First-Aid Kit

So I just bought this : http://www.rei.com/product/800907
I was wondering if I should take the whole thing with me on a 3 day 2 night hike. Or just take a few things? The main reason why I bought such a big one is for around the house stuff (tried to knock two birds with one stone). Any suggestions? It only weights 1.4lbs.

I'd suggested being properly educated in wilderness first-aid and then you decide what you want to carry based on your knowledge, abilities and level of risk associated with your chosen activity.

Something like what NOLS offers, or a course ran by your local SAR would get you off on the right foot and there is typically a block of instruction specifically on wilderness first-aid kits and what to carry.

Thank you very much. I know a fair amount about medical however when it comes to wilderness I do not. So I will look into a class, thanks.

http://www.trailspace.com/forums/gear-selection/topics/68957.html

This is a link to what some people do/don't take for their first aid kit and whether or not they have a "homemade" or store bought kit. There are other links (if I remember correctly) in the GEAR SELECTION tab. Hope this helps.

My two cents: That kit you are looking at is huge! Might be great for car camping, but I'd never carry anything that big while backpacking. There is a lot of good info in the link mentioned above. Personally, I carry a kit that has just enough stuff in it to patch up blisters and small cuts.

Be sure to read my post on that link. The "expert" that was posting there was plagiarizing other people's works and I suspect lying about his own medical qualifications. Another poster in that link lists carrying a powerful narcotic and never lists carrying the proper reversal agent in case of severe respiratory depression.

The fact is, no one kit is perfect for all situations or people. The proper way is to seek and attain education and make your decisions on what to carry based on your abilities and chosen activity. Merely copying what other people carry without knowing the proper application is naive at best and potentially dangerous at worst.

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Wow, you sure make some assumptions and your comments about other posters on that link are pretty harsh. So, I would ask, are YOU an MD, an EMT or "paramedic" or perhaps an advanced occupational firstaid attendant?

You do not know me, what my background or qualifications are and you just assume that I am not knowledgable in administering the meds. I carry for MY OWN USE?

Can you post your "credentials" so that your comments may be read as the opinions of a working professional in wilderness survival, rescue, and emerrgency medical care?

This seems only "fair" to me, given your comments on "Rescue Ranger" or am I missing something as it is getting late?

You're missing several things. I'm posting practical not professional advice. rescue_ranger blatantly plagerised a medical text as his own, while in the same breath proclaiming several medical qualifications and noting his desire to edit a medical section of this website. Since he obviously has ethical issues I don't see how suggesting the editors verify his claims (note that I'm not asking to see anything or for anything to be posted in public) to uphold a certain amount of professionalism if someone wishes to post medical advice as a licensed practioner.

As for your comments, my advice remains the same: you do list a powerful narcotic and not its reversal agent. Whether you carry it or not, or are educated in their uses is irrelevent. What is relevant is a niave reader could cause themselves or someone else harm by blindly reading and implementing someone else's medical kit without proper education exactly because someone omitted a key element.

Once you've bought a piece of gear it's hard to recommend that it's too much/little/doesn't fit your needs as a hiker or backpacker.

Really you're not going to need all of what's in that kit. What you do need will depend on where you go and what you know about your body. For instance, while I don't have it in front of me here is approximately what I carry:

Wound Care (bandages, gauze, plastic tape, bacitracin, and small scissors)
Digestive Care (Immodium and antacid tablets)
Ibuprofen
Ace wrap

There are probably other odds and ends in there that I'm not thinking of, but most of it is very basic and very compact. Unless you're medically trained you aren't going to be doing anything terribly advanced out there. For example, your kit comes with a syringe for administering hypodermic or IV medication. Does that sound like something you'll need to do? What about the two different kinds of pain relievers? Will you be setting broken bones for splinting in the wild? Then there's the fact that it's a quantity appropriate for a 6-person outing for a week or more.

If you're going to be leading small groups through deep wilderness, then this may be the kit for you. I'd strongly suggest that you get some fairly rigorous medical training before doing that though. If this isn't your intent, the average needs for an individual for a long weekend or short week could fit into a ziplok bag. And it'll weigh a whole heck of a lot less than a pound and a half, which is more than you think.

On second thought, why bother.

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