Canoearoo's comment on her camera it the bear spray thread pointed out potential uses for a camera beyond just taking photos for memories of experiences.
Being a forgetful old guy and a photo documentary of too many things, I find a lot of alternate use for my cameras of all sorts.

To remember where I parked in a large parking lot, a photo works great, saving me much time at theme parks and auditoriums.
ID my camera, my truck/car license plate can be easily tracked to me making return of lost gear easier. It also documents the condition and placement of a vehicle in an EP parking lot is case of vandalism.
It can help find the way out in case of loosing my way, portages especially.
Photos of gear may help SAR/law enforcement and such identify and locate me if something bad happens. I leave some at home and posted to my NOAA beacon comment section.

I'm sure there are other uses.

butthead

PS: Far as bears I figure I'd throw my food bag at them. Maybe distract em long enough to allow my escape. Besides I can stand to loose some weight! bh

I started photographing my maps before the trip in case I lose one. After the 1999 blowdown and resulting fires I started carrying maps covering alternative exit routes. Now I put those in the camera. I met some travelers on my last trip that asked to see my maps as they had lost theirs. They took photos of my maps to make the rest of their trip easier.

When traveling solo and I am seeing a lot of ticks I use my camera to check for ticks in that part of my back that I can't quite seem to reach.

The last time we had tornado warnings I video'd my gear room. No insurance adjuster in North America would believe how much stuff is in there.

I've used my camera as a mirror many times and to see stuff on my back like Sedges mentioned.

Great ideas! Maps and ticks.