After the OH tore a lump out of herself with a DMR V8 a while back and bled like a stuck pig, I've taken to carrying a small first aid pack when out riding. I was very grateful of it when, at the weekend, a combination of an error in judgement and a large rock knocking me off-line forcibly ejected me from the Marin Trail at Grizedale. First proper 'off' on this bike, and it smarted a bit.

So I was wondering; does everyone else carry a basic first aid kit, or is it just me being over-cautious? If you do, what do you have in there as essential supplies, is there anything I should be carrying that I don't currently?

Nothing 99% of the time.
Would probably carry a wound dressing and a few other little bits and bobs on a real mountain ride though.

Yes, but very basic – a number of dressings, bandage, micropore tape, butterfly stitches. Thats all you need IMO – plasters, antiseptic wipes etc etc are useless on a ride – you only want something that stops a big flow of blood or closes a wound.

I was thinking of adding wipes to the list because they're pretty versatile; ie, as well as cleaning out grazes, I can mop up oil from my fingers after a mechanical and such.

I've got a stock kit, Lifeventure or some such, and added paracetemol and ibuprofen tablets to it, and a tick remover (never seen a tick, but after reading horror stories I really don't want to get stuck with one).

I was glad of the plasters at the weekend – stopped the hole in my knee from rubbing on my combats, meant I could carry on riding.

Not usually for small days out but for bigger trips usually take a basic kit. Collection of dressings and plasters just standard except for some iodene spray, space blanket and tick remover. Paracetamol and diclofenac.

if i was to be far enough away from civilisation then a phone and a space blanket.

if it's serious enough that i can't MTFU, with no first aid kit, and get home then it's too serious for me to know how to treat it.

1 x bandage, 2 x wound dressing, 1 x surgical tape, no need for anything else

Usually have a small kit.

Also a miniature of single malt for antiseptic purposes, cleaning wounds etc. 🙂

Yep carry a small one, which lives in my camel back, mainly wound dressings, antiseptic wipes and antibiotic cream. Used it no end of times on other people e.g.

if i was to be far enough away from civilisation then a phone

….sweet

if it's serious enough that i can't MTFU, with no first aid kit

……apart from the iodene spray and the tick remover the only other times I've used my kit is for other people in difficulty.

if it's serious enough that i can't MTFU, with no first aid kit, and get home then it's too serious for me to know how to treat it.

But if its not that serious you can dress it and carry on and enjoy your ride rather than head home. Got chomped quite nastily by a dog at the weekend, was able to get it cleaned and dressed and mud proof straight away and get on and enjoy the rest of my sunday. I didn't have any kit with me but conveniently the dog owner did. I could make a bigger mess of myself without the help of a dog so a kit is going to be assembled and in with the tool kit from now on. Its funny I wouldn't ride more than a mile without sufficient tools to mend the bike and yet its always seemed OTT to carry plasters. In this instance really good ones saved a valuable riding day.

Also a miniature of single malt

also a stick to bite on and a hacksaw

skidartist – well said !

This man unfortunately forgot his stick and hacksaw.

A few quid to buy a pint.

A couple of bandages with absorbent dressings, some steri-strips, spray plaster and a few graze plasters.

Like skid artist, for me its about patching up and carrying on. If its anything more serious, then its walk/ride out, or air ambulance. Theres no point carrying loads of stuff for that.

I don't class a phone as first aid, thats survival equipment, if you need to use it. In big days in the hills I'll carry my bivvy bag (Alpkit hunka) – much better than a foil blanket- and my phone.

skidartist – Member
Also a miniature of single malt

also a stick to bite on and a hacksaw

Don't be a wimp. What do you think teeth are for? Jeez, people are getting soft (but you might need a larger bottle of single malt) 😀

savlon and a couple of sheets of bounty/plenty.

Essential for a trip.

http://www.outdoorgb.com/p/waterproof_first_aid_kit/?utm_source=froogle&utm_medium=directory&utm_content=GBR&currency=GBP&country=GBR&SelectedBundle=143312

BontyBuns – £14.99 for a kit you could make up for under £4

Used to carry a Lifesystems kit, now just bleedy stuff. Anything more serious and its 999 time. I keep meaning to get on a course…

What do you think teeth are for?

For biting on the stick

Payin for the cool bag really, Thick Ripstop bag. Which you couldn't get for £4 actually…. If you wanted a handy water proofing you could just get a mini pod dry bag and fill it full of gear.

skidartist – i hope you reported the dog and the owner to the relevant authorities and the appropriate action was taken with the dog. if the owner has to carry round a first aid kit to patch up his dog's victims then there's something very wrong.

Payin for the cool bag really, Thick Ripstop bag.

That was my thinking. Mine's a LifeSystems 'Trek' (just checked), I considered building my own but figured it was worth a few quid extra for the pouch and the faff-free starting point.

Nowt.

Take a dressing kit with glue, steri-strips and wound cleaning kit for trips away but it stays at the accommodation.

Small Lifesystems pack lives in my Camelbak, takes up no space & weighs next to nothing. Plus a tin of Savlon iodine spray just to help clean things up.

Waterproofing comes from the light drybag that I pack my kit into inside the camelbak.

Also a miniature of single malt for antiseptic purposes, cleaning wounds etc.

I'm liking this idea a lot.

A tin foil blanket thingy lives at the bottom of my Camelbak.
And a mobile phone.

This is my first aid kit:

😉

There's a first aid kit in bottom of my Camelbak so it's usually with me when I'm riding. Mostly it's for trail rash type injuries so melolin pads, tape, plasters and the like. It's also got some painkillers in it too.

Now my work has put me through a first aid course I may consider adding a triangular bandage. 🙂

I also carry a space blanket. They're light and if someone's hurt themselves enough that they're not moving, it is very handy. Even on a warm day you'll cool down quickly if you're injured, lying on the ground and not moving – especially if you're in light cycling kit.

carry a small one from an outdoor shop with a few mods, only on big days out though.

few plasters/ dressings/ bandages
anti-septic wipes

added in a tick remover and sometimes a bite zapper.

skidartist – i hope you reported the dog and the owner to the relevant authorities and the appropriate action was taken with the dog. if the owner has to carry round a first aid kit to patch up his dog's victims then there's something very wrong.

It was in the vicinity of the owners house, so they took me in and helped me get sorted out. My point (that I obviously made badly) was the dressings they happened to have were ideal and made the difference between turning back early and carrying on and having a pretty blinkin marvelous day out. I could easily have inflicted similar injuries on a ride without the dogs help and thats what made me realise how useful some decent dressings would be, as in not good-enough dressings to limp home in, but really good dressings so you can go round again.

The owners were really shaken by the whole thing, I haven't reported them although they were clear that I would be perfectly right to. But given their reaction to the event I'm confident that anything that might be achieved by making a report has already been achieved. If I had doubts I would, but on this occasion I'll use my discretion not to.

All sorts

Wound dressings, steristrips, plasters, triangular bandage, meloline pads, micropore, anti-histamine tablets, wetwipes, wound wash, gloves, foil blanket, tick tool and a spare set of contact lenses.

All goes in a drybag and packs down to about 4"x3"x5". Goes out on 95% of rides, and has been used often enough that I wouldn't want to be without it.

edit – oh and a stub of pencil and paper. If you need to send somebody for help, being able to WRITE info down, rather than expect them to remember it in a panic is good.

I remember when I did my first aid badge as a cub scout one of the things on our checklist for a first aid kit as a 2p coin. Somehow I never grasped the point of the coin was for making a phone call, and until quite recently I imagined there must be some sort of esoteric and archaic first aid procedure that required a small grubby disk of copper.

There's a Marin trail at grizedale….?

First aid kit?! Pah, I am a man and a northerner at that. I'll cycle home regardless, if I bleed to death on the way, well at least it'll make the news.

Used to carry a Lifesystems one. Then went on an outdoor first aid course. Now I only carry a tick twister and some gaffa tape.

If I am out with my kids (aged 4 and 7) I do take the Lifesystems one, as they can't MTFU 😛

There's a Marin trail at grizedale….?

No there isn't, it's the North Face trail and I'm a pleb. (-:

Knowledge is the key thing – no point in carrying stuff you don't know how to use.

Small local rides I don't bother – all day / more remote I carry a fairly comprehensive kit but because of my qualifications I have a duty of care to others that layfolk don't.

There is only a limited range of incidents where carrying a kit can make a difference – where having dressings makes a difference between continuing a ride and not or between and A&E visit needed or not

I carry:-

Semipermeable film dressings and hydrocolloid dressings ( tegaderm and granuflex)
Steristrips ( butterfly wound closures)
Sterile needles ( splinter removal)
Bandage
wound pads
Painkillers in a variety of flavours including really strong ones
Antihistamine tablets
A few other bits of dressings

Some zip-ties, a couple of spare sram powerlinks and an inner tube.

photo of chuck norris is all you need to get you home safely.

Don't forget a small pair of scissors for cutting bandages/plasters etc.

And I've got some Codeine Phosphate too. Mmmm 🙂