Medic pouches

One thing that's good to have on hand no matter where you are or what you are doing is a first-aid kit. I've always carried a few essentials with me, like bandages, ibuprofen, &etc, and I've needed to use them on a number of occasions, just going about my day. So when we (D.I. and I) put together these medic kits, I had practicality in mind. Basically, we stocked our MOLLE medic pouches that we'll wear out in the field, with all the stuff we might need (and know how to use).

The large MultiCam pouch on the left mounts on to a tear-away velcro panel, so it can be quickly removed from your vest. The pouch on the right is slightly smaller and the front flap just folds down to provide access to the contents.

Large medic pouch, open:


Contains an instant ice pack, adhesive bandages of different shapes and sizes, packets of antibiotic ointment, hand sanitizer, gloves, a bottle of disinfectant spray for cleaning wounds, gauze bandages and medical tape, scissors, some packaged single doses of medications like Tylenol, Advil, etc. Check the travel-size aisle at the pharmacy for these types of convenience items. You could easily stock a medic pouch with the contents of a pre-packaged first-aid kit, but in that case, you are paying for the packaging. You can get more value by buying your supplies in bulk, or as D.I. and I did, we purchased full-size supplies and divided them up between our kits, and we had some extras left over for restocking later. This is just a starting point, and I'm sure we'll make some updates and changes with experience.

Smaller medic pouch, open:

Is slightly smaller and doesn't hold as much stuff, so contains a subset of what is in the larger pouch.

According to one of the books I'm reading on building survival kits, the minimum recommendation for the smallest kit includes butterfly bandages, antibiotic ointment, and alcohol pads. Whatever else you want to add would depend on the situations you need it for, and the number of people who might need it.