Can you elaborate on the sawyer not being considered propoer treatment for snakebites? One of the reasons I included it is because it can supposedly alleviate symptoms of many insect bites as well.

There is only one way for washing out the eyes, the eyewash. The others are ampules of eyedrops(1 saline, 2 artificial tears), which only contain a few drops each. Although I do plan on replacing the celluvisc with a different kind, it's way too thick.
I think I'll drop the antibiotic ointment to 9 or 10. Remember the kit will be used for groups of about 6 for up to a week, I want enough for several minor cuts and scrapes and something more serious requiring dressing changes, such as I described above.
I will drop the tiny bandaids, and 1 of the 3" gauze rolls, i don't think I can drop any more bandages without compromizing the FAKs intended purpose(which is probably very different than the FAKs of other people here - we each have our own criteria of what we expect our FAK to handle).

I know some of the items are for dealing with very minor, even convenience issues, but that is part of the purpose of the kit. It's not only for life and death issues.

Great kit, UrbanSurvivalist. Good on you for thinking ahead & being prepared. For your stated uses, I would suggest the following to help reduce the kit's bulk:

- drop the 2x2s & eyepads; 4x4s can be made to work here
- drop 1 of the triangles; carry extra safety pins for improvisation
- too much tape; carry stout 2" silk or cloth tape, & some duct tape
- drop the QuikClot. If it's so bad that other measures won't work, and you're hiking/whatever, the patient is screwed
- drop the penlight & penknife. You should already be carrying a headlamp & a pocketknife.
- drop some of the meds; your med list looks like you're trekking in Nepal for a month
- drop the petrolatum dressing; any piece of plastic will work as an occlusive

Think first aid and not long term care, only carry enough to deal with scrapes, cuts, bleeding and other problems that might arise. Don’t carry overly specialized items like eye pads and fancy dressings. Things like Xeroform dressings are meant more for long term wound care and while Waterjel burn dressings are nice Telfa and burn jel will do the job. Telfa pads can also be used as and eye pad. One roll of Transpore tape or cloth tape will work in almost every situation. Avoid turning the fisrt aid kit into a survival kit or equipment repair kit. Stri-strips and a small 20 cc (or 10 cc) syringe are useful for wound care and not on your list. Vacuum packed bulky cotton dressings are also available.

Interesting websites to look at are www.chinookmed.com

http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/ (.7 and .9 kits)

http://www.utahmountainbiking.com/ (first aid section)

http://www.aeriemed.com/ (level 1 and 2 kits)

Dressings & Bandages
0 - gauze 4x4 8ply
2 - gauze 4x4 12ply (big pads can be cut or folded into smaller pads)
0 - gauze 2x2 8ply
0 - eye pad
1 - Telf dressing 2x3
2 - Spyroflex dressing
0 - WaterJel burn dressing 4x4
0 - WaterJel burn dressing 4x16
0 - Xeroform petrolatum dressing
1 - 5x9 compress
1 - Trau-medic field dressing
1 - Pkg. Molefoam padding (moleskin is less bulky and can be layered)

0 - 4" gauze roll
0 - 3" gauze roll
2 - 2" gauze roll
1 - 4" adhesive elastic bandage (Coban does it all)
0 - ace bandage
1 - triangular bandage (with 2 large safety pins)

0 - roll paper tape
1 - roll plastic tape
1 - roll duct tape (10 feet at most)

2 - butterfly closure strips (add stri-strips)
2 - foam band aids 3/4"x3"
4 - foam band aids 1"x3"
4 - foam band aids minis
0 - foam band aids spots
4 - fingertip band aids
4 - knuckle band aids
4 - waterproof band aids, assorted


Topical Meds
4 - benzalkonium chloride wipes
0 - povidone-iodine pads
0 - alcohol pads
2 - Bactine antiseptic/analgesic wipes
1 - triple antibiotic ointment (not every owie needs antibiotic, consider double antibiotic instead, some people are sensitive to neosproin)
8 ml - Bactine (BZK/lidocaine 2.5%)
0 -18 ml - silver sulfadiazine cream RX ( this is an antifungal med that is not useful for 1st aid care)
1 - cotton tipped applicators

4 - burn gel w/ 2% lidocaine
0 - 1oz - aloe gel w/ .5% lidocaine (duplicates burn gel)
0 - sting relieve swabs (duplicates pads)
2 - sting relief pads
2 - hydrocortisone 1% cream
2 - Tecnu ivy skin cleanser
2 - Ivarest lotion (calamine/benadryl)
1 - tea bag

2 - eyewash 15ml (an irrigation syringe and clean water will work in a 1st aid situation)
0 - saline eye drops
1 - Celluvisc eye lubricant

0 - ammonia inhalant
2 - benzoin tincture swab
1 - Quik-Clot 1.75 oz hemostatic agent (try the smaller QR hemostatic agent packets)

Tools & devices
Trauma Shears (small folding scissors like those from the AMK Blister kit work great)
Penlight (use a small led squeeze light)
0 - Pen/knife
tweezers
0 - nail clippers (use before the hike)
magnifying lens

0 - venom extractor
SAM splint (splints are easy to improvise using material on a typical back packing trip, foam pads, clothes, etc.)

0 - tongue depressor

Misc (don’t make the 1st aid kit your survival kit)
1 - Slide lock bags
0 - condoms
0 - coffee filters
0 ft2 - HD aluminum foil
4 - chlorine dioxide tabs
1 - iodine tabs(50) (carry 10)
0 - NaCl packets
dental floss
0 - lip balm (carry this in a pocket and have others carry their own)
0 - superglue
0 - pr. latex gloves
1 - pr. nitrile gloves
0 - pr. foam earplugs


Meds (1st aid is not long term care)
carry small doses (like two or three) of asprin, antihistamine, analgesic and antidiarrheal meds.

Qty Drug Usage Dosage Max dosage Expiration
8 ibuprofen 200mg anti-inflammatory, analgesic 1-2 per 4-6 hrs 6 tabs/1200mg per 24 hrs 6/04; 11/07

0 naproxen sodium 220mg anti-inflammatory, analgesic 1 per 12 hrs, 2 @ first dose 3 tabs/660mg per 24 hrs 10/07

4 acetaminophen 300mg/codeine 30mg RX analgesic 1 per 4 hrs 6 per 24 hrs 11/02

1(2) aspirin analgesic 1-2 per 4 hrs 12 per 24 hrs 5/04

4, 6 diphenhydramine HCL 25mg antihistamine 1-2 per 4-6 hrs 12 per 24 hrs 7/06; 3/08

0 Zyrtec 10mg RX antihistamine 1 per 24 hrs 1 per 24 hrs 6/04

0 Pseudoephedrine HCL 30mg decongestant 2 per 4-6 hrs 8 per 24 hrs 4/08

0 chlopheniramine maleate 2mg/

0 phenylephrine HCL 5mg/acetaminophen 162.5mg antihistamine/decongestant/analgesic 2 per 4 hrs 12 per 24 hrs 11/02

4 loperamide HCL 2mg anti-diarrheal 2 @ first loose stool, 1 per additional loose stool 4 per 24 hrs 5/05

0 bismuth subsalicylate 262m anti-diarrheal/ upset stomach 2 per ½-1 hr 16 per 24 hrs 2/06 (this is Pepto-Bismol and not really needed for 1st aid)

2 calcium carbonate 420mg antacid 2 per 2-3 hrs 19 per 24 hrs 3/08

0 dimenhydrinate 50mg Dramamine 4/02

0 electrolyte tabs treat/prevent dehydration 1 tab w/ glass H2O 10 per 24 hrs 1/07

1 50g electrolyte powder treat/prevent dehydration dissolve in 1 liter H2O (water and snack foods work well)

0 tube glucose paste treat hypoglycemia ingest orally 8/03 (use a small packet of sports gel instead

I use these vacuum packed gauze rolls. In the package they are a little smaller than a raquetball. When opened they are as voluminous and fluffy as a 4" roll of Kerlix. Great stuff.

First aid kits can be quite personal for sure. One thing you could do is compare your kit to a commercial version of a similar size.

Experts are now saying that the extractor used on snake bite causes more harm than good. It does not remove much of the venom and can possibly harm the tissue. I think it was published in the 2004 "Annals of Emergency Medicine"; I saw it in Dr Weiss' book.

You will find some folks are allergic to the triple antibiotic. I am, so I may be biased. I had a reaction, thought it was some weird infection and saw a doctor. She said to quit putting whatever I had been on the wound because it was an allergic reaction. The doctor said to clean the wound with soap and water and "leave it alone".

Amen to that! You might want to cover the wound to prevent infection (dirt, etc.).

Nice to see all the various insight to this post. For some more feedback to my original reply here it goes: Quick Clot does work, but it like anything else has its limitations, and its a [censored] to clean out of wounds (later down the trail), a scalple blade barely weighs an ounce, but if any version of a minor surgical senario arrises, at least you have clean sharp instruments (ie. lance wound, trach, dig out the splinter from hell-but again these are for the advanced practitioner so its up to you ), gloves-well waht if your not taking care of your friends and its on the side of the road/trail-that extra pair (i say 3pr) would be nice espically if you need to change them during your treatment-lets face it if you've just stopped a nice arterial bleed and have that under control, your gonna be soaked, so why not toss in that back up pair, a few ounces of glove weight is a lot less than the weight of a disease like hiv or hepatits., cpr shield-a micro shield is light weight ...but its up to you ultimately, but if your the one trying to revive that inferior MI, or choking senario-look out for the "vomit to follow!" SAM splint someone mentioned is easy to improv-true, but when you need a plint you can ask for a better one -and considering the weight is not an issue period and they can even just line the bottom of yoru kit or backpack, why not use one..........some times you DONT want to go destroy your pack to make a splint for a simple ankle fx or minor greenstick fx. Sawyer extractor not longer top choice for snake bite.........well there are several research articles out on this , but it still could prove valuable if applied immedately-the theory is that you'll do damage to the tissue by the venom being suspended in the tissue during suction-this is true but if there is the slightest chance you could help reduce the envenomation in any bite or sting...............it couldnt hurt to try............and when i think of the places i could possibly be (senario) when i may be bitten.........if im lookig at 2-3 day walk out...........you better hope ANYTHING may lessen the impact of a severe bite/sting

I imagine you can wash and reuse bandages in the field, but it's not practical to recycle dressings. Do they fall apart if you try to boil them?

I like and use the same multplicity of meds that treat the same thing. Especially pain meds. Some people can take one kind but not another. By having different kinds doesn't mean you are carrying more total but gives you flexability.

I agree with some to much tape.

As to rolls of gauze. Their function is to hold the bandage in place. While the bandage that is in contact with the wound must or should be sterial thge dressing does not need to be and most gauze rolls are not. I would chuck them and go with 2 ace bandages. Either a pair of 2 inchers or a 2 and a 4. The one not in use can be washed for future changes. If you realy ned semi-sterilization you can boil them. And if you vacume pack them it will greatly reduce the bulk. They can then do double duty for sprains and the like.

What no vacume packing machine. Put them in Ziploc type bag. Place on the floor. Put a book or board over the bag. Then sit on the whole mess. Once you have squeezed out the air seal the bag. The poorman's vacume packing method.

You might think about the Leatherman Micra as a replacement for the trama shears and penknife. While not as good it is a more compact package.

Nail clippers would go in be more of a personal care item than a first aid item. If you want one it goes elsewhere.

Most everything else has been covered by others.