Anyone running a tourniquet in their first aid kit or as part of your pack load?
I have been for 2 years. A guy hunting near us slipped when gutting his deer and slashed his wrist. He lost a lot of blood fast and became delirious and started wandering around. A buddy found him and put a tourniquet on his arm and they airlifted him out of there. He would have died without the tourniquet.
Keep it in the top of your pack if you're going to carry it. I like the cat style tourniquet since it's easy to use one handed. When you need it it needs to be quick.
I wouldn't if I had the option. You need something that you can tension without cutting skin. The idea is to apply deep pressure and it takes more pressure than you think sometimes. The nice thing about the cat tourniquet is it can be adjusted easily. If you can get control of bleeding any other way, then you have the option to return perfusion to the extremity (or quickly shut if off if you're fix didn't work). An Israeli bandage, styptic powder or rolled gauze can be a limbsaver if you're more than 4-6hrs deep in the woods. Not to mention it hurts like hell when you cut off circulation to a limb.I saw a post or two about always having zip ties in a pack. This may be a dumb question, but could large zip ties be used as a makeshift tourniquet if necessary?
I wouldn't if I had the option. You need something that you can tension without cutting skin. The idea is to apply deep pressure and it takes more pressure than you think sometimes. The nice thing about the cat tourniquet is it can be adjusted easily. If you can get control of bleeding any other way, then you have the option to return perfusion to the extremity (or quickly shut if off if you're fix didn't work). An Israeli bandage, styptic powder or rolled gauze can be a limbsaver if you're more than 4-6hrs deep in the woods. Not to mention it hurts like hell when you cut off circulation to a limb.
If you get good with the two finger stuffing technique, then rolled gauze is quite effective at stopping bleeding from penetrating injuries.
*removes bow, kill kit, and tags from pack.Making a list (spreadsheet) has helped. I use the spreadsheet to ensure I have everything I need before a hunt. Use it again after the hunt to review items that didn’t get used. After a couple of years of not getting used, those things get removed from the list. Keeps me from having a pack full of useless items. (Exception for a couple of key safety and backup items, of course.)
Your hike would be lighterMy kill kit never leaves my bag... not because it's that important, but because I never need it. Now that I think about it I could leave my weapon at home and the outcome of my hunt would be no different
A lot of combat training includes make shift tourniquet training. You can learn everything you need to know from a youtube video. I mean honestly you can make a tourniquet out of just about anything. While carrying one isn't a bad idea, I get sick of all the "just in case" gear i.e. sat phones, extensive med kits, etc.Anyone running a tourniquet in their first aid kit or as part of your pack load?