BLR Project just got real.

[alfsauve]

At Kevin, and several others prodding I've rethought the first aid issues.

1)  I've never carried anything in my range bag, but have ordered a basic first-aid kit and will add to it 2 Israeli bandages and 2 QuikClot sponges.

2)  The first aid kit in the car glove box needs updating, so I've order two more basic kits and will put an Israeli bandage and QuikClot sponge in each.

3)  I've moved more of the first-aid supplies from the long term, Get Home Bag to the Car Kits.  I'll add Israeli Bandages and QuikClots to the Car Kits as well.

(For those confused, the "Car Kit" is not to be used as an everyday, got a hangnail-kid-scraped-his-knee, situation.  The first-aid kit in the glove box is for that purpose.  "Car Kit" is for being stranded, or a serious car accident, etc.)

One thing I overlooked was an antihistamine, so that will be added to the Car Kit.

Found good deals on Israeli Bandages at Amazon and QuiKClot at MidwayUSA.

[ExurbanKevin]

Quikclot and Israeli bandages are good, but a coworker of mine who's spent some time overseas in Tier 1.5 groups both publicly and privately funded recommended the C.A.T. tourniquet as the first thing to gone on after a GSW. Israeli bandages, he said, are more of a compress than a tourniquet. I picked up three of the "black stripe" variety with the plastic twisters for a very reasonable sum, and there's now one each in my go bag, daily carry bag and range bag.

[les snyder]

you might try Chinook medical... no affiliation

http://www.chinookmed.com/

[alfsauve]

Wow.  Much better prices at Chinnok.   

They need to hire a social media expert, because they never came up in the first couple of pages on my searches.

[ExurbanKevin]

Way back on the first page of this thread, I mentioned I had a day pack with me in St. Louis that I was trying out for an article for a friend's prepping website.

Finished the article. The only thing I've added since them is some cash is varying denominations, an umbrella and a small roll of duct tape.

[Sponsor]

[ExurbanKevin]

And I am a big, big fan of using the modern smartphone as a disaster survival tool, which is why I have things like a spare battery and charging cords with me at all limes. 9/11 showed us that text messages can go thru when voice calls fail (makes sense, as a text is a much smaller packet of data than a digital voice call), and having smart phone means you have access to severe weather alerts, a police scanner, a first aid manual, GPS, compass, flashlight, heck, I even have the good ol' Army survival manual stored as an e-book on my phone.

Massively useful, as the saying goes.

[tombogan03884]

Except for the E books, none of that will do you a bit of good if the towers go down.

[Solus]

Since electronics have entered the topic, here is a product that interested me, but I didn't see a good "niche" for it in most survival plans, but maybe someone here might find it useful.

It seems too heavy for a daily backpacking environment,   but it might have a place in an extended stay off the grid base camp where charging is needed.  There are wood burning camp stoves that are cheaper and lighter and there are hand powered generators for charging available also, though I see some poor ratings on reliability for the cranks and time it takes to get a charge, so maybe this might work out...but have no idea about it's reliability..

Here is a link, if interested

http://www.biolitestove.com/
 

[ExurbanKevin]

Actually, the first aid manual, compass, flashlight are all integral to the phone. They'll work as long as I have juice.

True, if the all towers go down, I'm in a bad spot, but it's the best we've got, short of learning shortwave. I may be wrong (and I'll take my lumps if I am) but cell phones generally worked during Katrina, the Boston bombing, 9/11... in  just about ever disaster since the turn of the century, cell phones have generally worked, and when they haven't worked, restoring service was right up there with getting the power turned back on and due to their dispersed and network nature, they're a bit more resilient than land lines. Katrina was a wake-up call to the industry, and they've been putting in backup batteries and generators left, right and center. In my car kit, I've got more comm gear, but for 24 hours away from home, which is the purpose of that bag, a cell phone should do just fine.

[tombogan03884]

I don't know about the others, but I know for a fact that during the aftermath of the Marathon bombing there was no cell service in the Boston Metro area. I was sitting beside a friend of mine while he tried to call relitives and friends to check on his Grand daughter at Tuft's University .