the main issue is properly cleaning a wound in the field. In most cases you will not be able to properly clean a deep wound in the field and closing that wound with anything from ductape to sutures to super-glue will result in a closed infection leading quickly to gangrene. Better to leave the wound open and allow it to drain and allow you to irrigate it to remove whatever necrotic tissue develops. The wound will clense itself eventually if you allow the dead stuff from that process to be washed out but if you prematurely bottle up that infection by closing the wound then it will rot under the skin and create an infection that can be fatal. <br><br>bottom line - unless you are about to bleed to death from the wound then leave it open and put a loose sterile dressing ( or as clean as you can get bandanna ) over it to keep out further contamination, irrigate it regularly and replace the dressing after each irrigation. Use only boiled sterile water for irragation unless you have some betadine solution or can create similar disinfectant. Avoid the harsh disinfectants since they can kill tissue as well as germs and the dead tissue merely feeds the infectious agents. <br><br>If you are in the field for a very long time with a wound that is becomming infected it is rumorred that maggots will only eat the dead tissue and keep the wound clean. IIRC this was standard war-time treatment during the US civil war. I personally wouldn't want to have to resort to that. The point is that back then they certainly knew of the risk of infection and had the skill to suture close a wound but couldn't create a clean enough envirionment in the field for that to be successfull, OTOH they did have some luck with maggots in an open wound preventing fatal infections.