Today I got two more first aid kits. The Curad first aid kit has a real finger splint, not a tongue depressor.

http://curad.com/product/complete-first-aid-kit/

The Rapid Care kit includes Water-Jel products.

I have no plans modifying these kits at this time.

Edit: I furthered examined both kits and I have nothing new to add regarding the Curad first aid kit except for the self-adhesive bandages: Except for the 2" x 4" strips, all self-adhesive are in one box, unorganized. I have seen kit manufacturers doing it this way before but never when there are as many as eleven different sizes. I don't see how a person can find the right size bandage without dumping out the entire box.

Upon further examination of the Rapid Care kit, I discovered another positive. The expiration dates of the limited life items are easy to find and easy to read. This is especially useful if you have to keep track of a lot of supplies. The drawbacks are the tape and scissors. The amount of tape provided is minimal. It's hard to determine if the amount is adequate for this kit. The scissors are as basic as it gets. They look like a smaller version of a pair of scissors in a kids' school supplies. Perhaps the only thing it is good at is cutting tape.

Disclaimer: I have no affiliation with Curad, Rapid Care or Water-Jel.

Jeanette Isabelle

Sometimes I get to use one of my first aid kits. A few minutes ago I managed to reinjure a finger that I don't know how it got injured in the first place.

When you have seven medium to large first aid kits, how do you decide which kit to use? I needed TAO (triple antibiotic ointment). In two of the kits, the TAO expired. Two other kits (one of which I built with surplus merchandise) never had any. That left me with three. I used the oldest of those three to rotate the stock.

Jeanette Isabelle

I got more medical supplies today and learned two things: One, non-stick pads are not the same thing as non-adherent pads. Two, 2" medical tape does not work as well as the 1", not for me at least. I'll stick with the 1" tape from now on.

Jeanette Isabelle

deleted, sorry to have imposed my thoughts

I have my kits grouped by manufacturer: Adventure Medical Kits, TRI, Johnson & Johnson, Jeanette Isabelle, Curad and Rapid Care. Why do I need to consolidate them to one or a few?

If this is about thinking about which kit to use, I did not spend any time thinking about it. I knew which kit to use. It took more time to write about the decision process than it did to decide.

Jeanette Isabelle

"One, non-stick pads are not the same thing as non-adherent pads."

What is the difference? Inquiring minds want to know....

Non stick pads don't attach to the scab very well and I think non adherence pads have no adhesive areas like a bandaid does.....

The best way I know to answer your question is to explain how to use each of them. With the non-adherent pad, apply the pad to the wound, a 3" x 3" or 4" x 4" gauze on top of that and finally secure it with tape or gauze roll. With the non-stick pad, place the pad on the wound and then secure it with tape or gauze roll.

Jeanette Isabelle