HARDTRAILZ 1 Posted August 21, 2012 Thanks for some good ideas and info. Reminds me that I need to repack my bag. A couple things that I may add to the discussion... A good knife and knowing how to use it and keep it sharp can save your life. I carry several in the rig, but always a couple in the BOB. It may also be a good idea to have a laminated list of what is included in case someone else needs it or finds you and it somewhere. Can be clipped right to it. Also helps when you go through it to remember what nees rotated or replaced. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 4,143 Posted August 21, 2012 It may also be a good idea to have a laminated list of what is included in case someone else needs it or finds you and it somewhere. Can be clipped right to it. Also helps when you go through it to remember what nees rotated or replaced. agreed, something i need to do - every time i go through it i find stuff i forgot i packed in there! what good does it do if i don't even know i have it? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
91AzXJ 2 Posted November 18, 2012 Great info in this thread. I carry a EMT kit in a fanny pack and check it every 6 months or so due to our excessive heat. I try to keep it full of things that will withstand the heat or a zombie apocalypse. While I do carry 4x4 and trauma dressings, I also have triangular bandages made out of old sheets. I tend not to carry the first aid creams although I do have packets of neosporin that I change out periodically. I keep saline solution and the typical scissors, multitool flashlight etc. The problem with not having it all the time is that you never know when you may need it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghost Town Hunter 0 Posted November 18, 2012 A lesson learned for the repair kit. My son in law broke a brake line yesterday on the trail. Thankfully he wasn't in anything rough and made it home on the e-brake. This week we will both shop for plugs that will fit the brake resivoir fitting outlets. Had he been able to remove the broken line from the resivoir and plug the outlet he could have refilled the resivoir and used the front brakes. A couple of plugs don't take up much room and could be a life saver. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 4,143 Posted November 19, 2012 A lesson learned for the repair kit. My son in law broke a brake line yesterday on the trail. Thankfully he wasn't in anything rough and made it home on the e-brake. This week we will both shop for plugs that will fit the brake resivoir fitting outlets. Had he been able to remove the broken line from the resivoir and plug the outlet he could have refilled the resivoir and used the front brakes. A couple of plugs don't take up much room and could be a life saver. excellent idea. i have been meaning to get spare flex lines for a while, but that's a simpler and cheaper solution! i was wondering if you could clamp off a line with vise-grips in an emergency situation, just to get you to the highway and then you could be towed? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ghost Town Hunter 0 Posted November 19, 2012 Yes. Best to try to fold it over first but in a pinch jut clamping the vice grips on the line will help. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 4,143 Posted June 19, 2014 with the big Rubicon Trip coming up soon i decided to review my preparedness bag... i leave my go bag in the Jeep all the time as i'm sure the time i need it would be the time i left it behind otherwise. as Grunt mentioned in the thread already, if you do that (especially in the AZ heat), you have to rotate out things as they become old and brittle or lose efficacy. right away i found problems in my first aid kit (this one...). for some reason i missed wrapping a few things in baggies the last time i went through the kit and the aloe gel which 'sploded was one of them: i have a lot of things wrapped individually with small baggies for this reason. a few things are grouped together in larger ziploc's, but if you do this be sure to keep the topical stuff separate from the oral stuff so a leak doesn't ruin everything. i also found the thermometer screen cracked internally and it's battery had leaked... i got a small Vicks thermometer at Walgreens which had a plastic snap case to prevent the on button from accidentally getting pressed. then i was off to Walmart - i couldn't find burn cream in a small container but did find some other useful stuff. behind every register was a display of 5 of these little individual dose powder form medications. they were around $1.40 each, so not cheap. however, they pack well, they are fast acting, and they don't require water so i thought a couple of them in the first aid kit would be a good idea. i also remembered to grab an extra itch/sting relief pen. these things work great on mosquito bites, poison ivy, etc... i can tell you from experience that they really help sooth a cranky 2yo with legs full of mosquito bites! i don't shop at REI too often, but i knew they had a good selection of first aid kit refills so i headed there next. i give them props that their refills are well thought out - individually packaged stuff in a good size with several contained in a mini ziploc bag: i also picked up a little package like that of electrolyte replacement tabs to add to the kit, and then i noticed these: anyone know how those compare to something like QuickClot? that's it for now, but i'm re-organizing the entire emergency bag so i'm sure i'll have something else to add soon! anyone else been preparing or checking their bug-out bag's lately? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
scottL 179 Posted June 20, 2014 I just added a car iphone charger and band aids to mine, always cutting my fingers out on the trail. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
theksmith 4,143 Posted June 23, 2014 I just added a car iphone charger and band aids to mine, always cutting my fingers out on the trail. great minds think alike! i was just pondering adding this backup charger to the bag for $20: http://amzn.to/1qElEZp i like this one because it comes with tips for nearly any type of phone. in a real emergency you never know who will grab what, so i might grab my bag but not my phone and someone else might manage to grab their phone - so i'd like to have something compatible. it has a 3,000 mAh lithium ion battery, so that should hold a decent charge even in the hot Jeep for 6 months. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
