What's In Your First Aid Kit?

[GrayRhino]

Do you carry a first aid kit with you in the woods?  What's inside?  

Band aids, butterflies, super glue, neosporin, guaze, iodine, alcohol wipes, medical tape, anti-inflammatories, tylenol, tweezers.

[Shakes.602]

Sounds like Ya got everything you will need!! I may just use Your List to fill Mine with!! I might add DeepWoods Off, Little Bottle, just in case. Oh yeah, a Little Bottle of Hand Sanitizer, just for good measure!

[doeslayer]

I'm a Firefighter/EMT with some clummsy friends, so I have all the same stuff plus Lidocain,suture kit and dermabond(fancy medical super glue). Luckily never have had to use it.

[far rider]

suture kit, hemostats, super glue, asprin and advil (one for heart issues, one for pain and anti inflamatory properties) tweezers, purel, steri strips, gause, chemical cold pack, and get this, tampons! Doc once told me they were ideal for puncture wounds, starts small, catches a lot of blood, sanitary! Who would of thunk it!

[OB]

Some of you guys carry everything under the kitchen sink      :eek:      .  If it's just a day outing, there's not too many serious injuries that you can't take care of with a pre-made tourniquet, direct pressure, and a roll of gauze called Kerlex.  Heck, you don't even need that.  800mg Motrin, and any type of tape will do for most non life threatening injuries.  Now a full medical ruck is kept in the truck if it calls for more.  I can't speak on archery, bowmaking, or anything else that real men seem to know, but I can do a little medicine and survival professin'. Ditch the band aids- use tape.  Ditch the derma-bond, super glue, steri-strips and sutures- use tape.  There the same thing.  Plus, you don't know how to use the stuff anyway.  Ditch the iodine and alcohol, they're the same thing, plus you're in a non-sterile environment in the first place.  Ditch the tylenol and anti-inflammatory, again, same thing.  It would be hard for me to envision a scenario that couldn't be cured by, again, some sort of tourniquet, and some type of preferable clean cloth.

[WP]

Pretty much everything mentioned above, but I also make sure I have Immodium AD.  Nothing worse than than getting gut-rumble out in the backcountry and having to go, and go, and go.  Couple of immodium and you won't have to crap for a couple days...

[George D. Stout]

I carry a few aspirin, tape, and some gauze.  Pain is nature's way of telling you to get more help, so I don't want to mask all of it.  If things get bad, you need to know where the truck is and keep a cell phone handy...which won't do any good in some places anyhow.  The best defense is a good offense; don't be complacent in the woods...be alert...and that goes for keeping stupid at bay.  

By the way I always carry a Leatherman Mini-Tool which has all the gadgets I would need for small emergencies, and it fits in a watch pocket.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

What kind of tape are you talking about, OB?  

When I cut my thumb off, I tried to tape it up and the blood kept the tape from sticking.

Most your suggestions I agree with, but tape don't cure my migraines or the squirts!  I carry a shot for the migraines, and some Immodium for the Green Apple Two-Step!

I also like to carry a small pair of tweezers for ticks and removal of thorns.

[OB]

Tape doesn't cure an amputated thumb, a tourniquet applied to the wrist does   .  The tape and cloth is then used to cover the ugly stump so you don't pass out   :D   .If you're getting the squirts in the field, Imodium will take it's time, and to me, if you're carrying that stuff in the field, it must be a chronic condition; go straight to Cipro.  Remember, I agree on it, it just sits back at base camp or the truck.  Now if we are talking true wilderness medicine, that's a whole 'nuther subject.

[jhg]

.  Plus, you don't know how to use the stuff anyway.

Now, you CLEARLY don't know what you are talking about. But you sound like a handy guy to have around anyway OB.

 How much do band-aids weigh anyway? Better than tape any day on a finger cut.

Put a dental kit in there. Small, almost tiny and has a numbing solution and a temp filling compound. Don't need that junk you say?
Made one trip for me comfortable rather than a 7 day pain fest with exposed tooth nerves. Sure I coulda toughed it out. but why bother?
No wait! I coulda used mud and pine pitch to seal the tooth. Or numbed it using a glowing ember,,,
Darn, that was a half ounce of extra weight I had to lug around all week.
As far as anit-inflamitories, a twisted ankle needs instant and thorough swelling manegement, not a wrap it and go treatment. Nerve damage caused by not controlling the swelling RIGHT AWAY is why many sprained ankles are injuries that linger and sometimes never return to pre-injury function. Its super important to get/stay ahead of the swelling with meds and cooling if cold water is available. Taking a few tabs is smart. And again weigh nothing.
I also include an ace bandage. Nothing beats an ace if you need to wrap, whether a wound dressing or a splint or for an eye dressing. Again, not much weight.

Joshua

[OB]

Well, with all due respect sir, what is your formal training?  We can then 'discuss' from there.  When using suture material as intended, most "don't know how to use the stuff anyway", and introduce bacteria into the wound.  And you consistently carry a dental kit on any hunt you do?  If you read my other ramblings, that stuff is GOOD, it just sits at camp.  Obviously a newer member, as we try not to talk to each other in that manner.

[George D. Stout]

Unless you have an amputation, a tourniquet is the last thing you should use for a bad cut.  Matter of fact, most professionals only advise it if you expect to, or don't care about, losing a limb.  Pressure bandages on cuts are suggested.

Now let me say that I don't hunt on top of the Rocky Mountains, packed in for seven days, or I would have a different setup....mainly a buddy to go along.  So it's best to keep things in perspective.

[jhg]

Don't get upset. My training is pretty extensive but does not go anywhere thorough enough to perform surgery or prescribe drugs. My point was in response to your tilt that suggests all you need is a cloth and a roll of tape. Maybe so. But considering weight it is nothing to have some other things that can ease treatment while not requireing extensive medical trainig. I misunderstood the comment regarding using thread and apologise for that.
My comments where not meant to inflame your sensibilities. And resorting to digs about "new membership" is not really in keeping with the spirit of discourse here either.
Lets just shake on it and move upward.

Joshua

BTW I do carry the dental with me since its so small. Most of what I have is in the "big box" in the truck.

[The Vanilla Gorilla]

quote:Originally posted by OB:
Tape doesn't cure an amputated thumb, a tourniquet applied to the wrist does      

When that happens, I start eating the MRE's. That cheese in the MRE's will clog you up like a rat in the showerdrain!

[OB]

When that happens, I start eating the MRE's. That cheese in the MRE's will clog you up like a rat in the showerdrain!  

I obviously don't know what I'm talking about, as you are 100% correct.  A packet of MRE cheese can be used for exactly that purpose, plus glue for selfbow laminations, spackle for drywall, goo for flat inner tubes, and can also be formed to make a tree stand