At the risk of restarting heated discussions, I do want to at least address some of the recent questions/comments.


Someone on another board asked the same question, and the answer is I'm not exactly sure, as I haven't really kept track of that. I do keep all my receipts, so I could actually total it up if I ever needed to.

According to the excel sheet that I put together, the total is $4,561.54, but that figure does not account for any discounts. For example, the price I have listed in excel for the STOMP II is $334.99 (the price shown on Blackhawk's website) although I actually purchased it new off eBay for about $135 with shipping. My best guess is that I've probably spent somewhere around $3,500 for everything.


Thanks for recognizing that fact. The items that I chose to include in my FAK may or may not reflect the same preparedness goals that someone else may have. Just because I have a particular item in my FAK should not imply that you should run out and buy the same, and likewise, your medical history may require specialty items that I have no need for (insulin, cholesterol or heart medications, etc.).


It’s very unfortunate that a few people have choosen to steer much of the discussion around the meds that I maintain in my FAK. Some of the PM’s that I’ve received even suggest there is a bunch of wild speculation going on over on other boards – everything from implying that my doctor is irresponsible to having friends in the medical field stealing them for me.

I have an acquaintance on another forum that has publicly shared his story regarding chronic back pain that he suffers from as the result of a spinal cord injury that he sustained several years ago. The pain that he endures is such that his doctor has prescribed significant daily dosages of Fentanyl (an opiate considered to have approximately 80 times the analgesic strength of morphine).

I’d like to suggest that without intimate knowledge of someone’s personal medical history, second guessing a doctor’s choice of prescribed medications is not only a sign of ignorance, but is quite irresponsible. While I don’t feel compelled to share every personal detail of my life on the internet in defense of my FAK, only a fool would not realize there are dozens, if not hundreds, of acute and chronic medical conditions ranging from LBP to breakthrough cancer pain management that warrant the occasional or even 'round-the-clock use of prescribed narcotics.

Without trying to single out anyone in particular, I would have thought that the mere fact that I haven’t deleted my post and run off to Mexico in fear of the DEA showing up at my house asking questions would have suggested that nothing illegal, immoral, or unethical has occurred regarding the prescription meds that I have. I guess George Carlin was right when he noted that when you consider the stupidity of the average person, it’s frightening to realize that half the population is actually dumber than that.


A fact that has apparently gone unrecognized by too many.

I find it somewhat ironic that we can post modifications of AR-15’s and pictures of caches of amour-piecing rounds in the attic without people jumping to the false conclusion that we’re a crazed maniac plotting the day we will take out the local post office, but post some medical items in your FAK beyond your stated training or experience level and these same people instantly deduce that your life’s goal is to perform a needle thoracostomy on the first stranger that we meet experiencing shortness of breath.

Jim