Absolutely, that's exactly the what makes me like the show more.
There was another show that wasn't Survivorman but featured Les Stroud. A couple (severly uprepard) got caught out in a severe blizzard in the middle of no where with hardly anything except some snacks from a convenience store. They had a baby an almost froze to death trekking out of there.
Les recreated the situation and showed how to use various parts of the truck to make some insulated waterproof snow shoes (Eskimo style) and all sorts of other gear. He also started a signal fire with the truck battery. That is a realistic situation. It's the same thing that makes me like Survivorman so much more. Like you said he starts out only with gear a person might logically have when caught unprepared after an accident or something.
Again their both entertaining. I just wondered if people who had seen both had the similar thoughts or if I was just nit-picking