Large First Aid Kit

[The Stig]

After taking an interest in field emergency medicine I put together a large first aid kit to act as a "corpsman" bag of sorts. It's based on the Maxpedition Jumbo Versapack LEO . As Mitunnelrat showed with his thread you can cram a dizzying array of stuff in these bags.

So here's the basic kit. As you can see this bag is meant to be slung over the shoulder. Now I'll admit, I've not yet used this in the field so I don't know if such a bag will prove too cumbersome but will keep you posted.

My main emphasis is trauma injuries, especially gunshots. I am around firearms a lot so it made sense to build the bag around this need.

NOTE: Please ignore that disgusting patch on the front of the bag.



On the side pocket I've got compressed gauze, triangular bandages and an emergency blanket to help keep injured people warm.



The font pocket has a lot of smaller items that could get lost in the bottom of a bag. There is a nasopharyngeal airway, surgical lube, burn cream, finger splint, CRKT knife, alcohol swabs, a syringe for irrigation, TK4 tourniquet and a "gun shot kit" (more on this later).

[The Stig]

The side pocket of the bag, the one meant for AR magazines has a bunch of Kerlix gauze jammed into it.

The top pocket stores a "gunshot kit". This is meant for quick and easy access by simply ripping the zipper to the side. Inside is a ziploc bag with an Israeli bandage, celox powder and a triangle bandage. Clearly this is intended for rapid response to a gunshot wound. You can quickly access most of what is needed for an immediate response to the situation in a quick motion.

I do have experience treating a gunshot wound and I found not having to dig through your bag for stuff was sorta nice.

Inside the bag is where the magic happens. The contents contain (and I'm probably missing something): another gunshot kit, H&H chest shield, celox gauze, large burn bandage, TK4 tourniquet, 2 light sticks, Ceralyte, 2 petroleum bandages, duct tape, Coflex bandage, 2 compressed gauze, 2 generic ACE bandages, 2 triangle bandages.

I've got the important items in ziploc bags partly to keep them dry but also to make them far easier to rip out of the bag in the heat of the moment. The vertical orientation of kit items also aids with this.

[The Stig]

I've jammed a pair of shears into the cellphone holder. They are held in place by the retaining strap meant for the phone. The black retracting lanyard is actually a microphone holder thingy for a CB. You pull the shears and the plastic coated wire plays out. Let go and they zip right back to the bag. There's also a quick disconnect.



The small bag attached to the shoulder strap is another Maxpedition product. It contains some MRE jam and cheese packets, itch relief pads, insect sting pads, ouchie kit, etc. I'm not sure I like this part of the kit and will likely change in the future.



The rear "hidden" compartment of the Versapack, the one intended to conceal a weapon houses a SAM splint and some plastic oral airways.

There is a small zippered compartment on the flap, located just above that obnoxious patch. I keep a pile of rubber/surgical gloves in there.

As mentioned previously I have not used this kit in the field so I may be totally full of hot air on this setup. Our goal at www.shtfready.com is to have discussion between serious preppers, not basement warriors. My goal is to get out in the field this summer and put the setup through the paces to see if it's viable or if it's best left as a "standby" kit in a vehicle or at the campsite.

[TEOTWAWKI13]

Nice set up. Est cost of putting a bag like this together? Excluding the bag itself, just the contents.

I ask because to date, I only have a first aid kit suitable for a scraped knee.

It is comprised of mostly bandages, some gauze, tape, etc, burn cream, triple antibiotic, etc. I want to add a kit to my prep that would be more extensive in nature, including Celox, combat gauze, etc. God forbid I ever have to use it, but isn't that why we're all here? The just in case?

[The Stig]

Est cost of putting a bag like this together?

That's a tough one since I assembled it over time.

Taking a wild wild guess I'd say $200 to $300.

[LUNCHBOX]

T13, I think I can help you out with putting together a one hit kit to get you started. If your interested? I'm talking about your basic pressure dressing, Quikclot (powder), H&H dressing and a few other items in a midsize molle pouch. (No offense to Stig but I can do a small kit pretty cheap right now, I have some extra items right now)

[The Stig]

T13, I think I can help you out with putting together a one hit kit to get you started. If your interested? I'm talking about your basic pressure dressing, Quikclot (powder), H&H dressing and a few other items in a midsize molle pouch. (No offense to Stig but I can do a small kit pretty cheap right now, I have some extra items right now)

None taken and you raise a good point. Some of the items in that kit were likely cannibalized from my existing stocks of med supplies. So maybe the cost wasn't nearly that high.

Wish I could be more helpful however.

Remind me and when I'm done with the move I'll take a minute and price up what's in the bag so we at least have a rough idea (if you were starting from scratch anyway).

[The Stig]

Ok...here are some rough costs. Most of these come from Chinook Medical.

Compressed gauze: $1.39 x 3 = $4.17
Israeli Bandage: $5.65 x 3 = $16.95
Celox Power: $2.99 x 3 = $8.97
Celox gauze: $20.00
Triangle Bandage: $.41 x 3 = $1.23
Emergency Blanket: $1
Nasopharyngeal Airway: $3.56
Airway Kit: $1.20
H&H Chest Shield: $10.71
Ceralite: $3.00
SAM Splint: $11.00
Colfex Bandage: $2.75
TK04 Cat: $5.53
Duct Tape: $2.55
Kerlix gauze: $1.92
ACE Bandage: $.71 x 2 = $1.42


So there's about $100 of supplies. Doesn't include the burn cream, ouchie meds, finger splint, etc. So lets call it $120 total if you were to buy everything from scratch.

Guess I really overestimated the original costs. Hope this helps.