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I was reading a blog that detailed what one instructor carried daily and one item that caught my attention was a Dark Angel med kit. I always hear knife, light, extra mag, etc, basic things, but this is the first I've heard someone reference a med kit. It makes perfectly good sense, and they have several sizes to accommodate your carry style. Does anyone else carry something like this? A different kind maybe? I've thought about something for my car but hadn't really considered it for daily carry.

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Wes wrote:I was reading a blog that detailed what one instructor carried daily and one item that caught my attention was a Dark Angel med kit. I always hear knife, light, extra mag, etc, basic things, but this is the first I've heard someone reference a med kit. It makes perfectly good sense, and they have several sizes to accommodate your carry style. Does anyone else carry something like this? A different kind maybe? I've thought about something for my car but hadn't really considered it for daily carry.

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I like Dark Angel's kits as they focus on getting the necessary stuff into a minimal pouch and I have heard several instructors reference having/carrying them. However I don't wear cargo or tactical pants everyday so even their mini kit would be too much for my pockets on an EDC basis in my opinion. I keep a large kit in the car, as well as a small kit with QuickClot in my range bag and if I'm using my Maxpedition like bag then I'll keep a medical kit in that as well.

The link inside that article is broken. You can read the article, but when you click on the Dark Angel link it doesn't work.
Correct DA link is: http://www.shop.darkangelmedical.com/Po ... 1-0017.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Cheaper Mini: http://www.shop.darkangelmedical.com/Po ... 1-0047.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Bigger kit: http://www.darkangelmedical.com/About.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't carry a med kit, but I keep one of these in my range bag.

Having a medical kit close by is a good idea, but gets into the question of "How much stuff that I may never use am I willing to tote around?" Having said that, I think a medical kit is more likely to be used than a gun, so having one makes some sense. The best first investment in a medical kit is to get some basic life support (first aid) training. Then you have some understanding of what needs to be done, what is possible, and what tools are available.

To make your medical kit effective and no larger than it has to be, I think you need to consider the scenario and environment you are going to encounter. If you live in an area that has good cell phone coverage and an ambulance response of 15 minutes or less, and you can't routinely carry large amounts of stuff (say that you are required to wear business attire) that is one case. If you are a hunter that goes outside of normal human contact range, has to carry everything on your back, and in an area with no road access, that's a different scenario. If you are an infantryman who works in teams, has Medevac within one hour, and has a medic as part of the team -- and faces bullets, explosives, and so forth, your needs and possibilities are different yet. If you are the medic on that team...

For me: what I carry on my body is the first scenario. I am seldom out of cell phone range, and I know the first medical responder and ambulance response is in the areas I generally travel is within 15 minutes. I carry on my body enough knowledge and tools to 1) call for help 2) deal with one or maybe two severe bleeding wounds (myself or others), 3) deal with someone who has stopped breathing, 4) deal with someone who has no pulse. ( 3 and 4 often run together, of course).

To me that means I have training as an EMT-B, a cell phone, a knife, a purpose-built tourniquet that I can use with one hand (Combat Application Tourniquet, a large bandana (good for being a dressing or bandage), a carabiner holding a key ring (this and the bandana make second tourniquet), a Microshield CPR mask, and a couple pairs of nitrile exam gloves. If I can fit it in, I will also carry an Israeli Battle Dressing or two (bullets often make two holes), and as much gauze and tape as I can tote in a pocket. I have a bag in my vehicle that has a lot more dressings and bandages and tape. Several of those things that I carry I was carrying anyway, so it doesn't add any weight or volume.

You don't need to go through an EMT course to get enough knowledge to do immediate trauma first aid, there are other courses, but if you haven't already done so, get some first aid training. Then think about where you are likely to use it, what it is possible to carry on you and what you could have in your car or desk, and then gather the parts.

Pawpaw wrote:I don't carry a med kit, but I keep one of these in my range bag.

I started with something similar... That's a good price for that kit, too.
Might want to add a tourniquet.

I carry a similar kit in my truck and also have one on my motorcycle.

Since I carry a lot of stuff anyway, adding this kit didn't add much to the load:
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I also keep one of these in the motorcycle trunk:
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Quikclot, a CAT (tourniquet), Coban, and some other stuff (sucking chest would patches) and gloves are what I keep in my go to bag. I take it to the range and on long trips in addition to any reserve police duties.

When I was full time, I kept a CAT in my cargo pocket on my uniform pants in addition to the one above.

YUP, full kit in the truck, wife's SUV and on my Motorcycle. Bandaids, tape and gauge in the range bag. Never leave home without it.

Adding in here, I have a kit at every location that i spend my most time at. My vehicles all have one, one on each level of my house, one at work, smaller kits in each one of my range bags. I even have a few trainers around for teaching and practicing. Sure the cost adds up but i would rather have it and not need it. The one, like most i assume, i have the most trouble figuring out is a EDC one. I know some places like Dark Angel and Rescue Essentials have cheaper EDC kits. But im not always in cargo pants or have pockets big enough for them. So instead i try and wear items that have multiple uses. I make sure my pants fit so i can use my belt if i needed to, carabiner on keys if i need to make a make shift TQ, stuff like that. So with some imagination and ingenuity you can at least be some what prepared.

Med Kits home and both auto's.