One of the many things I have been working on for my family's preparations, for both camping and emergencies, is a very direct take on the IFAK or "Individual First Aid Kit". I know the practical purposes behind them and agree wholeheartedly that each person should have a medical kit of some sort on or about their person when camping or during an emergency. What I cannot stomach is the high price of the commercially available IFAK kits available on the market - $120.00 to $229.00 for a pretty comprehensive Basic Life Support IFAK. I also cannot stand the fact that many of them only resemble an IFAK in the most broad sense of the term "first aid kit". So I did some research. The content list of an IFAK is readily available. Each and every item in a IFAK is available online through very reputable sources. Setting out armed with some knowledge and some time on my hands, I began to build my version of the IFAK on a budget. I added some items not necessarily on the list because I could afford to, and for practical purposes. I need to add here that a vast majority of the items for the PEAK (Personal Enhanced Aid Kit), as I am calling it, are found at (of all places) the 99Cent Only Stores, Dollar Tree, and some items (like the CAT Tourniquets and Condor Rip Away EMT Pouch) were bought at full retail elsewhere. I will provide a break down of each item and their cost. I will include shipping in the cost of an item (if at all applicable). Tax is NOT factored in, because it would confuse the issue as tax rates vary radically within each state from city to city and county to county. Some items, like the CAT Tourniquet are optional. You can add to this, deduct, anything you want to fit your needs and your family's needs. I tried to make the list as comprehensive as possible. I may not have everything you think one would need in an Aid Kit, and I welcome suggestions. Please remember: this bit of gear is designed to be MOLLE attached to your existing gear and readily accessible by someone ELSE (if you are injured and rendered unconscious), and is not intended to be a replacement for a more advanced medical/trauma kit. I will stencil a nice big red cross on the front of the kits. Shall we begin? Commercial IFAK: Dimensions: 7" x 7.5" x 2.5" IFAK Contents 1 - 4" Israeli Bandage or 4" ETD Dressing 2 - Pair of Nitrile Gloves 1 - H&H Compress Gauze (4.5" x 4yds) 1 - Asherman Chest Seal 1 - CAT Tourniquet 1 - Tape (1" x 10yds) 2 - 5" x 9" ABD Pads 1 - Nasopharyngeal Airway with Lubricant 1 - Decompression Needle 1 - EMT Shears Cost: $150.00 Now for my PEAK or "Modified" IFAK: Size: 8" H x 6" W x 3.5" D 1 Condor "Rip Away EMT Pouch" - $15.00 1 SOF Tourniquet (BLACK) - Generation II (optional) - $18.95 1 IDF Israeli Army Bandage - $5.97 1 EMT Shears - $4.50 1 non-sterile Triangular Bandage - $1.97 1 Pack Mole Skin - $6.50 1 Pack Quick Clot (mesh bag - 50 gram) - $13.50 3 rolls sterile gauze, 4 yards each (2", 3" and 4" respectively) - $1.00 2 "Ace" Style Bandages (2" wide) - $2.00 18 Alcohol Prep Pads - $0.50 4 count Picot Antacid Powder - $0.50 2 Bottles Murine "Real Tears" - $2.00 1 Tube Hydrocortisone Crème - $1.00 1 Tube Triple Antibiotic ointment - $1.00 2 rolls Kerlix, 4 Yards each - $2.00 16 count Halls Defense Vitamin C drops - $1.00 16 count Halls Honey Lemon Cough Drops - $1.00 Hand Sanitizer Spray - non alcohol (can be used to sanitize on or around wounds as well) - $1.00 Waterproof "silk" medical Tape - 1.5"x8 yards - $1.00 100 Assorted Curad Bandages - $3.00 Vaseline Lip Therapy - $1.00 Cold Gel Compression Wrap (ace bandage impregnated with a cooling gel to help with swelling) - $1.00 Instant Ice Pack - $1.00 Red Sharpie - $1.00 6 packs burn Gel - $4.80 6 count Tylenol travel packs - $1.00 6 count Alleve Tablets - $1.00 2 Pairs Blue Nitrile Gloves - $0.10 1 set metal tweezers - $1.00 1 Mylar Emergency Blanket - $1.00 1 Disposable CPR face Shield - $2.50 2 (or more) film canisters with assorted home medications (vitamins, allergy pills, aspirin, anti-diarrheal, etc. - seal with electrical tape) - negligible cost. Total including the optional Tourniquet: $98.79, without the tourniquet - $79.84 Average Cost savings against top of the line commercial IFAKS? over $50.00 or more! Assurance that you have built something that is not only good, but very much functional and serviceable, as well as know what is in your kit, backwards and forwards? Priceless. As an aside, you can add in chest seals (or use duct tape) and decompression kits (I do not recommend this unless you have been trained - trying to inflate a collapsed lung and decompress the chest is not like putting on a band aid). Adding a Nasopharyngeal tube and lubricant pack adds $8.50 - again, this is something that I would not recommend unless you have had proper training. Got preps? Pray for the best, prepare for the worst.
Good post Falcon. I would also recommend a combat lifesavers bag as a good family first aid kit. CTD is carrying them fully stocked at around $100. Having used them before it is a fairly good price.
All right, I had some spare time this evening and so I assembled the newest iteration of the PEAK. I started with the components and laid them out: Next post will be the assembled kit...
My only change would be to use the NATO tourniquet vice the CAT. The plastic windlass on the CAT can and does break when cranked down on. An added bonus? The NATO tourniquet costs $8-$10 less and has steel and aluminum instead of plastic.
This is an SOF CAT - it has all the features of a NATO. Not cheap, no. Worth it? Absolutely. Product Details -Tac Med Solutions Store
All the details aside, anyone can customize this PEAK any way they see fit. NATO tourniquet instead of a CAT? Absolutely...it is YOUR gear. My intention here is to show how one can be made fully custom by you for you, without breaking the bank.
Unfortunately, Mech, I would not cross the street to pee on a CTD building if it were on fire. I would not recommend any red blooded American to give them a single penny. Online Gun Retailer ‘Cheaper Than Dirt’ Suspends Firearm Sales (UPDATED) | TheBlaze.com
Assembling an IFAK and ran across this most excellent thread and felt it was worth resurrection. I found this PEAKish list that is prioritized. The idea is that you start at the top and keep adding until you run out of room or money. More information at this article: Survival first aid kit checklist Tourniquet Pressure dressing Z-fold gauze, standard 4.5” x 4 yards Coban roll, standard 2” x 5 yards Trauma shears Acetaminophen / Tylenol Ibuprofen / Advil Diphenhydramine / Benadryl Loperamide / Imodium Band-aids (10x, various sizes) Chest seals (1 pair) Tweezers Irrigation syringe, 20cc with an 18 gauge tip White petroleum jelly / Vaseline in small container Silk medical tape roll, 1” wide Needle & thread stored in isopropyl alcohol (2x needle/thread, 1x small container) Moleskin, 5” x 2” strip Rolled gauze, standard 4.5” x 4 yards Gauze pads, 4” x 4” (6x) Plastic cling wrap, 2” wide roll Cravat / triangular bandage, 45” x 45” x 63” Butterfly bandages, 0.5″ x 2.75″ (16x) Safety pins (3x, various sizes) Elastic wrap / ACE bandage, standard 4” x 5 yards Aluminum splint, 36” Emergency blanket (2x) Gloves (2 pairs) Reference guide Saline eye drops Abdominal pad (sometimes “ab pad”), 5” x 9” (2x) Nasopharyngeal airway, 28 French (a unit of size used for these devices) Aspirin / Bayer Pepto-Bismol pills Caffeine pills Hydrocortisone cream Miconazole Doxycycline and/or Bactrim antibiotics