many items contained within a standard 1st aid kit aren’t of much use when out on the trails.

what do you take out on the trails in a 1st aid kit?

Nothing, if it can be fixed with a first aid kit it doesn’t need fixing immediately.

what bollox

very constructive jonb. not all 1st aid kits contain a plaster and a pair of scissors..

anyone have something else to recommend?

you’ll be amazed what you can improvise when you need to. We had a mishap today. Chap put a 5″ long gash in his shin. A tisue one of the girls had for a loo stop and an inner tube cut up to hold it in place did the job while we got back to civilisation.

I’d be keen to see the answer to this one as well.

a selection of alcohol wipes, eye wash, couple of bandages, some plasters and antiseptic, ibprofen. Also a space blanket is a good idea imo

i was thinking;
sterile patch thing
one wrappy bandage for larger cuts/sterile patch thing
small strip of plaster, cut to suit for blisters
alco-wipes/antiseptic
some pills.

as you can tell i haven’t done my first aid training.

i partly agree with jonb in that small cuts can be left (for the most part) and dealt with once nearer civilisation.

Sanitary towels and tape.

Ambulance Dressing to help stop any bleeding. All you need.

smogmonster – what if some one gets debris in the eye? how ill that help?

I’ve lost count of the number of times this topic has come up on the forum over the years and, from what I can recall from most of them, jonb isn’t actually too far off the mark! Yup, a 1st aid kit will help, but anything that a small first aid kit can do isn’t life threatening – and you can’t carry the kit for anything that is. Have a look at some of the responses on this thread from a few months ago; I know that several contributors are medical professionals; Drac, stuartlangwilson, and tandemjeremy – he sums it up quite poignantly with ‘Above all else tho it is knowledge and experience you need.’

Got some antiseptic wipes, a couple of large absorbent pads and some fantastic stretchy self adhesive wrapping. That allows you to get a fair bit of compression on, and avoids lots of faffing around with tape etc.

Assortment of adhesive border dressings 2 x 5x5cm, 1 x 10x5cm, some mepore medical tape, couple of alcowipes and a roll of bandage. This will help deal with most grazes and lacerations. If you need more it’s 999 time.

I agree with jonb in many ways – not a great deal of injuries in between superficial and very serious from my experience. Plasters don’t stick and antiseptic cream is a waste of time.

Other things can be bodged e.g. inner tube for sling, stick and duck tape for splint etc. Superglue for heavily bleeding lacerations if you get desperate.

TBH – by far the most important thing to carry is a phone, with an ICE contact, and to let someone know where you’re going and when to expect you back.

RR, do you carry a bottle of eyewash? If not, what will help? If you have something in the eye that your natural tears cant get rid of, you need to see a doctor for an exam.

Can’t say I agree with the ‘don’t take anything, cos if its that bad you’re knackered anyway’ mentality.

Knowledge is probably more important than what you actually carry though. A bit of training in how to deal with some of the scenarios you might encounter out on a ride would be good. How about: concussion, unconsciousness, heat-exhaustion, fractures?

The plasters and tape will likely still get used from time to time, but being able to deal with the more important stuff is probably going to have to involve some training.

i was thinking;
sterile patch thing

Just use sanitry towels, you’ll never get a wound sterile out in the/a field anyway and these are cheaper.

small strip of plaster, cut to suit for blisters

I’ve never had a blister in years of riding that needed treating. But I will next week, sods law.

alco-wipes/antiseptic

see sterile patch. If you carry water in your camelback you can use that to get the worst off.

some pills- most over the counter medication isn’t strong enough to deal with real pain,just discomfort. I’d look for alternatives if some one was complaining of sore joints or muscles before giving them an ibuprofen and letting them continue. Headaches out riding are often dehydration or lack of sunglasses so try and treat the cause.

I would be more concerned by hypothermia in winter and dehydration/heatstroke in summer than anything else.

smogmonster – Member

RR, do you carry a bottle of eyewash? If not, what will help? If you have something in the eye that your natural tears cant get rid of, you need to see a doctor for an exam.

not a bottle no – individual vials x 5. As a contact lense wearer these have been invaluable over the years.
And point 2 – what absolute shite!

RR/ Smogmonster do you carry plain water in your bottle/hydration systems? I’ve used that to wash my own eyes before, much quicker than waiting for tears to clear the crap. I try and wear glasses all the time now to stop this problem and protect my eyes.

Plain water is not a good idea if you wear lenses.

Probably not a good idea to carry painkillers, if it is a real incident that may require further proper medical treatment it could hinder/limit what they can give you when you get to the hospital.

Insulation tape, tissues and cable ties will sort most things…

what is it with MTBers that think that they always know best. How hard is it to pop a bandage in your bag?

I don’t agree that taking nothing is the best option – clearly anyone that does has never had anything happen to them or anyone else they’re riding with/come across. Very naive.

I’m always amazed at how unprepared mountain bikers are when out in the Lakes/Peaks/Dales etc. No 1st aid kit and no map – granted neither are of any use unless you know how to use them, but relying on a mobile phone is just stupid – what if there’s no signal?!

Just take some dressing, some good tape (that elastoplast stuff is better than micropore), maybe a triangular bandage for the inevitable collar bone breakage – or just use a safey pin to pin sleeve to shirt. Whatever – just know how to use it!

Forget the Alcohol wipes and antiseptic crap just what on earth are you intending to do with Alco wipes clean your disc brakes whilst the wounded member TTFU?

Forget the Iburufen just wait until you get back to the car at least.

Some dresses to cover the wound until you can get somewhere to have cleaned it properly, water is good enough for cleaning any wound even if you wear contact lenses or not. Ok maybe some triangular bandages too.

Over all knowledge is your best bet get on a first aid course if your concerned.