Small First Aid Kit with Waterproof Laminate Bags (Red)

This is one of the best small sized first aid kits that I have ever purchased. It is well organized and easy to find the items you need. If it has a major shortcoming, it would be the included "tourniquet". The elastic band is worse than not including a tourniquet at all, as someone with less first aid training and experience might believe they have a tool to cover major arterial bleeding. They will not. The center pocket where this elastic tool is located, along with assorted other items, would be a perfect place for an actual tourniquet, such a SOF-T, a CAT or even a TK4. I don't know if a CAT or SOF-T would fit in the current pocket, as I have not tried one, but I was able to tuck a TK4 into it with no problem. It would make the kit more expensive to include such a tourniquet, but it would not have to be included. Just design the pocket and label for it and let customers decide which tourniquet they want to equip their kit with, if any. I found the CPR mask case unnecessary and used too much space. I removed the contents of the case and placed them in the allotted compartment by themselves. The kit is inexplicably missing antiseptics and antibiotic ointments, either the items themselves or a clear place to store them, and I ended up adding them to the Adhesive Dressings pouch for lack of a better place. I replaced the flimsy triangular bandage with a heavier one that could double as a tourniquet or pressure bandage. I also added squeeze bulb for wound cleaning. The attachment straps provided on the back of the kit are versatile and well thought out. My only complaint with them is a unique one; the snaps were set into both the nylon strap and the body of the bag itself, preventing me from being able to remove them as I could easily do with the rest of the strap assembly. I had no need for the straps and wished to lighten the bag for backpacking. It sounds like I'm being ultra critical, but this really is a good kit with the exceptions of the above listed items. It is lightweight, (a must for backpacking), but not flimsy in any way. The 600 denier nylon construction is the perfect compromise between weight and strength. The organized pockets allow you to open the bag without anything spilling out and still be able to go straight to the item you need without delay. There is room to add some of your own materials and still not overstuff the kit. I would rate it 5 stars if the tourniquet issue was addressed.

I bought this first aid kit for my bug out bag after reading many favorable reviews and it did not disappoint. It is small and lightweight enough to fit easily into my 5.11 Rush 72 bag with the rest of my kit and yet it has enough supplies for my whole family. All of the supplies are neatly laid out and labeled so that someone unfamiliar with the kit can locate them quickly in an emergency. The kit itself is water-resistant, but not waterproof, but all of the supplies inside the kit are packed in small, resealable plastic bags, so it is not likely anything would be ruined if the kit were dunked. The kit comes in a resealable waterproof plastic bag, so it could be stored that way and be 100% waterproof (at least until the bag wore out). The MOLLE attachments make it easy to affix the kit to a backpack (or anything else). Oral medicines like analgesics are not part of the kit, but a number of small resealable plastic bags are included to add your own pills. This did not bother me because people's need for medicines differs widely based on individual preferences and health issues, not to mention the fact that medicine expires quickly and thus needs to be replaced fairly often. I added some naproxin sodium, antihistamines, and chewable Pepto. If you have sensitive skin, be aware that the adhesive bandages are of the "sheer" plastic variety, so you might want to replace them with hypoallergenic bandages (like cloth or foam). At the time of this writing, Surviveware will give you a free LED flashlight for joining their message list (which has so far produced a useful coupon and no spam, so I have no regrets). The light is nothing fancy, but it is a perfectly serviceable LED light with a tailcap switch and a pocket clip. It's slightly larger than a keychain MagLite and fits easily in the first aid kit. One of the Surviveware co-founders even included a hand-written thank-you note with the light, which was a nice touch in this day and age. If you need a good portable first aid kit, this one is ideal. I'm going to pick up a few more to put in my vehicles and my judo/jiu-jitsu bag.

I purchased this first aid kit to keep in my emergency bag. Thankfully, I have not needed to use any of the items at this point, so I cannot speak directly to the quality of the bandages, etc. The bag itself is good quality, and the sheers and tweezers are metal, not plastic. As a result, I am not concerned that the other items will work well if and when the time comes to use them. I will admit that I was somewhat disappointed when the kit arrived. Although I wanted something compact, the bag already looked packed to capacity, and I had been hoping to add a few items. In the end, it fit way more than the first impression implied. I will run through my customization, just to give an idea how much the bag can hold: In order to make room for other items, I removed the tourniquet, compression bandage, conforming bandage, and whistle. In the center pocket (where the tourniquet and whistle were), I put a small bottle of eyewash and a few single-use thermometer strips. To replace the compression and conforming bandages, I put a 4" Israeli bandage in that pouch along with Neosporin. In the back pouch, with the triangular bandage and emergency blanket, I added a SAM finger splint and a pouch of pre-cut moleskin. Loose in the middle, I added a instant cold compress. Then, because the bag was bulging too much to easily fit anything in the outside zipper pocket, I slipped a travel-size bottle of Tylenol in the top. In the end, the only thing that I would have liked to fit but couldn't was the compression bandage. The only part of this kit that I'm mixed about is the labeled pockets. On one hand (as many reviews have pointed out), it is great because everything can be easily found, even when someone is in a stressful situation and possibly panicked. On the other hand, it means that any additional items you add (in my case, the finger splint and moleskin) might not fit into one of the labeled categories. As a result, someone unfamiliar with the kit might not realize it is there. Still, that is a minor thing, and the labels probably do more good than harm overall. All in all, a great product that I would recommend for a good, compact yet well-stocked first aid kit.

Great little First Aid kit. Not flashy, not complicated, easy to use and has convenience loops for attaching to backpack, belt, etc. [Note: This is not a "Survival Pack", but it is not intended as one either. It doesn't come with space blanket or hand warmers or knife or matches or any of that stuff. It is for basic first aid in an emergency, and to that end, it is a great little kit.] Pros: Has a lot of handy little basics for First Aid (bandages, CPR kit, surgical shears, hypo-allergenic tape, etc). The one thing I REALLY like about this kit, is that when you open it up, everything has it's own place, it is logically organized, and each pocket is labeled for what it contains and what that item is used for: "Shears", "Crepe bandages: secure dressing / compression", "Triangular bandages: sling/presure/head bandage" etc, etc.. This means that it is easy to find the right item for whatever the first aid situation is, and once you've used that item, it reminds you what you need to go back and refill in your kit for next time. Extra zip pouch on the front for personal medications, or you could also slip your ID, cellphone or some cash in there if this was all you were taking on a hike. There is a little bit of extra room inside the main pouch itself..not a lot mind you, but I added some additional items to my kit. (See below for what I added). Cons: Nothing major. I would have liked for it to come with a few more cotton gauze swabs (cleaning wounds), but again, this is not a major. Other thoughts: Kit was exactly as advertised. I'm very pleased with it, and the price is fair. I plan on getting a couple of Survivorware's other kits soon to stash in various locations (I'd like one for my car, one for my hunting pack, one for basic hiking and maybe something a little extra for when I am scuba diving). There was a little bit of room in this kit, and here are the items I managed to squeeze in and add to my kit so far: more cotton swabs/patches, alcohol wipes, handwarmers (which I have used during hunting trips to help keep myself from hypothermia...it may sound crazy, but a couple of good quality handwarmers can make a huge difference, try one on the back of your neck and close to your chest) as well as a basic tourniquet strap, pair of nitrile examiner's gloves and a glow stick. I hope I never need to actually use any of this stuff, but it's nice to have.

Big bang for your Buck! This has most of the essentials and room for more! Perfect for day trips going hiking or on the water. I do wish they made a waterproof design for this smaller version as well.