Sorry!

And sewing is for girls! - haha!

__________________
How much does a man live, after all?
Does he live a thousand days, or one only?
For a week, or several centuries?
How long does a man spend dying?
What does it mean to say “forever”? - Pablo Neruda

Do a first aid course. At least 2 days long. That should teach you what to put in a kit, and how to use it.

What you need quickly is
Face mask if doing cpr ... put it with your credit cards .. you should always have them with you ?
Gloves .. these take a little more room .. but I have several pairs .. at least one set in the tool kit other sets in the trama kit .. I now use trama kit to distinguish between what some call a 'first' aid kit (things that are definatly tending towards a 'comfort' kit - headake powers, sun cream etc) and a life saving kit... sizzors (shears that will cut metal and kevlar - think rider clothing including boots) pressure bangdages (for snake bite you need to bandage the whole limb .. a 6 foot persons leg is l o n g .. you might want to take 4 bandages !!). Go do a course and then think about it .. a white cross on a green background is what some look for ... usally better than a Swiss flag.

See
First Aid Kits - ADVrider
and
First aid kits? - ADVrider
for some more stuff..

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Regards Frank Warner
motorcycles BMW R80 G/S 1981, BMW K11LT 1993, BMW K75 G/S

Hi all, here's my tuppence worth:

I used to be part of a military training team, instructing combat survival and casualty management, I am also part of various Search and Rescue teams and I'm a volunteer ambulance officer so I've been involved with my fair share of accidents and backcountry incidents and injuries.

From my own observations and experience this is my medi kit:

Latex gloves
Face mask
OP airway (get specific training)
Codine (or Morphine if you can get it - but make sure you know what you're doing with it)
Shears
Tape
Superglue
Personal prescription medicine (if any)


Bandages, splints and pads can be improvised from clothes, sticks etc. Things like Imodium, safety pins and eye wash are handy but not important if you don't have space to spare.

Any minor injuries are, well, minor. If an injury won't kill you then improvise and get to help asap. If you have a serious injury, but you're still conscious, the best things to have are a satphone/personal locator beacon and good insurance.

Everyone should know how to fix their bike when it breaks, but what about your body? Good first aid training is a must, it's not just about patching holes and slinging arms - do a course! Don't think of it as "just another ball ache" it's just part of your prep.

Don't forget that adventure motorcycling is an ADVENTURE and therefore a "high risk" activity, but serious accidents are still pretty rare. Don't let any of this worry you or cramp your style.

Hope this is helpful. Stay safe.

Butch

__________________
BD.

This is great info. guys, thanks. It seems that the best thing to pack is knowledge (as always!)

Matt

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http://adventure-writing.blogspot.com

http://scotlandnepal.blogspot.com/

*Disclaimer* - I am not saying my bike is better than your bike. I am not saying my way is better than your way. I am not mocking your religion/politics/other belief system. When reading my post imagine me sitting behind a frothing pint of ale, smiling and offering you a bag of peanuts. This is the sentiment in which my post is made. Please accept it as such!

I have two first aid kits, one for sickness, the other for accidents. The accident kit is always on the bike together with a head torch.

Two lots of cable ties are fastened to the bike frame, one type is extremely heavy duty and could be used for splints as well as bike repairs!

Gaffer tape is another dual purpose tool and I have supplies in both my tool kit and accident kit. When blood is gushing everywhere and you're trying to close a wound, gaffer tape is your friend.

The accident kit also includes 'comfort' things such as optrex eye wash, an inhaler plus anti-histamine, and cigarette lighter. Also very strong painkillers (30mg Codeine/500mg Paracetamol).

I got to use the suturing kit/sterile field/gloves for real in Morocco, stitching up a massive gash on a mule's leg so it could get down the mountain where it would get expert help.

Tim

__________________
"For sheer delight there is nothing like altitude; it gives one the thrill of adventure
and enlarges the world in which you live," Irving Mather (1892-1966)

Patrick,

I have heard that Superglue (aswell as gladwrap/cling film) was invented by the American military for patching up wounds in the Vietnam war! Not sure of accuracy, but it sounds good.

I'm not sure about cyanide in superglue (but I will try to find out), but I have used regular DIY superglue on myself quite a few times, and I'm still in one piece (physically at least!). It seals wounds very quickly and when your skin starts to repair itself the glue will flake off. I don't want to be reponsible for anyone getting poisoned, but if I had a gaping cut then I would take the risk. I'm not sure where to find medical grade glue (if such a thing exsits), I have never heard of it.

As for instructions for use and limitations: I only use it as temporary, emergency stitching when I have no other choice. I just literally stick the skin together as if I was gluing a cardboard box.

If your are in any doubt about using Superglue (bearing in mind that it is not intended for these purposes) then don't use it, or ask a doctor first. All I can say is that I have seen it used and used it myself for emergancy bodily repair and it seems to work quite well. It's still handy to have in your bike kit anyway - you never know what else may need sticking back together.

I also agree with Tim about gaffer tape and cable ties. I didn't mention them earlier because they are not specifically part of my medi kit, but I always have some in my general kit. My dad always used to say "with gaffer tape and string you can fix anything"!

There are two things we used to teach new recruits, and I still use them every day, they are worth bearing in mind for any situation:

1/ Stay calm - never let panic take over
2/ Improvise, adapt, overcome - you'll be surprised how easy you can solve problems if you think outside the box

Butch

__________________
BD.

What is "gaffer tape"?:confused1:

Blimey ! how have you managed to fix anything without Gaffer Tape ?

Seriously now....(ish)

Gaffer tape is the heavy cloth tape used to hold cables down on stages, lighting rigs, etc.

Duct tape is the heavy cloth tape used to seal ducting and enclosers.

Duck tape is the heavy cloth tape you get in DIY stores.

Black maskers is the heavy cloth tape used to hold the British Army together.

It's all the same stuff (ish)

Searching the internet for "tissue adhesive" gives lots of results.
It looks that that is the technical term for medical grade glue.
Most seems to be for veterinary use, though. I'm no doctor, but if it isn't harmful to the dog, one would assume it would be OK for humans in an emergency...

Some searching came up with this information:
The only currently FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) approved adhesives suitable for use as suture alternatives are veterinary products; n-butyl- cyanoacrylate tissue adhesives Vetbond (3M) and Nexaband liquid and octyl-based Nexaband S/C (intended for topical skin closure when deep sutures have been placed). Histoacryl Blue (butyl based) (Davis & Geck) and Tissu-Glu (isobutyl based) (Medi-West Pharmaceuticals) are sold in Canada for human use.

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Japan touring information

I've used tissue adhesive like Bestpet Pharmacy - Vetbond Tissue Adhesive 3M
On my dog (he's a working gundog so used to get some pretty serious cuts occasionally)

I'm pretty sure I didn't pay that much for it.

You need to be damm sure any wound is very clean before you close it up though otherwise you are setting up for a nasty infection. It was easy with the dog because they have a super high pain threashold. Scraping out with a gauze and washing with plent of clean water / saline with good light so you can see it's clean before drying and gluing closed.