The Mountaineers "invented" the ten essentials and the list is, as a result, PNW-centric. I believe it's as much intended to get folks to think before hitting the trail as to being an end-all, be-all list of things to carry, no matter what.

The "new" ten essentials

A couple got stuck in their Jeep in the Sierra snow a week ago and while she managed to walk out and survive, he did not make it. A bare minimum of planning (not to mention better decision-making) would have had them both surviving their experience. It saddens me that in addition to agonizing over approach and departure angles, a surprising number of OHV folks don't put the same energy into the possibility of getting stuck.

A baggie of essentials, be they eight or eighteen, tossed into the pack won't make a difference 99 of 100 trips. Which trip is the next one?