Pocket First Aid Kit - Suggestions Welcome

[ShotgunBlast]

Lots of videos on YouTube of what people put in their pocket first aid kit. After a week of chomping down Altroids I finally have the container. I can't assume there will be first aid anywhere I go so I figured I'd throw something together.

Altoids tin - I wrap a rubberband around it so it doesn't open while in a bag, but a piece of bicycle tube would work too

My wife and I have a first aid kit for the house and one for the vehicle. I'll be keeping this either in my laptop bag when I'm working, in a camping bag if I'm out in nature, or on my person. Not designed to perform surgery, but it should do a good job taking care of smaller injuries that may happen in the field.

Everything fits in the tin and doesn't bulge. If it doesn't fit, it's not part of the kit.

Current contents include: 2 Q-tips sealed in a clean straw, both day and night cold medicine, 3 bandages, Neosporin sealed in a clean straw, 2 aspirins sealed in a clean straw, an alcohol cleaning pad, an antiseptic cleansing wipe, 6 Pepto tablets, tweezers, and pocket nail clippers.

Pocket first aid kit contents

My cousin already recommended I add a small dab of burn cream which I'll have to look at. Gauze or cotton balls would be nice, but I don't see how I can store any substantial amount in the kit. Any other suggestions?

[SpanishInquisition]

Nice maneuver with the straws.

If it was my kit, I'd probably opt to do without one of the cold medicnes, probably the night as the day can be used both, just misses the cough suppressant, IIRC.

I'd also try to get something for bigger wounds. Some of the female sanitary pads are compact, absorbant, and come in a pretty secure packet. They make a decent bandage for their size, as when I was in the military the field dressing was essentially an OD Kotex pad with long tails.

I'd think about closing it up with enough 550 cord to make a tourniquet.

Altoid tin kits are all about customization for a paticular owner and scenario. Like Algebra, there's never only one right answer.

[SHMIV]

Yeah, that straw thing is pretty slick. How'd you go about sealing the straws?

[ShotgunBlast]

The wonders of the Internet!!

http://www.briangreen.net/2011/07/diy-s ... packs.html

[ShotgunBlast]

Nice maneuver with the straws.

If it was my kit, I'd probably opt to do without one of the cold medicnes, probably the night as the day can be used both, just misses the cough suppressant, IIRC.

I'd also try to get something for bigger wounds. Some of the female sanitary pads are compact, absorbant, and come in a pretty secure packet. They make a decent bandage for their size, as when I was in the military the field dressing was essentially an OD Kotex pad with long tails.

I'd think about closing it up with enough 550 cord to make a tourniquet.

Altoid tin kits are all about customization for a paticular owner and scenario. Like Algebra, there's never only one right answer.

Yeah, the McDonalds straw was barely big enough to fit 2 Q-tips and barely big enough to fit the width of the aspirins. I was hoping it would be a little more transparent for the Neosporin but that white is really opaque.

Yes, I'll probably end up dropping the night cold medicine and maybe even one of the antiseptic pads (it are thicker than the alcohol pad). I have tampons in my home first aid kit to plug holes, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to fit that or a pad in the Altoids case. I'll have to try that tomorrow.

Good call on the cord to make a tourniquet.

[WRW]

A little Saran Wrap and some Super Glue couldn't hurt.

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

[SHMIV]

The wonders of the Internet!!

http://www.briangreen.net/2011/07/diy-s ... packs.html

Awesome. Thanks for sharing.

[mamabearCali]

That is awesome...going to have to try that straw trick!

[Jakeiscrazy]

Neat straw trick, I can never get the kit into a pocket form so I have a car kit, with a trauma kit separate for life threatening stuff.

[Reverenddel]

Ditto the coolazzed straw trick,


AND WRW IS CORRECT!

They sell a "surgical" brand of Superglue to seal wounds, and Plastic wrap can stop sucking chest wounds.

That's an AWESOME kit though!

[SHMIV]

...They sell a "surgical" brand of Superglue to seal wounds...

Flea, the bass player in Red Hot Chili Peppers, used to wear holes in his thumb from aggressively playing his bass. He used basic super glue to fill in those holes. I imagine that, to a non-stoned person, this might be a tad painful.

[Jakeiscrazy]

...They sell a "surgical" brand of Superglue to seal wounds...

Flea, the bass player in Red Hot Chili Peppers, used to wear holes in his thumb from aggressively playing his bass. He used basic super glue to fill in those holes. I imagine that, to a non-stoned person, this might be a tad painful.

I use super glue all the time on cuts that are in a odd place that bandaids have trouble staying on such at the fingers. It works great no burning or anything and it holds pretty well. I believe the medical grade equivalent is "New Skin" same it comes with a little brush and is expensive and burns. Super glue works just fine for me.

[OakRidgeStars]

Nice kit. Altoids tins are handy for all sorts of things.

http://artofmanliness.com/2011/01/30/22 ... toids-tin/

[ShotgunBlast]

Yeah, after I duplicate this kit for the wife we'll do fire starter kits and maybe the alcohol stove ones.

[VACoastie]

This is a pretty cool idea actually - I think when I go to the boat I'll make me one of these and carry it in my trouser cargo pocket for boardings or just general use around the decks. I've seen then before (from the artofmanliness website - yall should check into it more, it's got some great anecdotal stuff for us all) and for some reason never got around to actually making one. Just one of those cheap "handy" things I'm sure almost everyone could find a use for.

Thanks for making the thread Shotgun - next time I go out on a Honey Do list I'll pick up a tin or 3.

[Nemo24]

I didn't see this mentioned; razor blade. You may need to do some minor surgery and a pocket knife can be too clumsy.

[dorminWS]

Immodium is MUCH more effective than Pepto at stopping diarrhea, but I don't know it it helps a mere upset stomach. I like the straw trick, too.

[VACoastie]

Well thanks to Shotgun refreshing my memory on a project I wanted to do long ago I went on my honey do quest today and picked up 2 Altoid tins while I was out. With that, I cut out 10 feet of 550 cord to help crush-proof the can a little better and to give a tourniquet if needed. The contents: (4) 2x2in gauze pads, (2) 3/4x3in bandaids, (4) 5/8x2 1/4in bandaids, (2) hand cleaning wipes, (1) triple anti-biotic ointment, (1) small burn cream. The only thing I haven't placed in there yet is the Advil/Tylenol - I can't find a straw to save my life around the house so I guess McD's it is for lunch tomorrow before I go in for watch. I'll be popping in some anti-diarrhea meds in there too. Overall, a pretty packed can that fits nicely in my pant pocket and def. in my ODU cargo pocket. This'll be one of those things I'll never walk around without - just like the Gerber and my small BOB. I keep my small BOB in case I actually have to BUG IN at work - good ol' standing watches through hurricanes and whatnot. Thanks again!

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[SHMIV]

If you have a 7-11 nearby, I believe that Slurpee straws are bigger around than McDonalds straws.

[MWhiteDesigns]

Awesome idea. I will have to make one of these tomorrow.

Question, does anyone know a good place to buy good med kits? I'd like to keep someone more extensive in my car in case something ever comes up or SHTF.

Something along the lines of this.
http://www.promedkits.com/vtk.html. Just didn't know if anyone had any other companies they would reccomend.