Originally Posted By: tomfaranda
I second having benadryl and aspirin in a hiking FAK. Benadryl can make you drowsy - it's often given to people who are going to, for example, be settling in for a several hour chemotherapy session (first hand experience on that). But in a hiking/emergency situation, the effect would be virtually non-existent, since the user is likely to be amped up.


Benadryl (Diphenhydramine hydrochloride) and it's drowsiness effect is different on different people. I had 6 tablets in a blister pak in my FAK. I gave two to my nephew as a "just in case", who I knew has reactions to bee/wasp stings. That left me with 4 x 25mg which is basically 1 day's worth that I stretched over 7 days. Next time in heavy mosquito country, I will bring more because while it was handy to relieve the itch, my body still reacted to the mosquito bites with edema in my hands.

My other issue was that I experience cramping in my legs when I don't replace my sodium/potassium sufficiently. Sodium is easy to get in any salt but I lacked the potassium which I prefer to get naturally by bananas or artificially with Gatorade. Powdered Gatorade (G2) is probably going to be a staple in my FAK in the future.
http://www.powdermixdirect.com/G2-Gatorade-Propel-Powder-Sticks-s/38.htm