exercice! I'm far from saying that PLBs are useless, i'm just saying that in my situation, it isn't the best investment.

As for food, it probably wouldn't hurt to add some stuff. You know, since i've never used my stove/cookset on a search... The thought of taking it out of my kit has crossed my mind. I will typically snack on CLIF bars and peanuts throughout the day and when it's over, we'll debrief informally in front of a good meal in a nearby restaurant.

A smoke signal could be nice. I wonder if they're expensive? Do they have an expiry date? Typically though, to give our your position, you can use radio communications and GPS/maps. You can build a fire, use a signal mirror, wave flashlights...

@PC2K : Good catch. Rest of climbing equipment is in our support trailer.

@yelp : Exactly what SBRaider (and others) said. We carry different colors because it is not uncommon to come across pieces of tape used by surveyors or owners in privately owned forests. For example, if we see a lot of orange or pink, we will use blue or yellow. Simple as that. It's not a question of visibility.

@Lono : Take a small ziptie and pull it tight to form a small loop. Then, simply glue the square (edge) part to the bottom of a regular-size Bic with Locktite glue. I can post a close-up picture if you want.