Walking Forum
Main Boards => Gear => Topic started by: tom83 on 18:28:56, 11/01/18
-
Im currently doing my First Aid refresher course through work. Im doing it with St Johns Ambulance, and they are selling a really good aid kit, but its a bit on the bulky side and would take up quite a bit of room in my rucksack, which I would rather avoid. Admittedly I haven't carried an aid kit on a walk, mainly because I haven't done enough walking for me to have considered it. This year Im hoping to walk a lot more, and for longer distances, and I am now realising a first aid kit is actually a essential item that I need to carry, but instead of buying a bulky one, Im thinking of making a smaller one up to suit me.
I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a smaller first aid kit thats suitable for walking etc?
Or tell us what you carry in yours, and offer inspiration for me to make my own.
Ta.
-
Why not pop along to Boots, Go Outdoors, Cotswold etc. They sell small first aid kits. I bought one that way and the only thing I have added is a few ibuprofen tablets and a tick removal tool.
-
And Compeed.
-
And Compeed.
yes, I forgot the Compeed.
-
Some people in this life are accident-prone and some are not, and I firmly believe I'm one of the latter.
I'm not saying it's the right choice for everyone, but I don't carry any first aid items (other than tick removers when I go backpacking, and I've only had them for a couple of years).
In 39 years of walking I have never needed anything of the like, and I always reckon that if the worst comes to the worst I'll bind myself up with the handkerchief out of my pocket or something. The only two incidents I have experienced in all that time were a jogging vicar (!) who was laying hidden in some bushes with a sprained ankle and myself when I did a forward slip coming down a wet mountain, didn't fall but broke a bone in my foot - and in neither of the cases would a first aid kit have been of any help.
-
Hi, I've steristrips. Germolene ,cleansing wipes, ibuprofen two different size dressings and a bandage in a ffd (first field dressing pouch) on the front right strap of my rucksack as well as a swiss army knife and a whistle on lanyards attached to it. I also have a blood type patch on the front.
I also have some other plasters/dressings, emergency blanket, micropore tape in a pack on top of my rucksack.
Cheers
Dave
-
My first aid kit comprises of nowt much more than a few plasters, a sanitary pad, a shoelace, some antihistamine cream, some paracetamol, a handkerchief and a packet of tissues. I'f I'm needing to administer first aid to myself or an other for anything more than a cut or a scrape or a sting or a sprain then I'll be calling out the rescue teams.
Occasionally I carry an emergency foil blanket thing but I rarely walk in locations/conditions that would ever require it's use in an emergency.
-
My first aid kit, such as it is, consists of plasters, paracetamol, tissues and cleansing wipes
-
Things to consider for a First aid kit in a remote setting
Are you on your own or in a group? On your own you might need a bit/lot more. In a group between you you would have a lot of resources.
Are you on day walks or Long distance?
What have you needed in the past? (very little i suspect)
Youve learnt from your course what you need to address and in what order. If its serious you need help, phone, whistle, torch. Open an airway, check for breathing. If they are not breathing, once you have called for help you need tobreath for them. If they are breathing then are they bleeding? Until you get to that stage you don't need much kit.
ONE thing that is really important in a remote setting is keeping the casualty warm. They will get cold very quickly if they are imobilised. That will complicate whatever befell the casualty in the first place.
Other than that you need a few bits and pieces for running repairs. Plasters, compeed, a dressing of sorts, maybe a triangular bandage, personal painkillers, wipes, tick removal tool,tape, suntan lotion, insect repellant. And put it in adecent bag to keep it dry.
NO don't buy the SJA kit as it is designed for a workplace, not a rucksack.
Robin, First Aid trainer.
-
Things to consider for a First aid kit in a remote setting
Are you on your own or in a group? On your own you might need a bit/lot more. In a group between you you would have a lot of resources.
Are you on day walks or Long distance?
What have you needed in the past? (very little i suspect)
Youve learnt from your course what you need to address and in what order. If its serious you need help, phone, whistle, torch. Open an airway, check for breathing. If they are not breathing, once you have called for help you need tobreath for them. If they are breathing then are they bleeding? Until you get to that stage you don't need much kit.
ONE thing that is really important in a remote setting is keeping the casualty warm. They will get cold very quickly if they are imobilised. That will complicate whatever befell the casualty in the first place.
Other than that you need a few bits and pieces for running repairs. Plasters, compeed, a dressing of sorts, maybe a triangular bandage, personal painkillers, wipes, tick removal tool,tape, suntan lotion, insect repellant. And put it in adecent bag to keep it dry.
NO don't buy the SJA kit as it is designed for a workplace, not a rucksack.
Robin, First Aid trainer.
Brilliant, thank you for your advice Robin, and thanks to everyone else for replying.
-
Since my wife sprained her ankle coming down Hellvellyn I'm a big believer in having a proper wide, strong bandage to strap up such things. How she carried on the last 40 mins with her foot and ankle blue and swollen to twice it's normal size I don't know. Before that I had a crappy little crepe bandage one as my only bandage.
-
I have no particular expertise, nor am a particularly experienced hiker and dont do overnight hikes.
I did however look to buy a small first aid kit for my backpack, I looked at many of the prepackaged kit contents on amazon and in the equipment shops and found the contents varied so much I began to wonder how much they were actually just offering reassurance of having a kit with you rather than actually being practical help.
For safety equipment I always carry with me:
Spare boot laces (anything that can double as string can be a help in many situations), a credit card style metal multi tool, chocolate. And of course a phone battery charger pack.
I sometimes carry with me (depending on the walk):
Backup torch, whistle, light emergency blanket
As far as first aid goes all I carry are small reels of Duct tape, durapore tape and micropore tape and ibrupofen.
With these I'd hope to be able to put pressure on a bleed, strap up a limb etc. (as well as patch a torn jacket/pack/zip etc.) ... hopefully enough to get to civilisation / call for help should the need arise. I figure that if anything happens more complicated than I'd be able to handle with this then no amount of equipment I could carry is going to be of use to me with my level of knowledge / experience.
This also helps keep my pack weight down.
-
Since my wife sprained her ankle coming down Hellvelyn I'm a big beliver in having a proper wide, strong bandage to strap up such things. How she carried on the last 40 mins with her foot and ankle blue and swollen to twice it's normal size I don't know. Before that I had a crappy little crepe bandage we my only bandage.
That's where a pair of poles comes in handy. You can use them to the extent that you barely need to place any pressure at all on the affected foot as you progress.
-
That's where a pair of poles comes in handy. You can use them to the extent that you barely need to place any pressure at all on the affected foot as you progress.
Good point. We only had one pole but wasn't a huge lot of use particularly as the path down to Patterdale is very rocky making it hard to put much weight on it and move at any sort of speed. I've not seen a sprain like that before where you can literally see it swelling before your eyes and the whole foot and angle turns blue looking like you're wearing a blue sock. Took months to go away.
My kit is based on things that have happened to me and focused on reducing discomfort so I can carry on enjoying my trip, rather than just dealing with medical emergencies. Over the years I've had headaches, backache, sprains, trapped wind (it's no joke! lol), bites/stings, blisters, scrapes etc so it consists of: One large bandage for sprains/breaks, a few plasters for cuts, antiseptic wipes for cleaning up scrapes, ibuprofen & paracetamol for general illness, valium (I get back spasms), a couple of Windeze, insect bite wipes, a couple of Imodium (I've not had diarrhoea miles from anywhere with only a limited supply of toilet paper, but I'm guessing it's not fun), an anti-blister lube stick, blister plasters, tiny tube of sunblock. I have a little Swiss Army card knife thing with scissors, blade, tweezers etc in my bag anyway.
-
........... a couple of Imodium (I've not had diarrhoea miles from anywhere with only a limited supply of toilet paper, but I'm guessing it's not fun)..............
It is even less fun if you are not miles from anywhere and there are folk wandering about but still no loo for miles! Been there, didnt do that!
-
A wire brush and dettol ;)
Jon.
-
Check out the rather handy looking First Aid Kit being sold by Dash4It.
It only costs £5.95, so even if it does not quite fit the bill, it might make a suitable item to have at home, and it looks well made and thought out.
That small red pouch it comes in looks rather nice, and i recon there's room for a few compeed plasters as well.
I recon its small and compact enough to fit in anyones rucsack, and it looks pretty decent value.
-
I haven't seen any made up kits that are any good for me, and I suspect that goes for the vast majority here. Far better to make up your own based on what you as an individual needs, and more importantly could use when needed. No point for example carrying a pressure bandage if you have no idea how to apply one.
-
What do you think of the little kit ive suggested, being sold by Dash4It.
For less than a gallon of fuel, it looks decent value, and might be handy for that rare emergency.
-
I think it's rubbish having just looked at it.
-
Well, what do you expect for the money.
-
Looks like a standard basic first aid kit. If you added some bits, would be OK. Better than some I've seen which inexplicably have about 30 different shaped plasters in them & loads of "cooling wipes".
-
Really, that's all most of us really need.
You can of course add a few extra bits and pieces, depending on what you think you may need, but for £5.95, what else can you expect.
Its a basic emergency kit, something that we all hope we will never need, and its portable enough to forget about in your rucsack.
-
It's so basic it's of no real use on the hills, fine for at home when the kids get a cut maybe. Plasters are so small I'd be embarrassed to use them, any bleed they covered would stop in a few seconds ;D
Guess the safety pins might come in handy ::)
For those interested (!) it contains:
•5 Plasters
•4 alcohol pads
•bandage
•triangle bandage
•2 safety pins
•5 gauzes
•scissors
•nylon pouch
The scissors look as though they could manage a piece of paper but not much else ;)
-
A first aid kit has to be portable, and light weight enough to carry every time you head into the hills.
Bandages, splints, antiseptic cream, the list is almost endless, and so will be the increased bulk and possibly weigh.
When you try and include everything, then the size and weight of the kit, may get a bit too large.
Ive sprained my leg once over the years, and managed to get some shocking blisters, but i agree, unless your attempting a very long walk, Pennine Way, Coast to Coast, when you will need a more substantial kit, this tiny kit will suffice for most of us.
-
... But i agree, unless your attempting a very long walk, Pennine Way, Coast to Coast, when you will need a more substantial kit, this tiny kit will suffice for most of us.
Agreeing with whom? I certainly didn't say that and can't spot any post that did? That kit certainly won't suffice "for most of us".
-
What do you actually do with a triangular bandage?
I don't carry one, mainly because I wouldn't know how to use it, though I know it appears in a lot of first aid kits.
-
Slings, padding, tying limbs together ... numerous uses. O0
-
I'll still go with carrying duct tape:
•5 Plasters (use duct tape instead)
•4 alcohol pads
•bandage (use duct tape instead)
•triangle bandage (use duct tape instead)
•2 safety pins (use duct tape instead)
•5 gauzes
•scissors (not needed duct tape tears)
•nylon pouch (not needed if you dont have the above)
Seriously first aid is not about providing first rate medical care you can go home with ... bandage over a gauze on a forearm held up in a correctly folded triangular bandage held together with a safety pin, its about doing enough to get you to safety or stop things getting too much worse until help arrives. If you're 3 days trek from the nearest settlement or on top of a deserted mountain you'll need more than if you're never 2 minutes hobble from the dog and duck.
-
Triangular bandages are great! As well as slings they can be used as dressings, as pads over dressings, as bandages, eye pads ect ect with a bit of imagination.
I try and carry a triangular bandage, a couple of bandages , steri strips, a couple of dressings, a roll of plaster, a couple of alchohol wipes and a pair of latex gloves oh and pain killers. I've got some duct tape wrapped around my poles as well. It all packs down really small and is quite light. I've also got some needle and thread but have never had any volunteers for stitches!
-
So this morning Ive assembled a first aid kit for myself. Luckily I have a bag full of bandages etc from my days as a rugby coach. My kit includes;
2 x small bandage
2 x triangular bandage
5 x plasters
5 x safety pins
1 x scissors (small)
1 x foil blanket
1 x ice pack
1 x micropores tape.
1 x sleeve of paracetamol
1 x sleeve of ibuprofen.
I figured that while Im only doing day walks for a couple of hours, I can afford to carry a little extra, as Im not carry much in my bag anyway. Also I usually have my boy with me and he is very accident prone. Im sure in summer when I hopefully will be doing longer walks, and some camping, the kit will be reduced to save weight and pack space.
-
Superglue is a good addition, along with steristrips. Great for closing wounds
-
I got a Waterproof First Aid Kit off Amazon, and it does me pretty well :)