Basic First Aid Kits

Deb and Ed M wrote:

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:


So Can anybody suggest everyday things that could substitute for first aid in an emergency situation?

Well, as a long-ago Ski Patroller.... our splints had to be easily-alterable and disposable. Cardboard is what we used - it's easily shaped to almost any situation, and when folded into a triangle around a limb - is remarkably strong. To immobilize a wrist injury, a magazine works nicely, wrapped around the injury and taped. And our go-to bandage overwraps: "cravats". Basically, 18" squares of cotton fabric. Can be tied around splints (or as padding inside a splint), hold gauze dressings in place, act as a sling, or be used as a tourniquet. Granted, this is all "old school" - but it worked.

We used cardboard splint on our engines and ambulances. They don't hold up well in the wet or in a backpack that gets dragged around the woods, A SAM splint can go though falling into the river and still work as well as day one..

That is the thing you have to keep in mind for a hiking first aid kit.
can I beat the snot out of it and its contents and still have an effective kit? Zip lock bags, waterproof pill bottles, ways to tie bandages and splits in place when it is wet , cold , muddy, snowing.

In a TC you still have to be mindful that you have limited storage space unlike a fiver, class A or a bumper pull trailer and you shouldn't go all out with a mega kit, but you can carry gear that would not survive in the backpack.

For the TC First Aid Kit figure out your storage dimensions before you go buy a kit it will same a lot of repacking and cursing when it fit that cubby shelf.