The Aeromedix Ultimate, left, is the Rolls Royce of survival kits but, at $2450, expensive. Prepared Pilot, right, covers all the basics but has many extras, too.

by Ben Barnard

Suppose you’ve ditched your airplane 30 miles offshore or ridden out an engine failure and settled into a tree-lined ridge in remote New Mexico. Now what? Are you prepared for the consequences? Look into your baggage compartment for the answer. If your idea of flotation equipment is a Styrofoam coffee cup, you’re hardly alone. Very few aircraft owners take seriously the need for some kind of survival equipment. But there’s quite a lively cottage industry in marketing pre-packaged kits aimed at just this problem. You can spend as little as $50 or as much as $2500 for a kit intended to assure that a crash or ditching is…