Thanks everyone.
...Other big concern, unfortunately, is weight and storage space. The aircraft I fly have very small useful loads, and taking extra equipment often means taking less fuel, which is not always a great trade off. I figure I can spare about 3#. The entire kit needs to fit within a pocket in my flight bag.
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We have specific procedures in place whenever an aircraft is dispatched, which includes the pilot/instructor creating a manifest of who is on board, where you are going, when you will return, etc. We also fill out a dispatch board with the same info, and a few more specific bits of info. If we are going past 25 miles from the airport, we file a VFR flight plan and update the info with FSS if we make any changes.
We have a fair amount of aircraft in the air all day long, and we all work together. We report our positions to each other quite often, not only for traffic avoidance, but also if there was a problem, it would narrow the search grid a fair amount.
Our company is looking into other methods of tracking flights, we tested some satellite tracking system, we have some ELT's installed in some aircraft. But all of that is in the test phase at this point.
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I was wondering if you already had an ELT on board. The crews I've been around (central CA Sierras) have always had a kit on board for an unplanned stay in the woods. They had a small stove, a little food, sleeping bags and other useful woodsgear.
It sounds like any probability of area for you will be pretty high, so for a 3# kit in your flight suit, I would focus on small custom medical (4 aspirin, 4 benadryl, tourniquet, small dressing), personal security (method to make a spear, which could be a small blade and a small saw, such as:
http://www.japanwoodworker.com/product.asp?pf_id=07.100&s=JapanWoodworker or a SAK,), shelter (2 space blankets or bag), water (plastic bag and 6 tabs or survival straw, such as here:
http://bepreparedtosurvive.com/WaterPurificationProducts.htm#Aquamira Frontier Pro ), reference material (the "Pocket Survival Pak instructions" sheet on this site is very good:
http://www.equipped.org/psp/psp_survival_instructions_0206.pdf ), fire (lighter, matches, mag/ferro rod, PSC tinder), tools (small wire or artificial sinew spool, needle and kevlar thread), signal (mirror, whistle), button compass and food (millenium bars). Priorities would adjust according to the seasons and other variables.
If you have anywhere to store a down sleeping bag(s) on board, I would try to keep it as part of your regular kit. 3# isn't a lot of leeway.
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