This is my take, which is just that...my take. Please don't feel offended if any of it goes against what you're thinking. LOTS of folks don't agree with me on much of anything...
It's an interesting and capable assortment of things...lots of good stuff (love the work gloves!), some not so useful stuff (plastic poncho's, compass/thermometer, plastic whistle). I'd move some of it to a vest so you actually have access to it so long as you're alive, and swap out some of the other emergency-only, super-light-gear for more basic gear like a sleeping bag and pad.
Matches, a (good) knife and a PLB should be on your PERSON at all times while in a aircraft, not in the back compartment.
A SPOT IS NOT A PLB! If it's up on your dash pinging out your location, there's a very good chance it'll be nowhere near you after a crash. A PLB
on your person is the single best thing you can do to summon help if you're hurt. In any sort of terrain, during any sort of weather, you can count on a three-day wait for rescue, and that's once the alarm gets received and people get mobilized. You might get help sooner, but you very well might not.
Also consider an aviation band transceiver, both as a second way to summon help, and as a way to communicate with the people trying to help you. The more information you can give, the better you (and they) will survive. If you're just in a busted up airplane but otherwise fine, the rescue ship deserves to know that. If you have a broken femur, they'll step up what they can do to extract you.
Try to find one that runs on AA batteries, then fill it up with
lithium batteries and reverse or remove one of the cells so it can't power up accidentally. Throw away the antenna that came with it and get a proper one from Smiley Antenna. Remove and rubber-band the antenna to the side of the transceiver so it doesn't get kinked and damaged in the kit, and store the radio in two or three ziplock bags with a desiccant pack.
Sat phones are great if you have deep pockets or a roster of friends who can fly in to help you, but they're extremely expensive for "just in case". I earned my pilot license in 1995 and haven't had to call for help yet. If they had sat phones in 1995 and I kept one all these years I could about buy another airplane for the money I wasted on subscriptions. PLB's and radios have no subscription fees, so they're a lot more economical.
Purchase lithium batteries for anything that uses batteries. They're a lot lighter, have a much longer shelf life, and are less affected by cold than alkaline batteries.
I'd definitely keep the water and food. I'd add more water, in fact. There's absolutely no guarantee you'll end up somewhere where water is available, or you in any condition to hunt for it. I cary a MINIMUM of one gallon per person of emergency water, plus whatever water I'm planning on drinking during the trip. That's a lot of water, but I've run out of water before, and it made a powerful impression on me. Spend enough time without fluids and it'll cure you of any desire to pack light, ever.
Food is good! Freeze dried meals are great, but food you don't have to prepare is also good. I like nuts and chocolate for storage food.
You
can survive a long time without food, but it's a HELL of a lot easier to make the
right decision and stay the night somewhere rather than try to push bad weather if you aren't going to go hungry and sleep cold doing it. That's not an emergency, that's how you keep the emergency from happening. A lot of people don't realize that...weather is just another trap we fall into because we want something we don't have with us. Same with mechanical problems we know we
should address before flying, low fuel levels (but hey, we've never run out of fuel before...), or a dozen other scenarios that
should keep us on the ground, but don't. There's a lot less trap if you don't want what you haven't got with you.
Lots of genuine emergencies are directly the result of someone trying to get somewhere else rather than stay where they are.
Make it easy to make the decision to stay put. If you're a smoker, put in a pack of tobacco. If you're a drinker, add a pint of something nice. If you're literate, put in a good book. Addicted to coffee...put some in the kit.
I have a sleeping bag and pad for every person on the aircraft, all the time. Also a down parka for every person. Ya...space blankets will help you survive moderate temperatures, but you wont like it. Even sleeping on the couch in a high-elevation airport shack in the summer is going to suck with just a space blanket. Most people who've slept cold one night will go to significant lengths to sleep warm the next...including possibly taking off when the weather says they should stay on the ground.
Taylor your kit to the seasons. More water in the summer and more clothes, thicker sleeping bag and a bigger pot in the winter. (You'll be hard pressed to melt enough snow to stay hydrated with that little cup, but good on you for having
something.)
Loose the magnesium bar and put in a couple packs of lifeboat matches. Magnesium bars are a gimmick that work fine in a zero-wind environment, but any breeze will scatter the shavings. Life boat matches are both lighter, more reliable, and infinitely better fire starters. Disposable lighters are ok, but they can easily run out of gas while in the kit, they don't work when wet, and they have several moving parts. Don't trust them!
It's great you have a knife...but there are infinitely better knives to cary. Ditch that (gerber?) and pick up a proper woods knife.
Pelican cases are brilliant for cameras and electronics, but there's really nothing in your kit that requires that amount of protection. If you want to save weight, swap the Pelican case out for a backpack or dry bag.
The simplest test in the world is to go park somewhere for a couple nights and live out of your survival kit and what you're wearing. Do that, and your kit will change dramatically! You'll end up with a lot less ultralight gimmicky might-work-in-a-pinch gear, and a lot more basic day-to-day gear that's bulkier and heavier, but actually works.
P.S.: I love Gil...never get's a break.
Also, GREAT on you for putting together a emergency kit...it's more than most pilots ever do. Since you're interested in having something that works, check out the knowledge base section of this website, then taylor your kit to your environment and exposure.
