After this fall elk hunt I "upped" my first aid kit/supplies. While on my elk hunt sawing firewood, the blade skipped and got my thumb holding the log pretty good. Bled all over the place in the snow right at camp. Luckily I had the gauze necessary and enough leuko tape after letting it bleed for a while to clean it, and then irrigating the would with clean (treated) water. LESSON 1: keep the first aid kit readily available so when you start bleeding all over the place, you don't have to dig it out of the bottom of your pack!
I also heard that elk 101 podcast about the broadhead in the calf and decided I was going to add more supplies. My first aid kit is around 12-14 ounces total weight and fits into a quart size zip lock bag. It is ALWAYS placed in a kifaru medium sized pocket attached to my reckoning pack on the exterior so I have quick access to it. My biggest purchase was the Garmin In Reach Mini, and its kept in the basement pocket of my AGC bino harness. Another possible first aid item in the bino harness is one of those cheap mylar blankets.
The first aid kit does have some band aids and boo-boo stuff, but goes well beyond that. I'm going through my list off the top of my head here, but it goes something like this:
Most importantly, For heavy bleeding/series wounds/ cant stop bleeding in an appendage: I have the SWAT T tourn, zip strips, quickclot gauze, 2 large 5x9 Curad Surgical Dressings/gauze.
Moving one step down in the severity/ for deep cuts or wounds I carry an ace bandage so I can wrap up the affected area after applying gauze if needed (Also handy for sprains, splinting, etc.) There is also about 5-6 feet of leuko tape in there, numerous sizes of gauze (3x3, 4x4,). I carry a small syringe to irrigate a deep cut and remove dirt, debris, etc to minimize infections. Iodine for cleaning the wound, bioclusive bandages for covering a wounded area, steri-strips to close a wound if not too severe.
Eye Kit contains 2 eye patch bandages, and two packets of eye drops (one time use for each).
Foot Kit contains Moleskin and small toe nail clipper. I removed the powder from my windicator and replaced that power with non-scented foot powder which is located in my bino harness.
Boo-boo kit includes: A few Band aids, tweezers, carmex, anti biotic ointment, alcohol prep pads, Iodine Prep Pad, 1 packet of burn cream, 1 scalpel blade wrapped in tape, 6 q tips, cold sore cream, 1 tube of superglue, Vaseline and cotton balls are in my fire kit, but available if needed. I also have a mirror if needed. Its on my compass.
Meds include a few benodrylls (sp??) for allergies, 2 aspirin, 2 packs of electrolyte powder, Imodium AD for the beaver fever, and some Tylenol or Advil. 1 packet of vitamin C (1000 mg). I have additional meds in a different area of my pack. Two water treatment tabs. The items in here are limited/designed for a one time or one-incident use.
My splint kit is simply the closed cell foam Thermorest small pad that I carry to sit on and the trekking poles I bring with me/use as needed. Each pole has some additional leuko tape on them, plus some duct tape.
