Bill:

Nope, I am not a wizard, but I spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express once <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> I put the finger bandaids in the lid and very carefully pack the rest. I should perhaps post some pics. I will if I have some free time.

Stargazer

This is my EDC-FAK. It isn't altiods-tin based, but a Coghlan's pack II FAK.

http://www.equipped.org/ubbthreads/showt...;amp;PHPSESSID=

(The FAK-support kit is carried seperately)

I normally avoid hard cases like the Altoids can because I front carry everything in my pockets so hard cases get in the way of my wallet in one pocket and keys in the other makeing it uncomfortable, but after reading this I decided to see what I could fit into one myself. While I was at the store today, checking out, I reached over and grabed a tin of Altoids and decided to pile together the house, camping, car, and hikeing FAK and pick and choose till I filled the tin. When I got home I dumped the Altoids into a ziplock baggie, gathered the FAKs tore them all apart so I could see what all I had to work with (Anyone else feel like they could stock an emergency room office cabinet with supplies out of what they have in their FAKs?) and proceeded to pack the tin and this is what I have in there presently:

15 - 3.5x0.5in water proof medical tape strips
1 - 3x2in synthetic adhesive backed moleskin
2 - cotton applicators (Q-tips)
1 - medium safty pin
6 - 3in latex free band-aids
5 - 1.5in band-aids
4 - butterfly closures
1 - fingertip band-aid
1 - knuckle band-aid
2 - 2x3in non-adherent pads
1 - single use krazy glue tube
1 - ammonia inhalant
1 - 2 pack 325mg each acetaminophin
1 - 2 pack 200mg each ibuprofen
1 - 2 pack electrolyte replenisher tabs
1 - 2 pack 2mg loperamide HCI (Imodium AD)
1 - 2 pack 25mg diphinhyormine HCI (Benadryl)
2 - 1gram packs antibiotic ointment
1 - sting relief pad
1 - povidone iodine prep pad
2 - alcohol prep pads
1 - packet of sugar

There is a bit of space left in the tin but its not 'useful' space for anything that I had in the other FAK.. I was thinking about tripling the medications and adding a few others (notably asprin, all I had was in bottles) by packageing them from the bottles in Glad Press-N-Seal and labeling them with a ultrafine sharpie, but I don't know how well this protects things from water/humidity/elements.. anybody have any experience with this?

P.S. The Altoids are already all gone, I went over to my extended families house for a family dinner after I got it all together and showed it off 'as an exercise just to see what I could fit in the tin' (I'm a... 'closet preparationist'.. my family still thinks its all about camping/hikeing.. they never seem to question the fact that I always seem to have something for whatever is needed when its needed) and promptly took out the baggie of Altoids and offered them around to everyone, by the end of the night they were all gone.

Sounds like one of the jumbo tins- I thought those were dead!

I'd probably pull out the ammonia. I'd rather not risk having everything in my kit contaminated if it breaks due to shifts in the weight.

In my experience, pepto really only works if you been overeatting. As someone who lives with a spring, has many friends on springs/wells, and went to a college that is on it's own well, I've gotten to know the "joys" of the microfauna wars moving from water supply to water supply. Pepto never did diddly in those cases, but Immodium does.

Also, for the bulk, while pepto might work for heart burn and indigestion, if you need a long course because of the runs, Immodium packs smaller, lighter and has a longer shelf life. A two day course of the green stuff is about the same size as four or five matches.

~ 2.5x3.75x1 inch can, it says 'NET WT 1.76 OZ (50G)' from the packageing, is this the jumbo ones?


Its in a flat pad like the prep swabs, I could more then likely run over it with a car and it not do much more then get the outside dirty.

Nope, thats the standard sized one.

I wasn't aware that ammonia came in foiled pad form, I've only seen it in the classical vial form. That will make it a lot smaller, which is part of why I was thinking it was a larger tin. Odds are I'm overestimating volumes on one or two other things.

The Krazy Glue Single-Use Tube is only about a 1/4 inch with another 1/4 in the cap (that I have taken off).. that small helps in size.
I only had the one ammonia pad, there were a few other of the 'classical vials'.. as this type of kit is ment to be carried I thought it a good idea to put it in, along with the sugar for any diabetics that might need it while I'm passing by..
I found a few threads about waterproofing with press and seal on the forums but nothing more then a dunk... after I get moved into my new house sometime early next year I may set up a longer term test with cotton balls pressed and sealed and soaked in dyed water for a week or so to see just how water resistant it makes it.. but it should be good enough to protect the meds...