My Backpacking Medical Kit – A Backcountry Med Kit
My Backpacking Medical Kit – A Backcountry Med Kit
A backpacking medical kit for the backcountry is a necessity. In this video I show you exactly what I bring on the majority of my ultralight and lightweight backpacking trips. This ultralight backpacking gear medical med kit is the Adventure Medical Kit 5. Backpack safely safety.
My How To Backpack And Be Safe Video https://youtu.be/6H6kXE-C4qw
The Gear:
MEDICAL KIT Adventure Medical Kit 5 https://amzn.to/2X5Nlh4
LEUKO TAPE https://amzn.to/2PfKajV
INSECT REPELLANT (PICARDIN) LOTION https://amzn.to/2UpAnsu
INSECT REPELLANT (PERMETHRIN) SPRAY https://amzn.to/2IqGk7g
My Other Go To Gear:
AWESOME Down Jacket – Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer: https://amzn.to/2DwUkIG
Cheaper but still GREAT down Jacket: https://amzn.to/2TbLmpJ
THE BEST Chair – Helinox Chair Zero: https://amzn.to/2RLFFCv
AMAZING Headlamp – Nitecore NU25: https://amzn.to/2CJ7DEh
EPIC Pot – Evernew Pasta Pot 1L: https://amzn.to/2MyTs9G
ULTRALIGHT Stove – BRS Stove: https://amzn.to/2RMV8SM
My HAT https://amzn.to/2VGKieB
My OTHER hat https://amzn.to/2GWuJvK
My Camera Gear:
MAIN CAMERA Canon EOS R https://amzn.to/2UJ6IQi
TRAIL CAMERA Canon G7X Mark ii https://amzn.to/2MizHCX
MAIN LENSE Sigma 24mm-70mm F2.8 Art Lens https://amzn.to/2sysGVC
TRAIL MIC Rode Video Micro Mic https://amzn.to/2FGD9Gj
TALKING HEAD MIC Boya Lavalier Mic https://amzn.to/2CrjsPt
I think it’s great that Jim from Dunder Mifflin found a hobby.
just happy to support
Good stuff.
Interesting medical kit setup you got there Dan Becker. We are a manufacturer of medical products in the US, including high-quality medical kits for backpackers, and would like to augment your medical capabilities with a couple of free product samples (medical kits) if you’re interested.
exopaksystems@gmail.com
-Heinrich
So it appears that permethrin is banned since 2021 in the U.S., EU, and Canada at the least, as it has been discovered to harm the nervous system and potentially cause brain defects, especially in children… just thought I’d point that out.
This was aweful
Come up to Northern Wisconsin. I see more bears than people!
Prescription medications – enough for your trip and a few days more. I’ve dropped some, and any trip can have delays.
Get on with it!
"I’ve not had any traumatic incidents on the trail" … I wonder if your kit would change at all after everything that happened?
Hold up you said you sleep with contacts on?
The alcohol preps make great fire starters as well!
Goto 3:30 to skip all of the nonsense. Sorry, Dan.
thanks Dan. f__ in love you and stringer! peace, be healthy
great stuff! I took your advice and also found this more complete diy first aid kit from a nurse in this video: https://youtu.be/vcMolP7ePUo Really informative!
One bad fall onto a stick is all it takes to kill you
How did I just find you? You’re nailing it. I just power watched a bunch of your stuff, and you are bang on- hiking poles are not for the old, so underrated! Buffs are THE BEST. Friends don’t get it until they have gone backcountry themselves. I often go backcountry in Algonquin Ontario, and you have this dialed right in. Leukotape is legit the best. Keep giving awesome advice. Any newbies watching… this man knows what is up.
Great advice. I’m putting a first aid kit together myself for day hikes, a bit tougher to reach a road but if anything goes really wrong – broken leg ect, there is the rescue helicopter with properly trained medics. Btw you remind me of actor Jeffery Dean Morgan.
Great kit! Kudos to you for having a triangular bandage (your gauze) in your med kit. They are probably the most versatile tool in your kit. You can use it to splint broken bones, make a compression dressing over gauze, use as a sling, and even makeshift a tourniquet. Can also use it for cordage or a fire starter in emergencies!
Ear plugs are key!
Picked up two of these Love the bags just for the reason you said "YELLOW" means first aid. everyone knows now on me where it is. I have modified the contents slightly as well. Good Content in the video. I’m a big one for Fingernail clippers just a small one.
You also could be suffering compression headaches from wearing tighter head gear in the winter. I also thought at first that my problem was hydration and then I noticed when my beanie came off the headache slowed.
I like the small medkits that fit in my backpack compartment
Hi i also add celox powder grate for any cuts and you dont have to worry about bandaids and gauzes
That wasnt gauze, it was a triangular bandage for a broken or sprained arm.
Hey just wanted to say thanks for sharing! From gear head to gear head I know I can trust the gear you use because I know from watching your videos you are as passionate as I am. Many thanks!
Crazy … I have exactly the same one…. added some Vitamin I , Benadry and aspirin to mine just incase. 😀
Don’t sleep with your contact lenses that’s a recipe for disaster. They can dry out, get stuck behind your eye.
I’m sorry, but you have no idea what you’re talking about. Better that you did not do this video at all. Band aids, really?
That is a very good starter first aid kit. For some smaller injuries like cuts and bruises. That people get while hiking through the trails.
I was able to find a really nice first aid kit. When I went to one of those Pick-A-Part places. Where you can buy parts for vehicles and as I was looking around for the type of vehicle. That I needed a part for I happened to see a pretty much brand new Mercedes Benz that had been totaled in a front end accident.
So I figured out how to open the trunk so I could look around in it.
And I found a really nice first aid kit that came with just about anything and everything you would need. In case someone were to get hurt. And everything in it came in a nice vinyl case.
So I took that and finally ended up finding the part I needed. And bought both of them and when I got back home.
I opened up the first aid kit and was amazed by just how much stuff they were able to pack into it.
The vinyl case is about 14" inches long by 8" inches wide by 4" inches thick.
And though I probably won’t need to use even half of the stuff. That came with this first aid kit, at least nothing had expired dates on them.
It is a good reference point to start a smaller first aid kit. And the best thing is I can use a lot of the stuff that came with it.
Oh yeah, almost forgot to say just how much I paid for it. The original part I was looking for cost me $65 dollars and they threw in the first aid kit for free.
Dan, I’d highly recommend not using ibuprofen for headaches: use paracetamol (acetaminophen in the US), as its an actual analgesic and can be taken on an empty stomach. Ibuprofen is what’s called a "Non Steroidal Anti inflammatory". It’s good, short term, to treat strains and sprains, but is helluva rough on the lining of the stomach and can cause ulcers.
Another good item to carry, is effervescent electrolyte tablets, or sachets like "Propel".
ex British Army Combat Medic, Offshore Medic. 25+ years experience in this field 😉
Can I suggest a small tube of superglue. It can turn a nasty cut into an inconvenience, actually stop some savior bleeding. A medical facility can open it back up if necessary. Everyone should research wound cleaning etc.
So I’m a wound care nurse for 13 years. Your kit was great but I keep my stuff minimal and specific to what I may encounter. Just my experience and not by any means insulting. Like you said medical kit is personal. I keep a bunch of leukotape, a sewing kit, some alcohol pads, some iodine ampoules, Tylenol and Advil packs, and a couple bandaids. I include my personal meds and a nasal spray. Again great kit this is my kit and appreciate your kit. Keep it up!
He sleeps with his contacts in at night. What a savage. How does that not hurt?
It’s been a few years, any updates to this?
Finally a backpacker from Wisconsin!!!!
I use the med kit 7. Just a couple ounces and dollars more.
LukI tape popular seems like for hikers
I use the same insect repellent. It comes in 1/3 oz packets. I put anywhere from 2-7 in my kit depending on how buggy it is out.
#1 – Your med kit should be either velcro’ed or carabiner’ed to the OUTSIDE of your backpack. If you’re bleeding profusely, the last thing you want to do is waste time rummaging around for your med kit in the bowels of your backpack (no matter what color your kit is).
#2 – Band-aides shouldn’t be a big part of your med kit. For minor cuts and abrasions, "Rub some dirt on it. It’ll stop bleeding eventually." You should really pack for an emergency wound that isn’t going to stop bleeding with just a bandaid. The items you really should pack would include: an Emergency Tourniquet, an Israeli Compression Bandage, a Blood Clotting Agent like "Celox", and instead of band aides consider New Skin Liquid Bandage, which comes in both a swab and spray applicator and is much more useful for things that are bigger than a paper cut, but less than when a tourniquet is required.
#3 – Antibiotics aren’t necessary, especially if you’re just out for a day hike. You’re much better off packing an antiseptic for sterilization since skin bacteria are the most common form of infection from wounds. Individually packaged Povidone-iodine swabs (the red stuff they swab on you before surgery) which doesn’t burn or you can use plain old alcohol wipes (if you love the pain), which are both small and a much better option to clean your wound with before bandaging.
#4 – If you’re going to pack for bugs: Permethrin (your got this one right), for your clothes and tent, Deet for your skin. Anything less and you’re just asking for Lyme Disease…
#5 – Aspirin is good if you’re prone to headaches, but more important is Benadryl. Topical is better than oral but either will do. It can treat pain and itching caused by insect bites, minor cuts, burns, poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac when applied topically. And in its oral form, it can treat hay fever, allergies, and cold symptoms.
#6 – Leukotape (another one you got right) is the best thing going for blisters. Forget moleskin. PRO-TIP: If you have any hotspots where you know that you’re likely to blister, put the Leukotape on those spots "in advance", (you’ll thank me later).
#7 – Lastly, don’t buy pre-made "med kits"… You’ll pay on average at least THREE to FIVE times the price of what it would cost you to assemble your own kit with what you can buy from your local CVS. For "first responder" type items like the tourniquet or the compression bandage, shop around on Amazon and Ebay for the lowest prices.
STAY SAFE !
The ear plugs are awesome, never thought of that!!! Great video!
The best kit is the one that you know how to use because you’ve taking courses in CPR and first aid. I would also add benadryl, loperamide hydrochloride and tylenols. If your into naturapathy and herbal medicine, then I would add oregano oil, artemisia annua, yarrow and willow. I also replace my antibiotics cream with my honey from my hives.
So I don’t think a triangle bandage is gonna soak up much blood, it’s better than nothing and you should keep triangle bandages in your kit but maybe get some compressed gauze
I’m an LVN and have done some 1st responder. My kit is a little bigger. Not much. I put some nursie (is that a word) in there. On the ear plugs, now you don’t hear the bears, hahahaha.
Something I’d recommend for EVERYONE is to find a Stop The Bleed course, as well as a good old fashioned Red Cross First Aid/CPR course. Easy way to save a life!!!
I used to put Leukotape on drum sticks.that stuff is the best lol
If you want avoid this guy’s introductory blathering on about nothing then skip ahead to 2:51.
Ever thought about replacing ibiprofin with kratom pills? more organic and natural.
Coban makes for an excellent light weight dressing. It self adheres
headaches while walking is because you’re losing electrolytes. try hydration tablet mixed with water instead of Ibuprofen