1st aid kits on bikes are so useful!

[OakLeaf]

Ow! Heal up fast!

I don't bother with a "first aid kit." If I (or a riding buddy) gets hurt, it's either bruises, cuts and scrapes that can wait until I get home, or it's something that I'm going to need help from an EMT or at best a ride home. My only exception is my Mylar blanket - even if it's a mechanical and not an injury at all at the outset, hypothermia can set in fast when you're sweaty and dressed for exertion rather than standing around. In the short term, if I should need to slow profuse bleeding before the squad gets there, I can always use my jersey to put pressure and/or my spare tube as a tourniquet. CPR doesn't take any equipment, especially if you're doing it hands-only as it's mostly taught nowadays. I can't think of anything else that a few minutes would make that much difference.

If I did back country touring I'd carry sutures, splints, tourniquet, styptic, antibiotic ointment and ice packs, and get training in how to use them. And a SPOT beacon as well. I do know people who've needed that stuff. But I don't ride *that* far from civilization.


(If it makes you feel any better, I'm still healing a deep gouge in my leg from a couple of weeks ago when I was planting my garden and knelt on my hand cultivator. D'oh!!)