Frist Aid kit for BOB?

To start, you need to figure in how many people it will need to take care of. Do you want any over the counter medications like imodium AD, Benedryl, your favorite pain/fever med and any prescription drugs that you can carry with you.

For a premade FAK that you can add your items to, I suggest looking at Adventure Medical gear. They seem to have a wide variety of choices in both medical kits and survival kits and gear.
 
I'd recommend buying the things separately and assembling your own. Or, buying an already assembled and modifying it to suit your needs.


I keep several in my truck and I noticed some have lots of wasted space with things you don't use much, and you run out of certain things. And I've 4 different name brands/types Not one is "perfect" for my uses. (But then again I like to customize things)



For example, I don't need 10 regular band aids and 10 micro band aids, the micros take up space, but are barely useful. I'd much rather 5 micros with 15 fullsize (Thats just an example). Got them all for free btw.



My advice. Shop online and look at what comes in first aid kits, then try to find everything separately. (But thats just if you like building your own kits/customizing things)



Gauze, high quality band aids, the tape used on top of gauze, and antiseptic/triple antibiotic ointment are my most used items. (Therefore I like to carry more of these items) I've found the majority of my injuries are cuts/scrapes. (I'm a skateboarder so I use all of my first aid kits quite regularly).


I can promise you, a well cleaned cut with proper attention heals much better then an uncleaned, unattended to wound. I keep first aid kits in my pack, truck, room, ect.



PS: I'm thinking of adding a large syringe (not with a needle), so I can fill it with water/alcohol/peroxide and use the pressure of squirting it across the wound to clean out any dirt/particles. Its a bit painful, but it cleans an open wound nicely.
 
it will be for 2. guess im looking for a general frist aid kit and then i can add more specific things like meds/benedryl or what-ever else i can come up with
 
ICEAGE said:
I'd recommend buying the things separately and assembling your own.


I keep several in my truck and I noticed some have lots of wasted space with things you don't use much, and you run out of certain things. And I've 4 different name brands/types Not one is "perfect".


For example, I don't need 10 regular band aids and 10 micro band aids, the micros take up space, but are barely useful. (Thats just an example). (Got them all for free btw)


My advice. Shop online and look at what comes in first aid kits, then try to find everything separately. (But thats just if you like building your own kits/customizing things)


Gauze, high quality band aids, the tape used on top of gauze, and antiseptic/triple antibiotic ointment are my most used items. I've found the majority of my injuries are cuts/scrapes. (I'm a skateboarder so I use all of my first aid kits quite regularly).

I can promise you, a well cleaned cut with proper attention heals much better then an uncleaned, unattended to wound. I keep first aid kits in my pack, truck, room, ect.


PS: I'm thinking of adding a large syringe (not with a needle), so I can fill it with water/alcohol/peroxide and use the pressure of squirting it across the wound to clean out any dirt/particles. Its a bit painful, but it cleans an open wound nicely.
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good advice:thumbup:
 
I asked this a while back on a different forum in regards to "Is it better to buy a pre-assembled FAK, or piece one together yourself?

Usually, pre-assy kits have sub-standard stuff inside. A bunch of shit that you dont need, and not enough of what you do need.

Putting a kit together is not cheap. Think about just 3 different kinds of good quality wraps. Your looking at $10 just on that. Factor in the many other things you need, and $200 sneaks up on you REAL fast.

I broke down the kinds of injuries that I would be most likely to encounter, and started from there. Think about where you live, climate, ect.
Im still working on the one for my truck, but as of now, its about 8x6x3in, and I have about $50 invested in it.
 
Other than some well chosen drugs there isnt much you cant get by with some duct tape some gauze pads an ace wrap and some triangular bandages.

Total cost: $25

Now take the other $200 and take a course on how to actually make a difference in the middle of nowhere. If a real bad injury happens in the back 40 you had better have a dust off comming within the hr as no amount of gear is going to help. Costly toys buys you minutes not days. Street first aid is mildly useful, get a wilderness FA course.

Oh and for those who carry an EPI pen for you or the kids buy 4 more as they only last 15-30 minutes and benedryl does not always kick in good enough. Designed for urban areas not for the outback. Better yet get a preloaded syringe with mulitple doses in it.

Adventure MEdical makes good kits but they aint cheap and assumes one has a first aid IQ before hand.

Skam
 
Does anyone have anything to say about Chinook Medical modules that they sell?
 
Benadryl can save your life (bug bites)... aspirin your sanity. Tums, well, I need it just watching Grylls and Stroud satisfy their 'munchies' attacks. Some alcohol wipes with those bandaids, too... a lot for an Altoids tin. Be careful - only OTC meds - unless in their original Rx container.

Stainz
 
ICEAGE
Registered User Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 35

I'd recommend buying the things separately and assembling your own. Or, buying an already assembled and modifying it to suit your needs.
Click to expand...

Yeap.

I've never bought a preassembled kit , I find it much better and more cost effective to build my own.
A good FA kit is not cheap , and I find some of the items are not in my area of need , or I may have a lot of that item on hand allready , why do I need more , etc.
I like to find a good case or pouch , and make them from the ground up.

Items I like to include that some kits do not are a tube of Neo Sporin or generic , some of those alcohol wipe pads , a new razor blade in cardboard and to customize the meds I put in , such as aspirin and Tylenol or similiar and/or ibuprofen.
 
I agree with making it yourself. I also don't carry nearly as much as some people do - some large bandaids, two rolls of gauze, a few gauze pads, a roll of tape, small tube of neosporin. That's about it.
 
Make it yourself. You will have an idea in your head why each item in the kit was included and there won`t be surpises about what is in there when you go to use it. I also echo SKammer`s recommendation of first aid training, especially a course specifically geared towards wilderness first aid - the training really differs when it is assumed that an ambulance is within 30 min of the incident.

Some kit contents suggestions:

Wounds: band-aids of different sizes, guaze and tape, 2-3 triangle bandages + safety pins, tweezers; (syringe is a good idea + concentrated iodine solution that can be diluted in a nalgene bottle); latex gloves (at least 3 pair); mole skin (for blisters); antibiotic ointment. More comprehensive items may include a sam splint (but could be makeshift with other materials on site in needed); thermometer; water purification tablets (if you need to clean water prior to wound cleaning); bic lighter to flame kiss tweezers or pin.

Meds: aspirine, gravol, imodium, anti-histimines, (agree with Skammer - double shot epiniphrine pen); rolaides, cough drops, extra puffer (if it is for you and you or your children are asthmatic)

Other items: you can get a portable breathing mask or shield for rescue breathing. A bandana could be used as a makeshift face shield if needed in close quarters like a tent. An emergency blanket - always good to have if not in your PSK. A field first aid instruction booklet. Make sure you read it well before hand and are familiar with how to access the advice contained.
 
There is an older book out there called "Being your own Wilderness Doctor" by a Dr. Fogerty (I am not sure if that is the right spelling of his name). In this book he had the contents of a wilderness first aid kit. Most of the items in it are in the standard kits which you can build yourself. There was also a list of about 5 to 10 prescriptrion drugs to be added to the kit. These were very important for infection, bee sting, pain, diarhea and other things. If you are going on a long term outing you can get a doctor to prescribe them or give you some samples for you kit.
 
Great advice everyone:thumbup: i agree some of these pre-assembled kit's are spendy. i probly would save $$$ if i build it my self
 
I agree the AMK kits are spendy. Like was said, add your own bits to the kit. I bought some kits sold by firstaidonly for about 13 bucks, and added things to it. You can't buy all that they include for the price. With a couple of those, or one of the larger 30-40 dollar kits, you could make several kits of different sizes and purposes. Buying tape, then guaze, then bandages, then prep pads, etc....is a very expensive option. I buy a decent kit then add ace bandage, moleskin, finger cots, etc.
 
Be aware that Epi pens are expensive and don't last long or do well with wide temperature changes.

KR
 
Epi-Pens are expensive, if you have insurance you can usually get two per year.

They don't like extremes of heat and cold, that's true. No bees in extreme cold thankfully and you shouldn't be munching on stuff your allergic to because you should know better. Still, it can happen, carry it inside your jacket and out of the kit and you should be OK.

Skammer is correct about dosing, in an area where you have an ambulance available in a few, short minutes, you can get by with two Epi-Pens, in the wilds, you are going to need several of them.

Epi-Pens are just like any other RX medication, they can last over a year. If you purchase with cash or insurance an Epi-Pen that has an expiration date of less than 18 months, ask to speak with the Pharmacist and tell him you want new stock, not old stock. If he tells you that IS new stock you know he is lying his ass off. I have had Epi-Pens for my son that have had expiration dates of 6 months after purchase up to almost two years, so I know what I am talking about.

Also, when you have your old Epi-Pen and you are about ready to trash it, buy a lemon or lime and teach your kid or wife or whatever how to use it properly. The kids will find this incredibly exciting and entertaining as well! After you are done, the tip of the needle will be exposed, snip it off, place it in the original container or a coffee can with the spent hull and dispose of it so you don't poke the trashman by accident.

Personally, I like the containers they come in and keep them for storing other things and discard the body and needle in a metal Maxwell House can.

I would strongly suggest you not use any form of tape to close a wound. Get real medical adhesive, learn how to use it. Learn how to clean the wound, then how to close it with that. I have assembled a wound closure kit that fits in an Altoids Tin, no sweat.

Correction: I just checked my Moleskine where I have some records on this, the longest expiration date out on a Epi-Pen I have purchased is 14 months from date of purchase. So, one that is brand new from the manufacturer might be 18 to 24 months.
 
I like the AMK Ultralight series. I have 2 .7's I carry in the BOBs. You certainly can put them together much cheaper but, not being medically inclined and not very smart, to boot, I need a model to go by.
 
The deal with EPI is as follows:

If the drug is colorless, clear and with no particulate in it, it is safe to use out of date. However, it looses strength over time. I do not throw out or use old pens I keep em as backup until they are 2 yrs out of date then I bin them. Always carry fresh ones and older ones as backup.

EPI is DIRT cheap its the pen that costs the money. A vial of EPI 1:1000 that has 30 adult doses in it cost $20. If you can talk to your Dr and explain what you want it for and research how to administer, dosages etc... the multidose vial is by far your best option.

A few small syringes and large needles are a few bucks.

Skam
 
That's true, but for most people, their Doctor is simply not going to do that anymore than s/he is going to give you a bottle of painkillers or anti-biotics, "just in case."
 
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