Lupinus
Member
We hear a lot about BOB's and supply's for riding out and one thing that is fairly constant is a medical kit....but that seems to be all we say med or first aid kit and not some of the things that should be in there. Personally I like putting together my own because frankly a lot of the med kits on the market (at least in my area I have found) are garbage. They are overpriced and contain hundreds of Band-Aid's and not much else. Fine for paper cuts or most thing's you might encounter in everyday use but for SHTF use a bunch of band aids and a few pouch's of first aid cream isn't going to do you much good.
Me I consider there to be two types of med kit for SHTF- Bug out and Dig in. Bug out being smaller more mobile and prioritized with less variety. Not quite as many things in it but the essentials are still there and in smaller amounts. The dig in being larger and better supplied with a larger content of things and things that are nice to have.
So just what is in your med kit? Either bug out or dig in.
Here is my dig in med kit-
Note: I wont be listing foods or solar blankets and such that come in some kits or some would. Personally I consider them separate for such a kit.
Storage
1 Stanley 24" Series 2000 Tool Box. Tool Box's you can carry make excellent med kit box's.
Bandages
2 or more rolls of waterproof medical tape
Box of 250 band aids in assorted sizes and styles
Box of 50 sterile gauze sponges 4x4 I like the big ones. For swabbing you can cut and save them. For bandaging you have big if you need it or you can cut it down and save the extra for swabbing gauze.
1 ten count each box of non-stick large medium and small gauze pads.
7 3x79in sterile rolls of gauze.
1 2x79in roll of gauze for smaller injuries
1 4.5in x 4.1yard roll of Kerilex
2 10 count boxes of butterfly closures. Closes wounds nice and its better then stitching yourself shut
1 80 count cotton ROUNDS. Fills the same roll of cotton balls and are great for swabbing and spreading medication. I like the rounds though as they are more compact then the traditional cotton balls.
Medicines and the like
2 16oz bottle hydrogen peroxide
1 100 swab box of alcohol pads (I use alcohol a lot less the HP and the swab pads take up less room then a bottle and the gauze to swab with separately)
2 6oz bottles of Band Aid antiseptic wash. Flushes wounds, helps relieve wound pain and is an antiseptic. Great stuff.
1 8oz bottle of Iodine solution (kills germs and stuff)
1 6oz bottle Calamine Lotion- Anti itch for poison ivy and the like
1 4oz bottle eye wash
1 1oz tube anti-itch cream
2 1oz tubes first aid cream
1 36 count pack of "Swab Plus" Basically a q-tip with antiseptic stuff in it. You crack one end the other saturates with the antiseptic. Good little item to have.
1 1.69 oz spray bottle of blood stop. That or I would find some other blood clotting agent.
1 3.75oz container of petroleum jelly. Good for chapping burns and the like.
1 bottle each of ibuprofen and asprin.
Hardware
Scissors- One each of pointy scissors for general cutting and one pair of the blunted flattened on one end scissors for removing bandages.
1 50 count box of latex gloves. They aren't sterile but they are better then nothing.
3 instant ice packs- The kind you snap or punch to activate...SHTF and you don't have ice the old ice bag wont be helping you
1 pair of tweezers
2 Ace Bandages
2 thermometers- Both the easy read that goes on the forehead and traditional tube type of thermometer.
Various sizes of finger splints or tongue depressors for use in a pinch
Razor blades- Not the kind that goes in your gelette turbo but the flat ones (I prefer the ones with only one sharp side though). Or scalpels if you can find them. I don't advocate removing your own spleen but when you get a deep hunk of wood imbedded in your arm or have a blister that needs to be lanced they are a lot better then a pocket knife. ALWAYS sterilize them first if you have to do any cutting.
I would like to have smell salts/ammonia spirits (crack them pass and then pass them under someone's nose to wake them up) but I couldn't find the things anywhere.
Notice I have several styles and types of medicines that do basically the same thing, here's why- Liquids and ointments serve different roles better. If you run into poison ivy and it is large it is going to be easier to spread liquid calamine lotion over that area then it is an anti-itch ointment. Same reason why there and antiseptic wash's and the iodine solution along with those q-tip swabs and first aid cream. All do very similar things but are best used under different circumstances. Also they are outright different medications. Calamine lotion uses Calamine and Pramoxine while anti itch cream uses hydrocortisone. Both do basically the same thing but being entirely different medications you have more options and a backup if one medication doesn't work for it. Same with antiseptics and first aid cream. All of the ones listed use a different medication. If you don't get results with one you can switch to another and hope for better results. Also in the case of the calamine lotion the bottle is 6 oz's while the tube of anti-itch cream is 1 oz. The bottle takes up as much room as 2 or three tubes of the ointment would so in some cases a bottle actually saves space depending on the quantity you have.
So that is my dig in kit it's a bit big and bulky and if you bug out it will be a pain to carry around but that isn't what its designed for. At most it's designed to be carried to the injured person who presumably isn't all that far so it isn't designed for mobility, it's designed for somewhat long term dig in and not for bug out.
So what's in your dig in med kit?
Me I consider there to be two types of med kit for SHTF- Bug out and Dig in. Bug out being smaller more mobile and prioritized with less variety. Not quite as many things in it but the essentials are still there and in smaller amounts. The dig in being larger and better supplied with a larger content of things and things that are nice to have.
So just what is in your med kit? Either bug out or dig in.
Here is my dig in med kit-
Note: I wont be listing foods or solar blankets and such that come in some kits or some would. Personally I consider them separate for such a kit.
Storage
1 Stanley 24" Series 2000 Tool Box. Tool Box's you can carry make excellent med kit box's.
Bandages
2 or more rolls of waterproof medical tape
Box of 250 band aids in assorted sizes and styles
Box of 50 sterile gauze sponges 4x4 I like the big ones. For swabbing you can cut and save them. For bandaging you have big if you need it or you can cut it down and save the extra for swabbing gauze.
1 ten count each box of non-stick large medium and small gauze pads.
7 3x79in sterile rolls of gauze.
1 2x79in roll of gauze for smaller injuries
1 4.5in x 4.1yard roll of Kerilex
2 10 count boxes of butterfly closures. Closes wounds nice and its better then stitching yourself shut
1 80 count cotton ROUNDS. Fills the same roll of cotton balls and are great for swabbing and spreading medication. I like the rounds though as they are more compact then the traditional cotton balls.
Medicines and the like
2 16oz bottle hydrogen peroxide
1 100 swab box of alcohol pads (I use alcohol a lot less the HP and the swab pads take up less room then a bottle and the gauze to swab with separately)
2 6oz bottles of Band Aid antiseptic wash. Flushes wounds, helps relieve wound pain and is an antiseptic. Great stuff.
1 8oz bottle of Iodine solution (kills germs and stuff)
1 6oz bottle Calamine Lotion- Anti itch for poison ivy and the like
1 4oz bottle eye wash
1 1oz tube anti-itch cream
2 1oz tubes first aid cream
1 36 count pack of "Swab Plus" Basically a q-tip with antiseptic stuff in it. You crack one end the other saturates with the antiseptic. Good little item to have.
1 1.69 oz spray bottle of blood stop. That or I would find some other blood clotting agent.
1 3.75oz container of petroleum jelly. Good for chapping burns and the like.
1 bottle each of ibuprofen and asprin.
Hardware
Scissors- One each of pointy scissors for general cutting and one pair of the blunted flattened on one end scissors for removing bandages.
1 50 count box of latex gloves. They aren't sterile but they are better then nothing.
3 instant ice packs- The kind you snap or punch to activate...SHTF and you don't have ice the old ice bag wont be helping you
1 pair of tweezers
2 Ace Bandages
2 thermometers- Both the easy read that goes on the forehead and traditional tube type of thermometer.
Various sizes of finger splints or tongue depressors for use in a pinch
Razor blades- Not the kind that goes in your gelette turbo but the flat ones (I prefer the ones with only one sharp side though). Or scalpels if you can find them. I don't advocate removing your own spleen but when you get a deep hunk of wood imbedded in your arm or have a blister that needs to be lanced they are a lot better then a pocket knife. ALWAYS sterilize them first if you have to do any cutting.
I would like to have smell salts/ammonia spirits (crack them pass and then pass them under someone's nose to wake them up) but I couldn't find the things anywhere.
Notice I have several styles and types of medicines that do basically the same thing, here's why- Liquids and ointments serve different roles better. If you run into poison ivy and it is large it is going to be easier to spread liquid calamine lotion over that area then it is an anti-itch ointment. Same reason why there and antiseptic wash's and the iodine solution along with those q-tip swabs and first aid cream. All do very similar things but are best used under different circumstances. Also they are outright different medications. Calamine lotion uses Calamine and Pramoxine while anti itch cream uses hydrocortisone. Both do basically the same thing but being entirely different medications you have more options and a backup if one medication doesn't work for it. Same with antiseptics and first aid cream. All of the ones listed use a different medication. If you don't get results with one you can switch to another and hope for better results. Also in the case of the calamine lotion the bottle is 6 oz's while the tube of anti-itch cream is 1 oz. The bottle takes up as much room as 2 or three tubes of the ointment would so in some cases a bottle actually saves space depending on the quantity you have.
So that is my dig in kit it's a bit big and bulky and if you bug out it will be a pain to carry around but that isn't what its designed for. At most it's designed to be carried to the injured person who presumably isn't all that far so it isn't designed for mobility, it's designed for somewhat long term dig in and not for bug out.
So what's in your dig in med kit?
) surgery. But "simpler" surgical precedures the chances with you acuring the basic tools and knowlage are a lot better then they would be otherwise. 100% zero chance of a Dr. and you with a good knowlage of the human anatomy and taken the time to study basic precedures they are better off then nothing and if its life threating as a last resort you trying is better then nothing and there isn't much to loose. 