I decided to give myself a little treat. For decades my travel medical kit has ridden in a silver-grey zip pouch that once held materials for contact lens care. This has worked well enough, partially because it was always stored in the same place. If I needed it and could not get it myself, the directions “front upper pocket of my bag, grey pouch” were clear enough for most. I realized that it would help if the pouch itself were more clearly recognizable as a medical item.
A quick look online secured an item as a tolerable price. As it turned out, this was a fortuitous decision. The top of the TCP bottle had broken with age and would have spilt all over the inside next time my travel rucksac was disturbed.
The new pouch is 14-15 cm square and about 5 cm deep. It holds everything the old pouch did, although it is a little bit more of a squeeze. In truth, my travel kit has acquired a few extra items over the years. I probably should have migrated some of these to other kits.
The new pouch has two internal zipped mesh pockets. The main zip is two-way and already provided with pull-tabs to make it easier to operate if wearing gloves.
I have detailed how to construct your own kit in other blogs. Items of note, going clockwise from top left:
- Lice comb: Never needed it, hope never to need it.
- Roller bandage: useful support for sprained or twisted ankles.
- Bag of alcohol wipes. I probably have more of these than needed. Some extras came with another kit.
- Olbas oil, TCP, Oil of Cloves.
- Vaseline. Sleeve of scalpel blades I happen to have.
- Plasters. Note bottom of the bag they are in has been reinforced so it makes a better water carrier. This was a gift from a friend of mine and has ended up in the medical kit.
- Dental floss: this is probably a duplicate of an item also carried in my repair kit. I have one in my EDC pouch too. Could be used to construct an emergency bikini for my Brazilian girlfriend.
- Roll of tape. I only have this because I got it free with another pouch I purchased.
- Green plastic sleeve contains fine pointed forceps.
- Bag of safety pins on large bandage. This bandage was another freebie. I would be happy with the plasters and roller bandage.
- Two pairs of haemostats, one curved, one straight. I had access to these so acquired some. Hopefully will never need to clamp an artery, but they have proved useful for less sanguine tasks.
- In the centre, a bag containing aspirin and other general medications.
The “hardware” goes into one of the side pockets. Small bottles, Vaseline tin and dental floss into the other. Items most likely to be wanted, the aspirins and plasters, go in the centre.