Don't Buy a First Aid Kit. Build One.
Walk into almost any sporting goods store or search for first aid kits online and you'll see the numbers. 25 pieces. 50 pieces. 100 pieces. The bigger the number, the better the kit must be. Right?
Not necessarily.
If a 50-piece first aid kit contains 30 Band-Aids and alcohol prep pads, is it really a 50-piece kit? Technically, sure. But that's not really the question. The question is: What can you actually do with it?
There is a difference between having a lot of stuff and having the right stuff. A kit can contain dozens of items and still leave you without something you actually need. And there's another question worth asking: Do you actually know how to use everything in it? Your first aid kit shouldn't be a collection of things you hope you'll never need to understand. It should contain things you know how to use when you do need them.
I also don't think every first aid kit should look the same. Your environment matters. A kit for an afternoon hike isn't necessarily going to look like the kit I'd take on a multi-day expedition. The farther you are from definitive medical care, and the longer you may have to manage a problem yourself, the more thought you need to put into what you carry. The kit should be designed around the problems you're actually likely to encounter and what you're realistically capable of managing.
That's why I believe a first aid kit should be customized to the person carrying it. If you are allergic to NSAIDs, having ibuprofen in your kit isn't preparedness. It's inventory. You need to account for your own medical needs and have appropriate alternatives available. The same goes for specialized medications, allergies, vision problems, or anything else that could become important when you're away from home. If children are coming along, their specific medication needs and appropriate dosing have to be considered as well.
There's another reason I like personal kits: the kit may be used on you. You may know exactly what you need when you're healthy, but if you're the one who's injured, someone else may have to take over. A small amount of useful information about your medications, allergies or other relevant medical needs can be just as valuable as the supplies themselves when you can't speak for yourself.
That's particularly important when I'm going on an expedition or adventure with a group. I bring my own kit, and I hope everyone else does too. That doesn't mean we can't help one another. Quite the opposite. If everyone has taken responsibility for their own basic needs, group resources can go much further when something happens that requires more than what any one person carries.
My own kits reflect the things I actually expect to encounter. I like having eyewash, tweezers and moleskin for blisters. I carry ibuprofen and Tylenol because they have different applications, and I carry aspirin in case of a heart attack (though it also may help with head aches). Small cuts and burns are common in the kinds of adventures I enjoy, so antiseptic wipes, burn cream and antimicrobial cream make sense to me.
That doesn't mean your kit should look like mine. That's the point. I've known people who add spare glasses, repair supplies or redundant prescription medications because those items address real needs in their lives. The important thing is that every item has a reason for being there.
And don't make the mistake of thinking that your first aid kit has to do everything. A basic first aid kit and a trauma kit serve different purposes. You might use one for blisters, burns and minor injuries while another is specifically designed to address life-threatening bleeding or other emergencies. Trying to combine every possible medical problem into one enormous bag can leave you carrying far more than you need.
Size matters too. A first aid kit that's so large that you leave it behind because you don't want to carry it isn't much help when you're on the trail. And when you do need it, you should be able to find what you're looking for quickly. Organization is part of preparedness.
I'm also not a fan of those tiny individually packaged medications that seem to come in every commercial first aid kit. They always seem to be expired when I need them. Instead, I use a small pill box that I load before a trip. Yes, it makes a little noise. I've solved that problem with cotton balls. It's not sophisticated, but it works—and I can check exactly what I have before I leave.
And remember that a first aid kit isn't something you buy once and forget about. Things get used. Medications expire. Adhesives lose their stickiness. Ointments dry out. You open something because you needed one item and forget to replace it. Check your kit periodically and replenish what you've used or what has expired. A commercial first aid kit can be a good starting point. Just don't confuse the number printed on the package with capability.
A first aid kit isn't prepared because it contains a lot of stuff. It's prepared because the right stuff is there when you need it—and because you know what to do with it.
Build your kit around your needs, your environment, your activities and the people you're responsible for.
Don't build a kit that looks prepared.
Build one that's prepared for you.
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