I feel in love with the contents and pouch of the Adventure Medical 0.5 kit. The pouch unzipped on three sides, making it really easy to find what I needed without dumping everything like a plastic bag or typical zipped pouch. It also stayed nice and flat, unlike a couple small roll-up kits.

I liked that the labeling meant that I could tell someone to get my kit and it was easy to identify. I also liked that it had plenty of room for good tweezers, some repair/survival items and more.

Alas, they discontinued it, and mine got stolen.

So… Any thoughts on a similar cheap, red, flat pouch that opens wide, either empty or prepacked? Or have one to sell ior trade?

Out of the box thinking… pencil case

https://www.lihit-lab.eu/office-en-gb/pen-cases-and-pen-clips/lihit-lab-smart-fit-act-compact-pen-cases/lihit-lab-smart-fit-act-compact-pen-case-red

I want to “tap” the great medical knowledge and skills we have in this forum.

Recently, I was asked by a god friend to help him finalizing the “Go Bags” for his familiy. They were part of the Christmas gifts in 2020, and are stuffed with supplies for 1-3 days including water + purification, food, small cook set, tools including lightning + signaling + navigation, clothing, shelter + warmth, hygiene, electronics, PPE.

What’s missing, and you may guess this from this threads subject, is a size/weight optimized medical kit.
Aim is to provide each Go Bag user with medical stuff (all got first aid training / refresher courses recently), to help them deal with small (blisters, cuts, diarrhea) and serious (broken bones, stabbing/shooting wounds) issues.
Basically, anything that would hinder them from going from point A to point B within a specific time-frame of 24 (up to a 72) hours in urban / sub-urban / outdoor environments – be it in a get home or bug out scenario.
It is expected to have delayed access to professional medical help after a certain time (a few hours up to 2 days); no Zombie apocalypse, sorry 😀
Note: there is a larger medical bag carried by the family that is aimed for helping (each) other that contains the more serious stuff (to deal with airway, breathing, etc.), while this IFAK focuses on self-application.
Coverage of MARCH:
Massive Hemorrhage: yes
Airway: no
Respiratory: no
Circulation: yes
Head wound: yes
Heat loss: yes
Coverage of C-ABCDE:
Critical Bleeding: yes
Airway: no
Breathing: no
Circulation: yes
Disability: yes
Evacation: no
Exposure: yes
Note: Those protocol marked with “no” do not need to be covered by the IFAK, mostly due to the fact that some treatments (e.g. NPA) are not self-applicable or that the skill/training is missing (e.g. sutures).

The kit should enable each member to deal with the following medical challenges:
blisters (e.g. feet)
splinters (e.g. from wood or metal)
abrasions and scrapes (e.g. slip down a hill)
bruise (e.g. working with tools)
sprains and strains (e.g. running or jumping on uneven ground)
extremities fracture (e.g. fallen down some height)
rip fracture
cuts, small and medium-sized (e.g. sliced finger while preparing food or fire wood)
burns of first and second degree / up to 5% of the body surface = half arm or foot (e.g. fire/cooking or touching hot surfaces like motors/exhaust pipe)
stabbing wound (e.g. knife attack)
shooting wound (e.g. gun attack)
bites (e.g. dog or snake attack)
stings (e.g. mosquitos, ticks, bees, wasp)
corrosive injury (e.g. handling with chemicals like acids or alkali)
traumatic / amputation wound (e.g. serious extremities damage)
muscle cramps
exhaustion
headache
toothache
cerebral concussion
pepper-sprayed (usually face)
diarrhea
common cold
fever
wound infection
food poisoning
allergic reactions
I’m sure I forget a ton of other possible medical treatment required injures and situations while at the same time I may have already made it impossible to have a “small” IFAK to deal with (most) of above mentioned.

Some IFAK content is obvious like band-aids and a tourniquet, while others need to be discussed – example: use gauze pads and an ace bandage instead of a trauma dressing. Would this be useful? Saved size vs. capabilities, pros/cons?

I hope you see where I’m heading to: what’s really required in an IFAK?
(One question with 1,000’s of correct answers, i guess 😎 ).

Thanks for your time reading through this long text and thanks in advance for contributing your ideas & recommendations for a Go Bag size/weight optimized IFAK focusing on self-application, and why / how to use it and what limitations this (improvised) method may have.

Stay safe!

Update – content considered / covered so far:
moleskin (c) / comped (c)
tweezers
ace bandage OR self-adhesive bandage
band-aids in different sizes
steri strips (c)
burn-shield (c)
gauze pads
Israeli trauma bandage
chest seal
Tourniquet (Cat Gen 7 or SOFTT-W)
Ibuprofen
Loperamide
space blanket
trauma sheers
Leukoplast (c)

Please add/comment!

My current list

· 4 adhesive bandages

· 2 2-pack ibuprofen

· Imodium AD

· 2 2-pack aspirin

· ½ roll medical tape

· 4 surgical sponges 2×2

· 3 antiseptic wipes

· 4 butterfly bandages

· 2 packs antibiotic salve

· Tweezers

· 4 safety pins

· 4 5 by 3 1/8 inch sheet moleskin

· 2 Aqua Mira water treatment tabs

· Sawyer water filter kit

· Tourniquet

· Emergency trauma bandages

· Hemostatic agents