First-Aid Emergency Kit

[Lyle Brotherton]

Yes Pete, I do know where you will be able to buy this Emergency Kit.

A frequent topic of conversation at brew time with the folks I train on the hill is kit recommendations, as some of my kit is used literally every day. So many people have been interested in the Emergency kit which I have built up over the years.

Since first starting this thread I have improved on a few of the items, such as replacing the Fox 40 whistle for the newer (and ever louder) Fox Sharx whistle, plus taken on-board other Forum members advice, so it now includes a simple backup mobile phone with a pre-paid SIMcard.

Anyway, bottom-line is I spent ages evaluating all of the individual items and I am now just finishing sourcing them in bulk, to put together as a complete Emergency Kit pack (everything comes in the clip-lock waterproof box) which people can buy from shavenraspberry.co.uk

Thank you for the prompt Pete, I will post as soon as it is listed

[krenaud]

Pete - Antiseptic wipes and creams are items that don't age well, so even if you have such stuff in your kit you must make sure to replace them.

Plasters and tape is another item that needs replacing, I don't know how many times I have used plasters or tape from first aid kits just to realise that the glue doesn't stick or the tape roll is just one lump of goo.

There is an advantage to putting your own kit together. You only have the stuff you really need and you then know how to replace items that become too old.

Lifesystems make a nice empty first aid case. (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lifesystems-First-Aid-Case/dp/B008MUR1ZC).

My base kit contains:

- Proper scissors/shears which can cut through clothing.
- Tweezers for removing ticks/splinters
- Scalpel blade
- One army type field dressing for large wounds
- Two rolls of elastic bandages for sprains/fractures
- Surgical tape
- Sport tape/zink tape
- 3M Steri-strips
- Gaffer tape
- Different size plasters
- Blister plaster (Compeed)
- Ibuprofen pain killers (anti inflammatory / fever reducing)
- Alternative pain killers that can be taken in combination with Ibuprofen if needed (Paracetamol for instance or Diklofenac)
- Loperamide / Immodium anti-diarrhoea pills
- Anti-septic wipes
- Dextrosol fruit sugar tablets (haven't found glucogel readily available here)
- Disposable bottle of saline solution


Lyle: Looking forward to seeing your kit. Far too many kits on the market are filled with stuff that is meant to impress rather than be useful.
 

[Oakleaf]

Bit late in on this one.

I'm sure someone with Lyle's grooming regime has this covered anyway  , but I like to include a mirror.

I spent a half day in some discomfort because a got a bit of something in my eye. Not desperate enough to abort day; though perhaps sensible option would have been to do so.  If out solo then it's twice proved a real help as it's much easier ( and safe ) to flick out/ wash away the offending item if you can see it.

[Hugh Westacott]

I use the mirror on my compass to chec that my lipstick is not smudged and that my mascara is not running.

Hugh

[Lyle Brotherton]

Great minds Oakleaf! Scott called me yesterday to tell me to include a mirror too.

When I was last with some USAF aircrew, their survival kit had a sighting mirror, similar to the Cold War NATO issue, but instead made of plastic with a foil mirror and a clear sighting hole, which had a star to align the sun.

I have not tested any of these yet and would be grateful for other Forum members experience and advice please.

[Callum]

Our jungle warfare kit, issued by the British army for training in Belize, contained a small polished stainless steel mirror for signalling with no sighting mechanism, like the type you mention Lyle. At distances of more than a few hundred yards, I found it impossible to aim at a given objective, and I was not alone. I also felt in jungle environments it was of little use, unless you could climb to the top of the canopy, which we never did, or gain a high land vantage point. Instead, with the abundance of wet leafy compost, we used smoke signals and these worked well.

It will be interesting to see how the sighting mirrors compare.

It was useful though, as a shaving mirror

[Pete McK]

In our Scout pack I learned mirror signalling and really have not thought about carrying one since, yet it seems such a cost-effective and easy way to summon help. I do wonder though how many people would ignore the flashes though.

For my prompt Lyle, although unknowingly, do I now get a discount