We have an area in our county called "World's Edge." It's pretty much straight up & down, with a lot of cliffs, several waterfalls, and a very narrow & fast stretch of whitewater. We average having to search for lost hikers/hunters/fishermen 4 or 5 times a year. We average one fatality a year from people walking out onto waterfalls and being swept over the falls.
The one common factor in all of these situations is that the victim did not have much, if any, respect for nature. People tend to think nature is like watching television, and that everything will work out OK for them, even if they blunder out alone, with no survival gear and no preparation. We had to find a Captain from the La. State Police several years ago. He might have been at home in the bayou, but he was totally lost in the mountains. He admitted that he didn't think anything could happen to him that he couldn't handle. After almost falling off several cliffs, he finally spent the night sitting under a tree waiting for daylight. He had no flashlight, no matches, no maps, no compass, etc.
Survival equipment is great, but the first step is to recognize that the great outdoors is not always user friendly, and it can & will kill you if you don't understand & respect it. Your brother is lucky. He was uncomfortable & probably scared for a night, but he made it. He should learn a valuable lesson from this experience & be better prepared the next time he goes out. Unless he's lucky enought to make a living in Vegas playing roulette, he better rely on preparation & skill next time......
Glad he made it out safely. With the weather we have had in this area for the last few days, it could have turned out otherwise.