Small light first aid kit?

[vladtepes 1,060]

What components would you have in a light day pack to address first aid? think backpacking.. hiking..

[RecessedFilter 222]

I'm about to leave for work so I can only suggest a few things but being as I am an avid backpacker, definitely Molleskin, bandages, tape, and Clot-quick (the stuff that you put over a cut to clot it fast)...it works very well.

 

And make your own, don't buy some garbage. There are some good first aid kits out there but it's much easier making your own as you can customize it to what YOU want, not what THEY give you.

[Krdshrk 3,878]

Don't forget ace bandages for sprains. Also - a small pair of scissors. You may also want to bring some antivenom, some benadryl (the quick dissolve strips are really compact), and antiseptic wipes.

[Cylinder Head 22]

I have a BlueForceGear Trauma Kit Now! and I like the components it came with it. I packed a few band-aids in there as well and it's totally GTG.

[JonF 79]

I carry a Adventure Medical ultralight first aid kit in my camelbak when we go out for a day of trail riding. The AM kits are nice because they are intended for those who will be carrying these outdoors so they are very light, compact and generally well thought out WRT your type of activity. They make various kits from small pouches you can slip in a spare pocket to larger kits a medic would use and everything in-between including specialty kits for unique situations. They all seem to come in a water resistant pouch which is a plus. Good stuff for a bug out bag if you're into that sort of thing.

 

http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/

[MedicYeti 96]

My backpacking first aid kit: 1" tape, 4 4x4's, 4 bandaids, steristrips, 1 pad of moleskin, 2 small packets of triple antibiotic onintment, a snack sized ziploc containing; 4 benadryl, 8 tylenol, 10 alcohol pads. The "Kit" is wrapped in an ace bandage.

I keep a bigger kit in my car which can handle almost anything. Having lugged a big kit around on some backpacking trips I finally took a look at what I thought I really needed. Chances are I'd be dealing with a single injury so that is how I focused my kit. All I need is to be able to get to the car or some other help. If I suffer a severe cut the 4x4's go over it and the Ace would wrap it up and apply pressure. Small cuts get steristripped, ointmented, 4x4'd and taped. Sprains get the ace and tylenol. Etc.....

[GRIZ 3,369]

http://www.afmo.com/Individual_First_Aid_Kit_FA102L_p/210-00055.htm

 

I use something like this. I got used to carrying one in the Army. I modify the contents and include field dressings and blood clot. You will find one cheaper in Sportsman Guide.

 

You may also want to bring some antivenom

 

Where do you buy your antivenom? This is not a over the counter drug. Administering antivenom is not something for the first aider to do. There can be severe side effects (allergic reactions, cardiac arrest, etc) which can kill you if the snake bite doesn't. You need to see if the patient is allergic before administering antivenom. Liquid antivenom needs to refrigerated.

 

I think too many people put too much in preparing for a snakebite. You just need to watch what you're doing. Most snakes will take off as long as they have a way out. My first exposure to a snake rich environment was Vietnam. Saw plenty of cobras, bamboo vipers, and other reptiles. The number of people I knew of bit by snakes was zero. I worked for two years on the Mexican Border in AZ. I lived in a National Park and the the naturalist Park Ranger told me there were 16 types of poisonous reptiles in the US and there were 13 of them living in the area. Scorpions are much more dangerous as they are harder to avoid (see). Number of snakebite victims when I was in AZ? Zero. There are about 70 people killed by lightning each year in the US vs 12 or so killed by snakebites.

 

I have seen exactly one rattlesnake in NJ (up by Sunfish Pond) in over 50 years of living here and none in PA (even though I spent a lot of time in the woods around Indiantown Gap).

 

Not trying to change this thread to snakebites but its really not much of an issue.

[Krdshrk 3,878]

I think I typed that wrong - I meant a snake bite kit.

Like these. I was thinking of them more as an antivenom.

http://www.campmor.com/coghlans-snake-bite-kit.shtml?source=CI&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=88091WC

[RecessedFilter 222]

I highly doubt a $6 snake bite kit is going to do much, nonetheless the garbage that Coughlan's makes. But hey I haven't used it so how do I know?

 

I hike PA and NJ avidly, and I have seen 3 rattlesnakes in Jersey. Funny thing is, 1 was up near Sunfish Pond and the other two were a bit farther up north in RattleSnake Ridge...who would have guessed? I have seen far more copperheads than rattlers. For the most part, just watch where your walking and you'll be alright...most of them will be scared off by hearing movement.

 

I would be more worried about items for a cut/gash than I would be about any sort of animal bite. We were bushwacking to get to a water source to pump water last year and my friend accidentally got wrangled up in barbed wire in the middle of nowhere....that quick-clot stuff worked awesome. I didn't have any but he did at the time and I went out and bought some right after that.

 

Another good item to have is bear spray. It wouldn't really be considered first aid, but I would highly suggest buying a bottle to have when you go hiking in bear country. It's funny that 'bear country' can be considered north jersey

 

Edit: Not all Coughlan's products are garbage, just some. A lot of it is cheap simple things sold at Walmart so it's not really high-end backpacking products that's all.

[TommyRuss 6]

And make your own, don't buy some garbage. There are some good first aid kits out there but it's much easier making your own as you can customize it to what YOU want, not what THEY give you.

 

+1000!!!

 

Adventure Medical Kits make probably the best pre-assembled kits if you want quick and easy, but you will definitely need to add to them.

[TommyRuss 6]

I based my IFAK (individual first aid kit) off my full STOMP bag. I tried to address several different needs while keeping the kit as light and mobile as possible.

 

Burn: 2 x Water Jel Burn Jel packets

Blister: Blist-O-Ban variety pack, moleskin

PPE: 2 pair x NARP Black Talon Nitrile Gloves, 1 x Vionex Antimicrobial No-Rinse Gel, 5 x alcohol swabs

Blood loss: 1 x small Kendall Kerlix Gauze Bandage, 1 x 4" Israeli bandage, 1 x Z-Pak Sterile Wound Dressing, 1 x QuikClot Advanced Clotting Sponge, 1 x Johnson and Johnson Surgipad, 2 x 3" Kendall Curity gauze

Wound closure: 10 x Band-Aids (flexible fabric), 3 x 3M Steri-Strip (1/4" x 3")

Sprains, dislocations & fractures: 1 x 3" ACE bandage, 1 x SAM splint, 1 x triangular bandage, 1 x Coban wrap

Medications: 1 x afterbite, 1 x Neosporin, 1 x Tylenol, 1 x Motrin, 1 x Aleve, 1 x Bayer aspirin, 1 x Imodium A-D, 1 x Benadryl

Tools & instruments: 1 x 1" 3M Durapore Surgical Tape, 1 x Mojo Medical Shears, 1 x Uncle Bill’s sliver gripper, 2 x tongue depressors, 5 x safety pins

 

I keep everything in a Maxpedition F.I.G.H.T. medical pouch, but have used the smaller Maxpedition FR-1 pouch for hiking, etc.

 

It's a fairly comprehensive kit; I can't really estimate the cost of putting it together because most items were purchased in lots for my larger STOMP bag. If you're serious about putting a solid kit together, I would start with the different modules (in bold) and make purchases addressing each.