Dear James:
I’m a long time reader and love the SurvivalBlog site. I really wanted to point out one little thing that I think is a very important item in any kit: Coban Wrap [1]. (Sold under several brand names.)
I’m a former medic and now live in the northeast on the water. I have young kids and we do some of boating and spend a fair amount of time on the remote rocky beaches of the area. When we got here earlier in the year I put together a little first aid kit focused on multi-use items and scalability and try to keep it with me especially when we’re far from emergency services. I broke into the kit a lot this summer and the one thing that stood out was how glad I was to have Coban.
Coban’s a self adhering wrap and I’ve been impressed its versatility for a while. This last summer I used it many times.
Here’s what it came out of the kit for this summer (these are off duty situations):
- Foot laceration. Happened in the ocean, nasty cut. Coban kept pressure on and sand out. It really helped with the long walk out.
- Compression wrap on a metal door to forearm collision. Was told it helped a lot.
- Ankle sprain.
- As [the equivalent of] an Ace bandage on my own sprained knee while wade fishing. This got me through the half mile walk home over a very rocky shoreline.
- Stabilization of a large fishhook in a young girl’s foot. Seemed to calm her down and let her parents get her to the Emergency Room.
That’s what I actually used it for in just one 2-month period as a civilian… In more dire trauma situations it’s an extra hand when there are multiple wounds and holds things together a lot faster than tape. Many problems big and small can be addressed with a roll of Coban and a trauma pad and I keep both of them even in my smallest kit.
Suffice to say that I think the versatility of Coban is worth noting especially since it is rarely supplied in stock first aid kit lists. I’d urge folks to consider adding it to their kits.
Best Wishes, – Frank L.