I think, for the most part, that the "gear" you wear in the TRACOM is mostly just for "training". I'd be curious to know how many mishaps have occurred where the aircrew were required to actually use survival gear? It seems like most of the Class A mishaps (as rare as they are, thank god) end in fatalities, but if someone could confirm this, I'm curious. If you're dead, gear don't matter.
If your plane is going down and you decide to bail out, then a safe bailout in and of itself is a miracle and worthy of prayer. If you make it safely on deck after a bailout, I doubt INCONUS you'd be waiting very long for help, especially in the local area.
I mean, how likely is it that you'd need to but out flares/mirrors/compass/knife around the local area of Corpus or whiting? You'd probably be able to muster someone on your PRC-90 immediately.
Am I wrong?
@A4s: In primary (at least in VT-27), I remember being briefed that, worst case, you can use your PRC 90 to raise someone if you go NORDO.