The shears are the AMK shears and they're quite light. My only beef is their odd shape makes it hard to pack around without wasting space in the kit. Now that you mention EDC I often carry a SAK with scissors in addition to a knife so I guess they are expendable. I picked up some 4"x4" pads today that will need a bit of room anyhow.

The burn pads aren't specifically for burns, they're for road rash. Road rash hurts! Proper care for road rash involves scrubbing or picking out all of the foreign matter from the wound...which hurts even more! The pads really soothe the pain.

Originally Posted By: Bee
P.S. : In all these years i've been carrying a first-aid kit in the backcountry, do you know which item actually *DID* save a life or prevent something from going really wrong? Benadryl caplets. A lady on dayhike was going into anaphylactic shock after being stung by a wasp. This happened roughly 5 minutes before we were out of the trail. She was complaining of not being well, becoming semi-conscious... I took control of the situation, made her comfortable and gave her three Benadryls. We had to radio the coast guard for help, they sent an ambulance and we met it half-way. To make a long story short, doctors said I may have saved that lady's life by giving her the Benadryls.

I didn't start carrying anti-histamine until my dad developed a deathly allergy to stings like that. The first time it happened he didn't know what to do and by the time he got to the hospital his leg was swollen so badly they had to cut his pants off as they were cutting off his circulation due to the swelling. He carries an epipen of adrenaline now but I don't ever want to be in a situation where I know that's happening to somebody but I can't help.