I struggle with trying to figure out the best first aid kit for hiking. In Florida, we’re pretty flat, so the likelihood of twisting an ankle, slipping down a scramble, and the like really aren’t prevalent. I know of one scramble I’ve had to make in the past year here in Florida for about a total of 15 feet high, and that’s about it. And I survived!
So my first aid kit, a simple J&J one we had around the house in a nice compact size, seemed appropriate to throw into my pack for our hikes. But during our trip to the Smokies in the Spring, I realized, it probably wasn’t the right one for hiking on less flat travels. I took notice of a few key points:
- Too many bandages
- No wraps to stable a twisted ankle
- Small sterile pads and gauze
- No medical tape for said gauze pads.
- No pain medicine
Maybe I could use the bandages to hold the gauze and sterile pads in place if push came to shove, but let’s be honest. That just seems silly. Plus, no wraps is not a good idea when one (me) is prone to twisting an ankle or two more often than she’d like to admit. So, in preparation for our journey out to Wyoming, I took a few minutes to peruse different options available online. I had the obvious missing components in mind:
- A wrap
- A variety of sterile pads and gauze
- Medical Tape
- Pain Medicine
Now, not promoting REI here, but there was quite a set of options in a range of prices. I’m only interested in upgrading our kit a little bit, but there were first aid kits with everything but the kitchen sink, along with the price to boot!
I settled on a kit that is designed for 2 people for 2 days, the Mountain Series Hiker Medical Kit. Here’s a link if interested in checking it out: https://www.rei.com/product/113006/adventure-medical-kits-mountain-series-hiker-medical-kit. This kit checked all my boxes and more. It includes some pre-shaped mole-skin and scissors (bonus!) and since we’ll be doing short day hikes, this feels perfect for our trip. Now, hopefully, we won’t even need to break it out.
It arrives Friday and will be headed into my pack as soon as it arrives. One more thing checked off the list for our trip. Wyoming, Wyoming, why not, Wyoming…
What are some items you find as must haves for your hiking first aid kit?
BewilderedBrownEyes 
I had a situation where I actually needed to use my first aid kit for the 1st time the other day. It was not good. Tons of small bandaid, not enough medium to large. The person I was helping had some broken bones and the one thing nobody had that we really needed was those crackle ice packs to help with swelling. I ended up the next going to all the CVS and wall greens and kinda built my own kit. Ace bandages, splints, Tylenol and aspiring. I leave half in the car and bring half with me.
Side note: I also had to make a sling out of a jacket so it’s good to have a long piece of cloth for slings and some rope if you have to splint off a break.
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Wow! Thank you Greg for the feedback. Great things to consider adding in; it is true you never know what you might need. I hope the person you helped is recovering/recovered well.
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