I've gone from carrying a fairly massive load of stuff to a relatively tight set of "the basics" and a lot less of the "ifs"

The expression that I've heard is "the more you know, the less you need" - and the experience I've had in emergency situations has been pretty good, as far far people willing ready and able to help out. Look at this video I made: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8247617796963879054&hl=en

And you'll see lots of people helping out in an emergency.

That said, as I've said before, the most critical tool you have in an emergency is your mind.