**rule** chose bright colored gear

http://www.northshorerescue.com/education/what-to-bring/

Why a large orange plastic bag? It’s actually one of the most valuable items on the list. Crawling into the bag helps keep you warm and dry. The orange colour is also highly visible and helps attract attention, particularly from the air.

its your call what to bring … but in several rescues over the years here NSR has stated outright that they wished that the hiker/snowboarder/snowshoer/etc … brought and displayed stand out colours in rescues …

they know a thing or two about it i should think, being BCs busiest SAR rescuing all those city slickers ;)

"The three hikers were all dressed in black, green and blue, and were very difficult to see against the tree canopy," he said. "We knew it was legitimate; we just didn't know exactly where they were, and in that terrain 100 metres means everything."
….

Although they were well equipped, the hikers in this case wore colours that were impossible to see from the helicopter, said Jones. He advised hikers to always bring bright clothing or something else that's highly visible, like a bright orange garbage bag, and to clear the forest canopy when waiting for rescuers.

more at link …

http://www.nsnews.com/Lost+hikers+rescued+helicopter/5310517/story.html

Just some Monday-morning quarterbacking here…

On visibility:
As Ken mentioned, it's not all that easy to spot someone from a helicopter. A signal mirror, light, fire, or making patterns on the ground (think Nazca Lines) would probably be much more useful. If you want to see what the ground looks like from above, try this:
http://bamru.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-view-from-above.html
(FWIW, the hiker /might/ be wearing red in the last photo.)

On rushing:
Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. A turned ankle is the last thing you want, and arriving on scene with no gear won't help much either. Take the time to grab some kit, and note your camp coordinates if you haven't already. If the extra few seconds kills the person, it was probably their time to go.

On colors:
I didn't really "get" Patagonia's color choices until I ran across a comment on a climbing site: a guy wanted bright colors because they photographed better. Bright colors contrast nicely against bare rock, ice, or sky. I still think some of the color options are atrocious, but I can appreciate that reasoning.

You lost me at "pick the red backpack"

I can't find any red cuben for my MYOG projects….

I'm not a fan of bright colors. I'd rather my gear blend in to my surroundings.

That being said, I do have a couple of items in my pack that are brightly colored and that can be used for drawing attention to my location if needed. My sleeping pad is bright yellow and I use one of the 3 oz bright orange emergency blankets as my ground sheet. It can do double duty as my emergency signal.

If I hiked during hunting season, I'd consider an orange pack.

I don't see the need for picking bright colors for all pieces of gear, just have one or two along with a whistle or blinking flash light/headlamp and call it a day.

"Fools rush in" is one of the points hammered on in public service. Military calls it "combat patience." Rescuer safety always comes first. If you become another casualty, you just made SAR's/EMS'/ect's job twice as difficult.

"Josh, please reconsider and report back.

You need to evolve on this."

I cant reconsider my feelings when I hear what you heard. The feeling is a reaction based on past expierences… but im not sure what evolution has to do with this.. Unless you think your story of bounding out of a campsite like lassy after some kid stuck in a well with out grabbing any gear is the "evolved" decision, feeling, or reaction?