[at-l] Re: at-l Digest, Vol 10, Issue 14

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Brian Duchesne wrote:
>
>QUICK QUESTION FOR EVERYONE OUT THERE.  I AM LOOKING TO PUT TOGETHER
>A GOOD & PREPARED FIRST AIDE KIT, BUT AT THE SAME TIME I WANT TO KEEP IT 
>LIGHT.
>
>I PLAN ON USING MY "NRS" DRY BAG AS A CARRYING CASE, SO I KNOW THAT
>IT WILL REMAIN DRY, BUT WHAT DO YA'LL HAVE FOR STUFFING?


Brian -
We use a 1 quart ziploc for our First Aid kit.  It holds everything we need 
(for 2 people) and we've never had a problem with "wet."

So what's in it?  I can tell you what "we" carry - I'll give you the list 
and some explanation.  But what "you" carry could be a lot different 
depending on what your particular fears and experience are.  I've know some 
who've carried only a couple bandaids.  And others who carried a 5# monster 
of a First Aid kit.  And one couple who carried a full pharmacy (he was a 
pharmacist).  <G>

But - back to what "we" carried - this was our list for the PCT -----
sewing kit, Neosporin, bandaids, 3 4x4 Telfa pads, 3 bunion pads, rubber 
band, hydrocortisone,
pills (15 allergy, 8 Pepto Bismol, 2 Tylenol Cold, 3 Vicodin, vitamins, 
Advil, Tylenol, Lomotil), 1 oz tube Vaseline, 1 oz Nalgene w/ liquid soap, 1 
oz Nalgene w/ after sun moisturizer, 2 oz sunscreen, 2 oz 100% Deet, Potable 
Aqua,  New Skin - bottle, 1 roll adhesive tape, 1 roll Moleskin, 1 pr 
folding scissors, 1 roll gauze

The Neosporin and hydrocortisone were single use foil packs.  The liquid 
soap was NOT for the pot - it was for poison ivy/poison oak.  The after sun 
moisturizer was for chafing - the kind we use has lidocaine as one of the 
components and heals most chafing overnight.  It's also good for sunburn - 
which is sometimes a problem on the southern part of the AT.  Especially the 
ears.  Which is why the sunscreen is in there.  After the first month the 
sunscreen is usually not necessary.  The Deet came in a mail drop someplace 
in VA - and in fact, was used just twice on the AT.  Between the two of us, 
we've never used an entire bottle of Deet on any long trail.  The Potable 
Aqua is one of the few "backups" we carry.  On one trip we actually needed 
it - all of it - and ran out before we got to town.  The rest is our 
"blister" kit.

Some people carry duct tape (or "duck" tape) as some call it).   But it 
doesn't work for me.

How much Advil/Tylenol you carry is an individual choice.  We know how much 
we use, so we plan what goes with us out of each town stop.  We don't carry 
even extra pills if we don't have to.  One trick that we use is to take some 
pain killer before going to sleep.  It helps you to sleep better. If it's 
been a really rough day, we take some while we're setting up camp and then 
another dose before sleeping.  If it's been a REALLY rough day, then take 2 
Advil and one Tylenol.  Has the same effect as a Percocet without the side 
effects.

One additional item is a bandanna - a LARGE bandanna.  And we HAVE used it 
more than once - for First Aid purposes.

Hmm - finally - the Pepto Bismol tablets - are for upset stomach.  They'll 
also plug your piping.  And as an extra added benefit, they'll kill Giardia. 
  I haven't found many people who believe that - but it works for us.  YMMV

Walk softly,
Jim

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