They say it’s “better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it”; I can tell you from first-hand experience that a first aid kit definitely falls into this category for camping and touring.
As you get more experienced at off-roading and camping, it’s a given that you will want to venture further. As experienced four-wheel-drivers/campers of many years, my friends and I never go to campgrounds; the whole point is to get out into nature, away from others, and have the world to ourselves.
This can take us hundreds of kilometres from cities, hours from the nearest town, and into areas where there’s zero chance of mobile phone reception, not to mention the limited access and difficulty of some off-road trails we might tackle. This is the same story for many dedicated campers.
No one expects an injury on what’s meant to be a fun few days/weeks away, and though few and far between, serious injuries do happen. I can share three experiences from trips and colleagues in recent years:
- A chainsaw chain breaking after catching on a hidden metal tent peg hammered into a log, resulting in serious lacerations (who hammers a tent peg to a log?).
- A tin of canned food accidentally rolling into a fire unnoticed, resulting in burns when it exploded from the heat.
- A broken knee-cap, after a seemingly solid fallen tree suddenly gave way, resulting in a fall onto rocks.
In each of the instances above no one was doing anything foolish or reckless, they were just one-off unfortunate events. But no matter how long the odds, eventually, **** happens. And when camping or traveling remotely, it’s on you to get yourself home.
First aid kits to avoid
Unfortunately, all too many first aid kits out there are rubbish. A “small” kit can quote seemingly impressive figures like a “100 piece” first aid kit, but these 100 pieces often break down into something like this:
- 50 small band-aids
- 40 medium band-aids
- 5 large band-aids; and
- you might get 2-3 bandages, tweezers, and a pair of gloves to round off the “100”.
The “medium” kit comes with 200 band-aids, and the “large” kit with 300. You get more of the same, without expanding the range of potential injuries that can be treated with the kit, and nothing to treat a serious injury.
When are you going to use 300 band-aids?
I’m not a paramedic, I just have basic first-aid training, but it’s a simple enough observation to see that anything a band-aid will fix isn’t an injury that really requires medical treatment. Band-aids are for treating boo-boos. And for any moderate to serious injury, a band-aid will be useless.
If traveling and camping remotely, you need a better kit.
Disclaimer: Not a paid promotion/sponsorship.
A first aid kit worth having
A brand I’ve found that makes kits worth having is Survival First Aid Kits. They do a range of sizes to cover your needs, but to quickly summarise the “family” kit, which I’ve had for many years, it includes:
- Adhesive dressings (yes, I know, band-aids)
- Bandage shears, 19cm stainless steel
- Combine dressing, sterile, 10cm x 20cm
- Conforming bandages
- Cotton gauze swabs
- Emergency blanket
- Eye pads
- Fever scan strip
- Hydro gel
- Hypo allergenic adhesive tape
- Ice Pack (instant), one use only
- Nitrile gloves
- Non-adherent wound dressings
- Plastic bags
- Pressure bandages
- Triangular bandage
- Saline
- Tweezers
- Wound closures
- Wound dressings
- Skin cleaning wipes, with cetrimide
- Safety pins
- Splinter probes
- First Aid Booklet
- CPR Card
You can check the details of all their kits (links to follow) for the specific item quantities, but as you can see from the quick rundown it’s leagues ahead of most of the cheap first aid kits you’ll find online.
The carry case is also very durable, and abrasion resistant; exactly what you want for an off-roading and camping first aid kit which will get some rough treatment.
One additional option – A splint
One thing just worth noting is the kits do not include a splint, which may be something you’ll want to include. Personally, I have opted not to, as I have other things that are part of my usual setup that can serve as a splint in a pinch, so I have left it out in favor of having one less thing to store, but, if you have the space and want a more purpose-built item, Survival also do a roll-up splint for that purpose.
Check out Survival First’s Aid 4WDing and camping kits here, and the optional splint.
“Survival” isn’t the only decent brand going around, obviously, if their kits don’t quite fit your needs for whatever reason, shop around and find one that does. It’s something you’re sure to need sooner or later.
# Camping first-aid kits, off-roading first-aid kits, 4WD first aid-kits, first-aid kit for touring.
