Flotsam:

Thank you for your very thorough post on this subject. A few questions:

Betadine and other cleansers are not used in the wound, but for the surrounding tissues...correct? Flushing a wound with sterile water is good once the wound is cleaned of debris? What about the use of treated water, (iodine) and what about the use of Neosporin or other antibiotic ointments?

The reason I want a couple of sutures in my PSK/FAK, is to offer another treatment option; not necessarily for me but for someone else to administer as well (like someone with more experience). During a backpacking trip years ago, I cut my hand in an area where a butterfly bandage would not work. I was not coming off the mountain for a week, and I needed the use of my hand, so I cleaned it, and sutured it myself with monofilament and a sewing needle (just four sutures), covered it with Neosporin, gauze and duct tape. By the time I was off the mountain a week later it was almost completely healed. Had I not sutured the wound, it would have been a major pain in the a** for the entire week.

While most wounds may be closed with bandages, I'd rather have a couple sutures in my kits, just to have that added option of treatment.