I'd say he is wrong (IMHO). Salt depletion _can_ be a problem
(especially with diarrhea) and drinking sea water to replace salt may be
bad due to the magnesium. If you need 7% saline for wounds or eyebaths
then pure salt is preferred over sea water. Hence salt tablets.

Cheers

Scout wrote:

Nav,
I was in a survival course this past July. Somewhere in my past I was told
to consume salt when sweating a lot. So I put salt in my theoretical
survival bag. The class expert (some Australian who's survived every desert
on the planet, and whose name I could recall only if forced to) informed
those of us who chose salt that we were dinosaurs, and we should throw the
salt away immediately. I believe he said I was a victim of uninformed
football coaches, to be exact.
Anyway, I was wondering under what circumstances you would use your salt.
Scout

"Nav" wrote

[snip]
salt tablets