First Aid Kit/ Odd Items

Do you make up your own or buy already put together? And,if you make your own? What are some unusual items you can't do without?

I make my own. The one item i have always gotten made fun at is. I have Tampons and Pads in mine. Learned that from a medic in the service. Good for bullet holes, cuts, burns and the list goes on. Plus i have used it to lay out markers when in a jungle for land nav.. Or deer hunting with doe urine or red fox urine for a cover scent.
Plus they are cheap compared to gauze and sterile.
A space blanket, iodine, chewing tobacco, water proof matches, fat wood, benedryl, purification tablets, and the list goes on.
I consider a first aid kit/ survival kit as important as food or water.

So, lets hear what odd items you carry. Sarge

I don't really do the back country type pack kit. Mine are in my vehicles. Two thing I have not really odd but not in off shelf kits. I like to have Sam Split they pack small very versatile. I also use the vet type self stick cling. It's available now in medical stuff.. but when I first started using it was easier cheaper get vet type.

Mac

I have small ziplock bags (pill sized). For Tylenol, antacid, diarrhea medicine, Benadryl, allergy medicine.
Also carry small bottle of liquid bandage.

Duck tape and whiskey!

You want to put some lukotape in that kit.

For work on the water we carry spare clothes, hot hands, emergency blankets, typical wound care and medicine items, as well as a SPOT which calls the coastguard with the push of a button or tells coworkers we’re having issues but are okay at the moment. I wouldn’t want to be without these items honestly. I’ve been on a capsized boat, and I’ve been in a boat that sunk in January, so I’m in no rush to find myself in a bind without some kind of aid anytime soon.


Trapping I carry a couple typical first aid kits. If I were far from my truck I’d have better supplies. This is 2021, so not having proper supplies at least nearby is foolish at best in my opinion

I have the vet stuff also , I was warned however that the $1.49 vet rap had latex and the $14.99 did not have latex

not unusually items to my thinking , yes feminine napkins

needle nose pliers with a wire cutter , that way you can push the hook the rest of the way through cut the barb and then remove.

head lamp , just a cheapie but good to have in there


ok this is going to sound weird , but Wood Glue ,
glue is great for blistering burns , if it starts to blister , clearly get it cooled down first but then glue it can be Elmer school glue or wood glue I happened to have found little bottles of wood glue on a sale.
as the glue dries it pulls the moisture through the blister since the blister never breaks ot heals right down avoiding the infection that is otherwise almost inevitable.
I had heard of this , then being stupid and lighting a torch with a Bic It lit right into my thumb , hot , blister right away over most of my thumb , ran under cold water , but it hurt , big blister I got out the wood glue and got it on there , it still hurt , i ended up with a bag of ice over the glue but it worked
I would fall asleep the bag of ice would fall off my hand I would wake up this went on till about midnight , but in the morning the skin was oddly smooth the blister healed down on the damaged under skin no blister and I could work like normal

A real suture kit staple and thread, a broad spectrum antibiotic, super glue, real pain killer, An intabation tube. Field med book. Scalpels. All daily meds 30 days, with list for the real dr's. Lactated Ringers solution b.p.cuff, finger oxcimeter, silvadine cream, at least 2 fmrs radios batts. Stored separately, Sm. Am, Fm batt operated radio, batts stored separately, tank of O2 @ 2 liter flow will last bout 6 hrs. I have acquired 3 over the last 5 yrs. Small 22 rim fire with box of 50 Rnds. only have one kit here at home for just in case shtf situation. For everyday Carry. Ones in trucks and cars generic from CVS, the pro's will get there soon. Stop the bleeding, make sure they can breath. Keep comfortable and calm. Make sure safe is locked at all times one key in kit, one in truck, one on wife, one hid. Hope you never need it.
Case.

need something to sterilize bites and small cuts, stuff to stop anything up to arterial bleeding (CATS tourniquet) and pack the wound and tape it all in place to get to a doc. Gauze, peroxide, tape, tourniquet, scissors or knife. That should cover most life threatening stuff if you have quickish access to doc or ambulance. If not then you may need up to and including a whole giant medic backpack full of everything including IV, saline, sutures, and lots of meds.

Also training. a trained person can bail off in a bad situation and start using the torn up t shirt they were wearing to make bandages and do alot of good with no equipment. And a bag of everything is useless if you dont know how to use it.

Super glue, Vet wrap and Maxipads can take care of most everything long enough to get to professional help.

Great information. For training I would consider TCCC. This company sells some good kit. https://store.itstactical.com/collections/all-products-one/products/its-edc-trauma-kit
I carry a Rat's tourniquet everywhere I go. It will also work on dogs and small children. https://www.readyman.com/products/rats-gen-2-red

what about quick clot bandages? does it work?

Yes, sir it does. Find where the bleeding is coming from and stuff it in a little at a time. Some people tie a small Knot on the end first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p41qvnFn--c

I keep some in the glove box but have never had to use it thank goodness. Thanks for the tip.

yep. thanks

Single use staple gun can be handy for those not used to using sutures.

My line of thinking " Kit " is about the same as Sgt. C 's . Tut

I have made all my own. The usual stuff for the most part. My hunting kit, camp kit, and boat kit, also have a snake bite kit in them. Along with a BP cuff with stethoscope and oxymeter. And yes, tampons and kotex are in all of them.

I make my own. Half the crap in the ready made kits we don't use, and then there are gaps that need to be filled with the things we do use.
Geared ours toward our family and our hobbies, and what did we need or wished we had.
Made a kit each for my truck and my wife's vehicle, and another kit for our home.
Got small flat kits in our golf bags, one in my garage, and couple in my boys' cars too.

Some goodies in ours...

Band aids in variety of sizes
Gauze in variety of widths
Ace bandage
Foam wrap
Scissors
Tape
Butterfly closures
Krazy glue
Kinetic tape
Pain relievers both ibuprofen and acetaminophen
Eye drops and wash
Tweezers for thorns and splinters
Antibacterial cream
A little dental floss and needle, or suture kit when we can find them
Finger splint
Other stuff
We have a BP cuff and machine
Also glucose test kits (thats for me)

Jim

I’ve found most first aid kits ridiculous. Overblown box of band aids really. If anyone knows where to get a real one let us know. I’m talking sutures, blood stop powder etc., Also I’ve heard of flour, like the kind used for baking as an effective blood clotter.

yep. if you cut a finger filleting fish at your camp, the band aids in a store bought kit are nice. if something bad happens, they are useless.

That list includes some heavy duty crap. If you have an intubation tube, you're probably going to need some roc and fentanyl before you can use it. You would need to start an I/V or I/O before you can give Lactated Ringers.

You a paramedic?

Besides the ordinary, I keep ear plugs, moleskin, and safety pins in my first aid kit. Some small tweezers are nice to have - can be a big help in getting splinters out before they get infected.

I always have black salve (ichthammol) draws any puss or infection out overnight

If you have nothing else tampons may be useful. https://www.crisis-medicine.com/heavy-flow-is-not-massive-hemorrhage-tampons-dont-belong-in-ifaks/

Taking a TCCC course could make the difference between life and death. Bleeding is nothing to mess around with. Here is a simple, effective kit. https://store.itstactical.com/collections/all-products-one/products/its-edc-trauma-kit or something like this if you are around guns.
https://store.itstactical.com/collections/all-products-one/products/eta-trauma-kit
Like anything else training and planning should be done in advance.

A couple of things I haven't seen mentioned....
An old magazine...roll splint, fire starter, and entertainment to distract.
Tea towel...sling, bandage wrap, collarbone splint.

Training is the biggest thing. 1st aid as it is taught now is a joke. Usually it's just call 911. If 911 is more than 30 minutes response time, you better get more training. Know how to use everything in your pack and how to find 3 extra uses for everything.

Band aids are to make kids feel better. Lol!

Kart, wife graduated as l p n became r n could not take the injured kids she had to deal with each night. Took a different life path. Got into corporate life far away from med. field. She's 10 yrs. younger than me. Working on her Masters now, should grad. next semester. We lived in the city when we were young, moved to country bout 40 yrs. ago. I've just got med. training from basic training. Killed those brain cells long ago. Sister in Law. Is nurse practitioner wife's sister, she lives about 25 min. away. She runs all the small community clinics in this area of state, ones you probably see going in near your area. Like I said for shtf situation if those times ever come they and many other family members will be here anyway. We live on a very remote parcel in one of the states least populated counties. I built a big house out here just us and 3 GSD's n cows n coyotes. We are what city people call prepers, we call it Tuesday. Hope this helps your curiosity.
Case

Another good Hoosier, then! Isn't it good to be in one of the most free states in the union? I wouldn't call myself a "prepper" exactly. But, I've spent most of my life preparing in one way or another. Like you, I'm prepared to weather most storms for a good long time.

I was thinking we were talking about a carry-with-you field first aid kit. But I see you said you keep that stuff at home and your out and about kit is more basic. Sounds like you have some folks in your circle who could use those higher level medical supplies. Like you say... I hope you never have to use them!

Thank you for your kind thoughts, yes if more people knew about Hoosier hospitality they may flock to here more than they have. We have been blessed with good work that has been less effected by turns in the economy than most. Wife insists we have every kind of insurance under the sun, and you know what they say about a happy wife. We both grew up with parents and grandparents that taught us about our personal history, Great Depression, bank holidays, value of things of real value not just more stuff. How to not only survive off the land but thrive. To open our eyes and see the world for what it is and not what some talking head tells us what it is. To think for ourselves and not follow the sheep. We believe in our country, we do our best for it every day, we believe in the true spirit of the founding fathers.

Like you said, we don't call ourselves preppers. We call it Tuesday.

By the way you do know the definition of Hoosier don't you, I'm asked often, that's a six foot Indiana farm boy dribbling a basketball around the Indianapolis 500 race track while looking for mushrooms.
Case.