Bike First Aid Supplies

[Artista]

Do you carry first aid supplies on your bike? If so, what do you carry?

[KnottedYet]

Yup.

In a ziplock bag: 1 pr gloves, antibacterial wipes, a few sizes of bandaids, gauze, tape, glucose. I need to get a Laerdal mask and some steri-strips one of these days, and I'd really like one of those instant coagulant pads.

I always ride with a pannier or bar bag, so I've got the room for a kit.

The most important thing is my cell phone. I'd rather call in the professionals for anything more than a minor boo-boo... they have really good kits!

[Aggie_Ama]

On my mountain bike. Just a store bought first aid kit but it is pretty big so anything you might have in a home kit. I always carry my cell phone even when racing. DH doesn't and it drives me crazy! I should get a small kit for my road bike. They sell ones that are small, I have seen them in the LBS.

[azfiddle]

I keep some band-aids in my bag... I'd be in trouble if there was a real first-aid incident..But the band-aids have been useful a few times

[OakLeaf]

Nope.

Anything serious means 911 (or hopefully surviving to kick myself for not carrying a SPOT, if I'm out of cell range). Anything minor means it can wait until I get to a convenient store to wash, bandage, or ice it.

As far as lubricating blisters, I do carry a 1/4 oz jar of shea butter that I use as for chamois cream, and it works on blisters too if I should need it. There's a couple of nitrile gloves in my seat pack, that are mostly there for fixing rear tire flats or anything else that means I have to touch the chain - but they could come in handy if I have to touch someone else's blood. I always wear a bra, so if I need a piece of cloth to put pressure on someone's wound, there's always my jersey. I think it would be very unusual for a bici accident to result in life-threatening external bleeding though - I don't think I've ever heard of that happening.

[ny biker]

I keep band-aids in my seat bag. Also a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer. That's all I have room for.

[tzvia]

Learned my lesson after having to assist an MTB'er who had a compound fracture just above the ankle. Luckily I had a tampon that he used to stuff in the wound (I almost barfed right there), but I did not have any gauze bandage. Now I do.

Johnson & Johnson makes a mini 'kit' in a small plastic box with band-aids and wipes and such. I added gauze, aspirins (for heart attacks and strokes), two tampons, small vial of iodine and two large 2"x3" band-aids. Too much to fit in the little box, so put the box and the extras in a zip-lock and put it in an under-seat bag. Made one for each MTB and the commuter. The ziplock can also be cut open and used to keep dirt out of a bad wound like an open fracture.

On the road bike, I just don't have much room as I don't have a back pack to put the phone and repair stuff in. So I made a small kit. 3 alcohol wipes, 3 regular band-aids, 2 large band-aids, small vial of iodine and a few aspirins. I'm thinking If I need more, I am on the street and can get to a mini mart for more. Worse than that, I can call for help. It's when I am on the MTB that I need to be more self sufficient.

[PamNY]

I'd really like one of those instant coagulant pads.

Are those readily available to the general public? I'm not out of 911 range on my bike, but I am when camping/hiking.

[OakLeaf]

http://www.amazon.com/CELOX-Temporar...ref=pd_cp_hi_1
http://www.amazon.com/Quikclot-Advan...ref=pd_cp_hi_2

[Becky]

I do carry a first aid kid on my mountain bike, but not on my road bike.

I looked at commercially-available kits, and decided that they didn't have what I thought I might need, so I made my own in a ziploc bag.

[Bike Chick]

I used to carry one of those Johnson & Johnson kits on my road bike when I first started riding but it seems that with every bag change, I kept going smaller. Now I just have room for 3 bandaids and some alcohol wipes. I always have a handkerchief in my jersey pocket that I have used for just about everything.