Generally, if you have an injury that can be fixed with a band-aid, you dont have an injury. In perusing some of the ‘first aid’ kits at the local shops it seems like theyre mostly band-aids, a couple 1×1 gauze pads and an aspirin. If you have a problem that requires any of those, its not really a problem…its an inconvenience. Does that mean I dont carry band-aids and itty-bitty gauze pads in my kit? Nope..I carry ’em, but I carry alot more than that. Historically, my injuries are usually enormous weeping scrapes and abrasions from bicycle accidents, various stitch-requiring tears and cuts, and the infrequent burn. (I’ve been quite lucky in the osteo department…no broken bones.) In looking at prepackaged first-aid kits it seems they are either way too weenie (anything worse than a deep laceration and youre screwed) or way to extensive and expensive. Now, I have to admit, the first aid kits I carry or keep are not designed for ‘I cut myself in the garage and need a bandage’…certainly, they are good for that sort of thing. Rather, theyre designed for ‘whatever is in this bag is the only medical access Im going to have for at least x amount of days’ so it tends to carry things like rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, betadine, lotsa 4x4s and tape, various non-OTC things, burn gel, lotsa antibiotics, compress bandages, etc, etc. And lotsa stuff to keep injured areas clean and germ-free. To my mind, the most common injuries that Im going to face in an unpleasant sudden ‘wheels fly offa western civilization’ scenario are various cuts and puncture wounds, maybe some burns, the possible gunshot. I cant fix a gunshot wound (except maybe a graze or through-and-through) but I can deal with it alot better with my own kit than some puny 2×2 gauze pads and 1/4″ tape.
Band-aids are necessary, esp. since a small cut can become an infected major problem in short order if its not taken care of……but just band-aids and bactine? Bleah. I (and you) can put together something much more comprehensive for not much more money.
By the way, if you do decide to build your own kit, its alot easier to buy multiples of the contents and make several kits at once. The advantage is that if they are all stocked equally and arranged identically, it makes things easier than making another kit later on when you realize you need one for the car, one for work, one for home, etc. Its also cheaper.
My point is, figure out what possible injuries youre going to sustain and build around that…and especially take into consideration ‘can I get into this bag and open these pouches/packages with my weak hand in the dark when Im bleeding?’. Seriously. ‘Cause if its just you by yourself and you’ve got a problem with your good arm or hand youre really gonna want a kit that you can access easily.
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Post-Katrina New Orleans is rapidly becoming my paradigm for theoretical failure testing…I ask myself “would this be a good [item/strategy/plan] if I were camping out on a rooftop in a flooded out wasteland of a city?”
Its also stressing the importance of portability of items and ,very importantly, waterproofing of containers and items. The ubiquitous GI ammo can gets big nods for being near-bombproof in terms of protection and waterproofing. Loses a couple points for weight and size, though. Pelican cases are great, as are other hard-side waterproof containers. Of course, its also nice if your gear is generally unaffected by moisture. (My Glock and AK, for example, can pretty much be left in a mud puddle for a faw days with virtually no ill-effect.) Critical electronics, though, are easily worth the $ youre going to spend for a good, hard, waterproof case. Pelican makes some small fairly affordable cases that are ideal for small electronics like radios, GPS, palmtops and that sort of thing. And, naturally, if youre going to get a little waterproof hardcase for your electroninc goodie be sure to leave some room in there for some spare batts.
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After the canned goods shopping spree at Albertsons last week I needed to make some space in the kitchen cabinets. My top cabinets are have no shelves and thus items must be stacked and the space isnt utilized as well as it could be. (Jars of spaghetti sauce stacked on top of each other three jars high is just asking for trouble.) Fortunately for $10 a couple shelf standards and brackets were had and some scrap 3/4″ plywood was cut down to fit and the next thing you know -presto- adjustable shelving is in the formerly shelfless cabinet. This frees up a good amount of space since I can now store more in that particular cabinet than I could before. Which means other cabinets now have more room since stuff was taken from them to put in the newly-shelfed cabinet. Moral: utilizing available storage space as efficiently as possible can be cheap and pay off big in terms of giving you more usable space to store things.
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Speaking of batts…..
My plans revolve around exactly two sizes of battery for personal devices: “D” and “AA”. If a device doesnt take them, I find one that does or I modify them to take them. Why? Here’s an example….I was tromping in the boonies earlier this year and the batteries on my GPS were going out on me. I pulled my LED 4-AA flashlight out of my bag and swapped the batteries. The LED light works fine even with near-dead batteries since the power requirements are so small and the GPS continued to chug along for the rest of the day. All because my gear used a common battery size. To be honest, with the advent of LED technology I could probably eliminate the “D” batts from my gear since they are used almost exclusively for MagLites….but there are a few other devices that use them (my AN/PS1 seismic intruder system system, for one). “C” batteries? Getting to be pretty uncommon. The only thing I’ve seen taking C-batts in a long time are vibrators and not much else. 9-volt? Sure, lotsa devices out there use them but I try to stick to the AA’s for those devices. Although they are sometimes hard to find in “D” size, “AA” and 9-volt lithium batts are available at Lowe’s/HomeDepot…. theyre very much worth the extra money. Theyre far more resistant to the affects of temperature extremes and, most importantly, they store for years with little if any degradation of power….meaning that a lithium batt thats sat on the shelf for ten years should still have almost all its original power.
The Japanese are supposedly coming out iwth a new battery technology thats supposed to be even better than lithiums, but I havent found much in the way of details.
So, if you can get your flashlight, GPS, radios, and other goodies to all take one common battery size……..well, you can see the advantages, right?
Just as a point of reference, the energy density of 9v batteries is really bad compared to AA or larger cylinderical bateries. Pull one apart and you’ll see what I mean – 6 small cylinders and lots of wasted space. I tend to avoid them, too, if possible. Or I substitute a Radio Shack 8-AA battery pack with a cable ending in a 9 volt snap-on connector.
A waterproof container for electronics is a very good idea. The winter around here is very wet.
AA power is one of the criteria I used for my FRS radios. Many of the ones I wanted to buy wound up taking AAA or special packs. 🙁 It doesn’t hurt at all that my camera flash, a few remote controls, and a few small flashlights run on them too. Heck – It’s not like I use it, but I even have the AA back for my Yaesu vx-150.
Now to find a way to run my Canon 1D on AAs… 😉
It just boils down to the basic idea you should be holding to – KISS. Simple is Good. 20 types of ammo to keep track of or 3? Three shotguns that work differently or three that match? Yep – keeping the battery supply requirements in check is a good thing.
Can’t wait to see the Japanese units you’re talking about.
I use AAs for all my SHTF gear with one exception, my weapons lights are all DL123. I have a D Cell mag light, but it’s mainly used for walking the dogs at night.
Not sure I’d want such a battery for nonindustrial uses.
Look at the electromotive force table (the key to battery design). [Linking to that one not because it’s complete, but because it’s a complete crash education and has both extremes: lithium and fluorine. No cell is going to have more voltage than a lithium fluoride cell. Which is not consumer-safe.]
Frankly, the engineering required to make a lithium hydroxide cell consumer-safe is impressive: elemental lithium explodes when immersed in water.
“The only thing I’ve seen taking C-batts in a long time are vibrators and not much else.”
You know it’s bad when you have to start raiding vibrators to keep mission critical gear going. What’s even worse is when the vibrators *are* your mission critical gear…
Gotta give the bunker babes something to do when we’re off doing an inventory of the gear.
In ref first aid:
In the old days before germ theory, it was infections that killed people. And still would be, given half a chance. Your alcohol and peroxide are extremely good things to carry.
Might give a thought to learning to suture. You actually can learn it from a book, though it was an Army medic who taught me. You can practice on chicken thighs. Give it a good slash and then try to repair it. For a deep gash that a butterfly just won’t hold closed, sutures are really your only hope for keeping the infection out of it long enough.
In ref batteries:
I like the multiple AA cell battery holders you can get at Radio Shack, too. They also sell inexpensive multiple-head AC/DC converters; these won’t be any good once the SHTF, but the connector cords, with multiple male/female/earphone-type/9VDC adapters, would allow you to connect a battery holder and power just about anything with an external power jack. I think they call it an Adapta-Plug setup and it’s available with cords attached or just as adapter plugs.
I got one of those to attach to one of those hurricane lamps with the heat-to-DC converter heads on it. When the lamp is lit, it provides about 6VDC, plenty for a small AM/FM/SW radio, and the lamp provides light and a little heat.
One of the best refs Ive found for suturing is “Surgical Knots And Suturing Techniques” by F.D. Gidings. (#1-889326-01-1)
I do have the equipment (although you really can improvise using dental floss [waxed] and a sewing needle) for suturing although I need to sit down with an expert and a dead pig and get some hands-on instruction.
However, Im more inclined to simply pop the $30 for some Dermabond instead. In a picnh, you can use Krazy Glue instead of Dermabond but therell be some irritation. Additionally, skin staplers are quite affordable and, best of all, can be used one hand.
So, suturing is definitely on the list for skillsets but its a last resort if things cant be glued or stapled together.