Hiking First Aide Kit and Food.

[dropdeded 0]

Lots of hikers here, what do you carry as far as first aide??


Doing a 3 day Mt. Whitney hike in the near future.

Oh, and what the hell should I stuff that Bear Can with?? (that dont sound right)

Thanks

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The Dude Abides.
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[millertime24 8]

-Gauze
-Antiseptic
-Med Tape (both skinny and big rolls)
-Super-Glue (works great at closing cuts)
-Hemostats
-Scissors (sp?)
-Tweezers etc...

It really just depends on how much extra weight you wanna carry vs the distance you will be hiking. As far as the bear can goes, thats for food storage. Its basically a bear-proof container to hold your food and its usually located a couple of hundred feet from where you would be sleeping. Whatever you do dont keep food in your tent. There was a young boy that just got killed by a bear out here because of careless campers who were there before them. Not trying to scare you or anything. Just reminding you that safety is the campers responsibility not the wildlifes. Anyway, I hope this helps. Have fun.

Muff #5048

[skybytch 273]

I carry part of a commercial first aid kit with a few additional meds (like anti-diarhea meds and a few vicodin). Key here is to keep the quantities of each item small; one or two of each size bandaid, etc.

Two very important things to have in your pack - moleskin and Second Skin. The minute you start to feel a "hot spot" on your feet - stop and treat it! Apply the Second Skin first, then cover with a piece of moleskin. Blisters suck... with careful attention you can avoid them.

Are you going to be cooking or are you taking all cold food?

[psw097 0]

I carry an Adventure Medical ultralite medical kit (.7 I think) and adventure medical pocket Survival pack for backpacking. Also use a Garmin Rino GPS with radio, weather, etc.

For eat'n I prefer Mountain House Chili mac or similar made over the roaring flame of a jetboil.

[JohnRich 4]

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Two very important things to have in your pack - moleskin and Second Skin. The minute you start to feel a "hot spot" on your feet - stop and treat it! Apply the Second Skin first, then cover with a piece of moleskin. Blisters suck... with careful attention you can avoid them.

What she said!!!

[skybytch 273]

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For eat'n I prefer Mountain House Chili mac or similar made over the roaring flame of a jetboil.

I'm with ya on the JetBoil, but I won't pay what they want for a Mountain House meal. Which is why my next backpacking gear purchase is gonna be a food dehydrator - it's way cheaper to make your own meals. Check out Freezer Bag Cooking for some ideas.

Don't know the brand name, but there's some "dried" tortellini at Trader Joes that is the bomb for backpacking. Add a little olive oil and some parmesan - yum!

[jumper03 0]

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I'm with ya on the JetBoil,

I knew it wouldn't be long before you were all in here touting the jet boil....

maybe one day when my trusty whisper lite wears out - but that doesn't appear to be anytime soon.

Scars remind us that the past is real

[cloudseeker2001 0]

I have carefully chosen a nice little medical pack through experience. I am very careful and don't take unnecessary chances or risk. I think it also depends where you are going and how long you will be out in the back country. Many people carry a snakebit kit.....but I never do. Think of the different situations you may find yourself in and plan for it.

As for the bear barrel. I always put any smelly medicine there to keep it from the bears. Although I have never once had a bear find my barrel! But they say it works!

This is not a first aid suggestion, but I think it falls in that same context. You should carry no less than three methods to purify water. Even if you are only going a few miles into the back country. Another suggestion is quality rain gear that will keep you warm and dry. Lack of water and loss of body heat are far more common and cause more emergencies among hikers than broken legs and serious lacerations.........

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[cloudseeker2001 0]

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I'm with ya on the JetBoil,

I knew it wouldn't be long before you were all in here touting the jet boil....

maybe one day when my trusty whisper lite wears out - but that doesn't appear to be anytime soon.

Jetboil kicks ass........I only wish they had a teflon coated mug.....that would make for even easier clean up!

"Some call it heavenly in it's brilliance,
others mean and rueful of the western dream"

[skybytch 273]

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I knew it wouldn't be long before you were all in here touting the jet boil...

I wasn't first.

And it is about the coolest thing ever for those of us who don't need to prove how handy we are when all we want to do is heat some damn water.

[-Scatter- 0]

I'm completely new here, but know a thing or three about backpacking.

I personally carrying the following for first aid on week-long or shorter trips:

50 ibuprofen
6 inches of duct tape

If anything hurts, take the ibuprofen. If anything is red/blistered/burned/bleeding, put duct tape on it.

I'm running a 10 pound summer core weight (everything except food and water, including pack), though. What's your level of backpacking experience?

For short trips you can't beat the mountain house meals. That, three pounds of snickers bars and a tub of gatorade should get you through.

[Broke 0]

All you need is a couple of triangle bandages, some tape, and a couple of 4x4s, an Ice pack could be nice, but you can get away without it.

Be sure to bring a good knife and a buddy.

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[psw097 0]

I don't mind the price since I hate cleaning. I like to boil water, pour water into bag, eat out of bag, pack empty bags out - no mess, no trace, easy on lazy me. I have a dehydrator somewhere, never really used it.

[skybytch 273]

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You should carry no less than three methods to purify water.

Discovered the importance of this on my last trip. We decided to take one water filter for three people. When one of us went off to get water the first night she discovered that the filter part had been removed from the unit, making it useless.

But I always carry iodine tablets and we had two stoves with plenty of fuel, so what could have been an issue wasn't. That was the first lesson. The second lesson was to always take each piece of gear out of it's stuff sack and check it thoroughly before packing up for a trip.

And that's one reason I like backpacking so much - I learn at least one new thing every trip.

[JohnRich 4]

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we had two stoves with plenty of fuel...

I screwed up a situation like that on my last canoe-camping trip. One guy does the cooking for the group, and the rest of us do the dish-washing and cleanup. You know how they don't label switches with "On" and "Off" any more? Yeah, instead they use stupid symbols which can be hard to understand. Well, I washed down the spilled food on the stove, and turned the switch to what I thought was "off". The next morning we got up for breakfast, and the fuel canister was empty. It turns out, that I had actually turned it to "on", and the fuel all drained out overnight. Oops...

Fortunately, we had extra canisters.

If you go camping with a dunce like me, pack extra everything.

[PhreeZone 20]

I love my Whisperrlite for that reason, once the pumped pressure is gone the unit quits vaporizing the liquid. Its not smart to do but I did it on accident when I first was learning it.

I like it since it sounds like a jet engine also so you can hear when water is hot from 100 yards away too. The fact I can use about any fuel source out there doesn't hurt either. K1, ,Unleaded, White gas, etc... they all work just fine and a few shakes of the unit and the jets are cleaned again. I had to do the unleaded since I forgot to fill up before I left once. Oops.

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery

Parachutemanuals.com

[jumper03 0]

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I love my Whisperrlite for that reason, once the pumped pressure is gone the unit quits vaporizing the liquid. Its not smart to do but I did it on accident when I first was learning it.

I like it since it sounds like a jet engine also so you can hear when water is hot from 100 yards away too. The fact I can use about any fuel source out there doesn't hurt either. K1, ,Unleaded, White gas, etc... they all work just fine and a few shakes of the unit and the jets are cleaned again. I had to do the unleaded since I forgot to fill up before I left once. Oops.

WHAT??

YOU DON'T HAVE A JETBOIL???

You're going to hell....

Scars remind us that the past is real

[willard 0]

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I'm completely new here, but know a thing or three about backpacking.

I personally carrying the following for first aid on week-long or shorter trips:

50 ibuprofen
6 inches of duct tape

If anything hurts, take the ibuprofen. If anything is red/blistered/burned/bleeding, put duct tape on it.

I'm running a 10 pound summer core weight (everything except food and water, including pack), though. What's your level of backpacking experience?

For short trips you can't beat the mountain house meals. That, three pounds of snickers bars and a tub of gatorade should get you through.

I'll second your suggestion for ibuprofin and tape. I would just add half a dozen asperin tabs. Those will treat any small cuts or even a broken finger/toe. Anything more serious can be helped with improvised gear such as a belt, webbing, etc.

[dropdeded 0]

Theres 4 of us. I did the Whitney day hike once, made it above the 3rd lake (above the tree line). Really appreciate the replies, I guess I better go shopping

The earliest we could get permits was early october so its gonna depend completely on the weather.

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The Dude Abides.
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