EDC First Aid Kit

I'll have to admit, I've been a first aid kit slacker for many years. I'm a pretty safe, risk-averse kind of guy--never had any major injuries, broken limbs or even stitches. I play it pretty safe, and as such, don't really find myself in need of first aid supplies fairly often. For a long time, my first aid supplies in my EDC bag were limited to basically a pair of tweezers, a few bandaids, a bottle of hand sanitizer and a mini-bottle of ibuprofen. This simple kit took care of most of what I needed, but I knew it was a "weak" area of my bag

Back in late July, I came across a YouTube video on a small, EDC-type first aid kit by a guy named USNERDOC. This video got me jump-started; a well thought out kit, with contents-list and everything ready to go--pretty easy to dive in and get-r-done.

With some scavenging through our medical supplies, I came up with about 1/3 of the kits contents, plus a few items that I decided to add for me--some Claritin allergy meds and some antacids. I picked up another 1/3 after a few trips to various stores. My recommendation on first aid shopping: hit Wal-Mart first. They have a decent selection--better than the drug stores I went to--and good prices. I ordered an aLokSak to throw it all in, and had my FAK 2/3s done. Took it on a week-long trip and hey, it came in pretty handy.

Some of the other items were a bit harder to find and needed to be ordered online. I priced them out from several online dealers and finally went with Rescue Essentials. Their prices and shipping were the best that I could find, plus they throw in some free stuff. Stuff came promptly, no complaints.

Here's the almost completed kit; contents are pretty similar to the original USNERDOC. I still need to get a hemostatic and maybe a few other small things - razor blade, maybe.

Content List

• 6x9 aLoksak
• Tweezers
• Gorilla tape
• 1" adhesive tape
• 10mL syringe
• Ibuprofen - 20 pills
• Super glue - single use tube
• Claritin - 6 pills
• Pepcid - 6 pills
• Peptop Chewable - 6 pills
• Various sizes of bandaids
• Butterfly closures - 6
• Moleskin - 2" x 3"
• Safety pins - 4
• Alcohol pads -10
• Triple Antibiotic ointment - 3
• Hydrocortisone cream -3
• Providone-Iodine ointment - 3
• Gauze pad 3x3 - 2
• Gauze pad 4x4 - 2
• Trauma pad 5x9 - 1
• H and H Compressed gauze

The kit has proved useful several times already, treating everyday stuff and a sliced open finger. The weight is minimal, and it fits perfectly into an out-of-the-way pocket inside my EDC pack. I used leftover supplies to put a similar kit together for my wife, which rides around in her purse.

If you're rolling light on first aid supplies, I highly recommend putting together a decent kit. The supplies--for the most part--are fairly inexpensive. And if you ever need them, you'll be glad to have them around.

May 2012 UPDATE:  I'm moving to two different kits - a "snivel/boo-boo" kit for the minor every day stuff, and a more dedicated blow-out kit. There's a lot of wisdom to keeping this kits separate, and I'm in the process of switching over.