Post
by 3Flushes » Tue Apr 20, 2021 12:12 am
I drive all over the state to shoot pictures, do a little fishing, and whatnot, and travel mountain interstates and highways, gnarly passes, gravel service roads, with switchbacks and hairpins everywhere, and many of them negotiated with 6 to 8 or 9% grades at 12,000 + foot elevations.
Most mountain roadways and highways and whatnots cut through bordering forest (not at 12,000 feet, though), run along rivers, and creeks at lower elevations, and have drop-offs of up to thousands of feet as one climbs, and sew Fourth.
The winters are particularly hazardous around here. I have frequently been stuck on some road in a storm and the chances of being stuck in the snow or plowing into a 10 or 12 foot drift seem to be about 50/50 at times. The dangers of running off of the road and careening deep into the forest, or, dropping in, or, any number of other disastrous events are always looming.
I stow a well stocked first aid kit packed with a methodically selected assortment of contents for travel and the outdoors (I have a home kit as well) including, but not a complete list: gloves, Xtra Srtgnth Tylenol, TUMS, Benadryl, Neosporin, Kaopectate, hydrogen peroxide, military basic suture kit, assorted butterfly closures, , Kelley fish hook remover, Bactine, Quick Clot, triangular bandages, military tourniquet, 4x4, 3x3, & 2x2 gauze pads, assorted self adhesive Telfa dressings, 2x2---4X9", plastic Dermicel surgical tape, trauma dressings, assorted waterproof Band Aids, 5x9 abdominal pad dressings, hydrogen peroxide, O2, Ambu bag, saline solution, burn kit, military minor surgical kit, air splits, Sam splints, assorted guaze roller bandages, Elastic bandage, instant cold and heat packs, blister kit, etc etc etc.
The med kit includes a breakaway trail-take along first aid kit with a smaller assortment of the above contents that includes a survival kit complete with a Cammenga trituum lensatic water and dustproof compass, waterproof matches, energy / protein bars, Life Straw water purifier, fire starter (in the event it is too windy to use the fire proof matches), Space Blanket, strata-beam signal mirror, DEET formulated insect repellent, and emergency blanket. I keep water and energy protein bars, and a wool blanket with me in the car as well. Now that the OP article refreshed my memory, I can dispense with the Cammenga tritium lensatic compass and it's 6.4 ozs. of superfluous weight. Anyone who has ever done any backpacking is laughing their ass off.
