First Aid kid

[kfrweaving]

After yesterdays soaking i came back and discovered the first aid kit drenched through. Not a great bag in terms of waterproofness! Some things in the first aid kit are fine, but will get a few other things to pack inside it.
Do people here take a ready packed one ie, from Boots or any of the outdoor shops or does anyone, just make up their own first aid kit?
Just curious to know.

[dazza_mac]

I bought a Coghlans Trek III first aid kit four or five years ago when I convinced my wife to start hillwalking. There was enough in the kit to start with but over the years I have added to it. The case was big enough to easily add to and now includes, amongst other things, painkillers, Compeed patches, electrical tape (great for blisters) even a survival blanket! The only things that have been used are plasters and painkillers (touch wood) and suprisingly never on a hillwalk! Incidentally, I always pack the kit (and other things, phone, map prints etc) in a large, resealable sandwich bag. It gives that wee bit extra waterproof-ness (at no additional weight) and unitl now has proved very effective! Daz

[rabthecairnterrier]

Made up my own with a few extras - spare bootlace, small roll of gaffa tape (useful for lots of things incl. 1st aid), emergency food (glucose tablets), a couple of cable ties (can be used for all sorts of emergency repairs) and a cheapo basic spare compass. All housed in a small drybag. Always have some ibruprofen because as well as being a painkiller it is anti-inflamatory and therefore good for strains and sprains. It's a good idea to get some basic 1st aid training too - probably more important than the actual kit!

[RicKamila]

I bought a small first aid kit from Sainsburys and then transfered most of the things to a zipped sandwich bag so that I could save weight and room in my bag and keep it waterproof.

[Caberfeidh]

For convenience I use a wire saw for amputations, a blowtorch for heating up the branding~irons and a couple of native porters to carry the cauldron of leeches. Covers most basics, I find.

[kfrweaving]

For convenience I use a wire saw for amputations, a blowtorch for heating up the branding~irons and a couple of native porters to carry the cauldron of leeches. Covers most basics, I find.

I just knew there would be someone who would come up with an answer like that!
Caberfeidh i don't have a wire saw, but a jewellers coping saw might be good for finger & toes.
Have used a torches before, but just for annealing metals. And i will just keep my fingers crossed
that i don't come across any leeches!
Always good to keep an positive and creative mind about first aid

Seriously -
Will wrap the first aid kit in a plastic food bag to avoid any other soakings!
Got a bandage today as the other one had soaked through thanks to the plastic wrapping
to being great. Will be more thorough to check everything when i come back after a walk!
Thanks for the comments

[HighlandSC]

Good sandwich/freezer bags are the answer!

I have a first aid kit inside a freezer bag that I leave at the bottom of my bag. I keep a few plasters, blister patches and tick twister in a seperate sandwich bag in the rucksack lid for easy access.

[Fudgie]

I can't be the only one who after reading the thread title has visions of a small child being dragged along with a first aid kit strapped to their back

[HighlandSC]

I can't be the only one who after reading the thread title has visions of a small child being dragged along with a first aid kit strapped to their back

You're probably the only one who realised the mistake! I sure missed it.

[Northguy]

Haha,

@the kid vs kit joke. Missed the spelling mistake myself. On a more serious note: for starters you could use this site to determine the contents of a convenient kit:

http://www.myfirstaidkit.eu/pages/Start.html

I found the Mountaineering version a bit too bulky for backpacking purposes, so I use the "Walkers" version as a starting point, but I have added some additional items:
* Some tie-wraps
* Golden heat preserving blanket
* Safety whistle (although this is not in my first aid kit but on the same cord as my compass)
* Small roll of High tack tape (also useful to mend clothes / tent / other stuff )
* Ticked Off tick remover
* Ibuprofen (against fever / painkiller)
* A strip of Loperamide containing pills like Imodium.

The whole package wrapped in a Zip-lock bag to keep dry.

[kfrweaving]

Ok, complete muppet to have spelt kit wrong!
Well done for those who spotted it , especially Fudgie
By the time i had realised it i didn't know how to go back and change
the spelling!

Anyway!
the high tack tape sounds good to take. I can see why there was a green face beside
the loperamide! Not nice!
But thank you for these lists.

[tenohfive]

I tend to buy a kit, keep the bandages and plasters and add:
Immodium
Antihistamines
Ibuprofen
Dioralyte

[HighlandSC]

If you take walking poles a good trick is to wrap a couple of feet of duct tape around them at the top. I do this and it's came in handy to bodge a repair to clothes on the hill.