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Thread: First Aid Kit

  1. #1
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    Default First Aid Kit

    Just posted my most recent blog entry on what I plan to pack as a first aid kit. Got a lot of insight from these forums. Tried to go real light, but I'm a first aid geek ... I'm hovering around 9 ozs right now

    http://laughingdawg.blogspot.com/

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    Registered User Moose2001's Avatar
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    Looks very similar to the first aid kit that I've carried for many miles. The one thing I would add would be a tick removal tool. You can get them through REI. Yeah, you have tweezers but the removal tool does a much better job. With the tweezers, you end up squeezing the tick and can push the bad stuff into your system. The tool is really light and takes up almost no room.
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    Registered User Fog Horn's Avatar
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    I'm a first aid geek too. Don't forget the super glue!! I see you have some strip things for deep cuts, but super glue and a butterfly bandage work wonders!

    I'd recommend leaving the hydrocortizone creme though, because the benadryl will work better (if you haven't grown a tollerance to it like I have, stupid sleeping pills), and more effectively. And weigh a ton less.

    Not that you'll need it or anything, but consider having plan A B and C for tourniquets if you end up needing one. I saw you listed splints from nature, so I figured you might want to get your head wrapped around that too. Just in case you get bit by a shark on the trail or something.

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    I appears to me that the packaging might be as much as half of the weight. You could repackage almost everything in there, save a lot of weight and it would take up less space as well. Places that sell those quarter-sized plastic pill cases are great. They are about the size of a stack of 4 quarters. I made a cardboard divider that makes 4 compartments out of one, and it works great. If you repackage take into consideration that there will be a much shorter shelf life for the products due to exposure to air, moisture, and the abrasion from shaking as you hike. I use a flattened cotton ball in the pill containers to help keep the pills stable.

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    Registered User English Stu's Avatar
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    Hi Fog Horn, how much super glue do you use, just a smear? I have seen advice against using it. I have been tempted a few times to use it but feared the consequences. On the trail I have suffered with cracks in the fingers which are slow to heal as they are out in the weather all the time.

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    Now that's the way to do it- make it all fit in a ziplock! Mine does too. I add a 1/2 oz. leakproof Nalgene bottle filled with either Betadine or hydrogen peroxide for wounds.

    Oh, after I woke up with my eye swollen shut due to a spider bite in New England I started carrying some Benadryl too. Lesson learned.

    Cheers!
    Last edited by Spokes; 10-17-2011 at 13:51.

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    Quote Originally Posted by English Stu View Post
    Hi Fog Horn, how much super glue do you use, just a smear? I have seen advice against using it. I have been tempted a few times to use it but feared the consequences. On the trail I have suffered with cracks in the fingers which are slow to heal as they are out in the weather all the time.
    I've never used it on skin cracks so couldn't speak to that. I've used it on deep cuts before. The thing you have to remember is not to seal the wound unless its clean.

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    Duct tape instead of adhesive tape...you can buy a mini roll that is about 1/2 the size of the one pictured or make your own. I bought a pack or 4 and put one in each of my glove compartments and have one one my first aid kit.

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    +1 on the super glue! I work in the emergency room and we use it all the time! I use it on myself every time I get a small cut or scrape! You can leave the bandaids at home! Just glue and go!

    Some of the large tubes of ointment you could decrease by squeezing some into little zip lock bags instead. Save a little weight. Also, if you are using the super glue, you don't want to use any ointment. Just clean the would the best you can, let it air dry, then apply the glue.

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    +2+ on super glue. I worked in steel mills and industry all my life. Always had cracked skin on my fingers, mostly near the nails, and they are painful and don't heal well due to use and exposure. Clean it up good, add a drop of super glue, squeeze shut, wipe off excess - and no more pain plus no open sore to get infected. You never really know it's there once it wears down a bit. Plus it heals quicker than being left exposed. The healing skin carries the glue out with it as it grows.
    "That's the thing about possum innards - they's just as good the second day." - Jed Clampett

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    Quote Originally Posted by PapaGarrettP View Post
    Duct tape instead of adhesive tape...you can buy a mini roll that is about 1/2 the size of the one pictured or make your own. I bought a pack or 4 and put one in each of my glove compartments and have one one my first aid kit.
    Adhesive tape is the better idea. You don't want to us duct tape on blisters or cuts. Duct tape does not breathe and can cause problems that you just don't want to deal with while on the trail.
    GA - NJ 2001; GA - ME 2003; GA - ME 2005; GA - ME 2007; PCT 2006

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    I keep a little laminated card in my first aid kit with my own info on it. Blood type, allergies ("No Known", in my case), daily medications, emergency contact info, and health insurance info.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Moose2001 View Post
    Looks very similar to the first aid kit that I've carried for many miles. The one thing I would add would be a tick removal tool. You can get them through REI. Yeah, you have tweezers but the removal tool does a much better job. With the tweezers, you end up squeezing the tick and can push the bad stuff into your system. The tool is really light and takes up almost no room.
    I might just do that, and leave the long tweezers at home.

    Thanks,
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rocket Jones View Post
    I keep a little laminated card in my first aid kit with my own info on it. Blood type, allergies ("No Known", in my case), daily medications, emergency contact info, and health insurance info.
    That's a really good idea. I might just dig out my old dog tags!
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    Quote Originally Posted by Fog Horn View Post
    I've never used it on skin cracks so couldn't speak to that. I've used it on deep cuts before. The thing you have to remember is not to seal the wound unless its clean.
    That's what the syringe is for. Flush out the wound repeatedly with clean water to make sure there's nothing in there that'll cause infection. One could use a water bottle, or a baggie with a small hole...
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    When I got my WFR first time around, I hauled around a bunch of stuff - thought it was cool - heavy and never got used: My kit fits in a quart zip-lock:

    1 pr. rubber gloves
    1 roll coaches tape
    4 Dr. Shoals blister pads
    a little bit of duct tape
    iodine prep pads
    Vitamin I
    One asprin (for M.I.)
    Epi pen (when out with groups)
    lance (needle)

    that and a good brain is all you need (unless you are involved with a rescue or are employed as a trip guide)

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fog Horn View Post
    I'm a first aid geek too. Don't forget the super glue!! I see you have some strip things for deep cuts, but super glue and a butterfly bandage work wonders!
    With yours and the others endorsement, I went out and read up on it. There are some who would advise against super glue because of the chance of irritation to the skin. They point at the formulations made specifically for medical purposes like Dermabond. I found that on Amazon, and it is right spendy!
    http://www.amazon.com/Dermabond-Topical-Adhesive-5ml-vial/dp/B002TSIP9O/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1318895726&sr=1-1-catcorr

    Lots of variations that are almost as expensive. I've always kept those tiny, one use sized tubes around. Like these:
    http://www.amazon.com/Scotch-Single-Super-Glue-AD119/dp/B00342VCGM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1318895612&sr=8-3
    Might just put a couple of those in the kit

    I'd recommend leaving the hydrocortizone creme though, because the benadryl will work better (if you haven't grown a tollerance to it like I have, stupid sleeping pills), and more effectively. And weigh a ton less.

    Not that you'll need it or anything, but consider having plan A B and C for tourniquets if you end up needing one. I saw you listed splints from nature, so I figured you might want to get your head wrapped around that too. Just in case you get bit by a shark on the trail or something.
    Sharks! Now I have to worry about sharks?!

    I'm of the opinion that tourniquets are a last resort thing. Having said that, a bandana, or cloth ripped from a T shirt would work. You know, in case of sharkbite ...
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    Quote Originally Posted by PapaGarrettP View Post
    Duct tape instead of adhesive tape...you can buy a mini roll that is about 1/2 the size of the one pictured or make your own. I bought a pack or 4 and put one in each of my glove compartments and have one one my first aid kit.
    Yeah, I know. At this point, I plan to carry both, and I know that's hard to justify ... Medical tape conforms better, comes off better, and isn't as irritating to some people's skin. But, considering I hope to never use it, duct tape might just make sense ...
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    Quote Originally Posted by Spokes View Post
    Now that's the way to do it- make it all fit in a ziplock! Mine does too. I add a 1/2 oz. leakproof Nalgene bottle filled with either Betadine or hydrogen peroxide for wounds.
    I Like the 1/2 oz nalgene bottle of betadine idea. I have a few BZK antiseptic towelettes to clean a wound area. Most suggest cleansing deep wounds with just water - unless the wound is more than a few hours old. Then flushing it with something like betadine diluted with water is done to make sure there's no chance of infection. The problem we face is the potential of being a couple of days away from urgent care. At home, we can slap a bandage on a cut, go to urgent care and get them to clean it, and sew it up. We have to make sure a wound is clean, and close it up so it can heal without getting infected.

    Oh, after I woke up with my eye swollen shut due to a spider bite in New England I started carrying some Benadryl too. Lesson learned.
    That stuff can be a life saver for someone having a severe allergic reaction.

    Thanks for your comments.
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    I have carried a first aid kit off and on, but always end up getting rid of it. It is too small for anything major, and anything small I just don't worry about. Most first aid stuff can be improvised from gear you already have if you really need to. If I get a cut, I just use toilet paper and duct tape band aids. I was a medic in the army, though, so I can treat stuff and improvise. Different gear for different people, I guess. One thing I wouldn't do without is my magnesium and firesteel. With a fire, I can do anything I need to, but I rarely make one.

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