Backpacking & Hiking First Aid Kit

It should be tailored to your skills, the size and medical needs of your group, your location, length of trip, and the hazards you are most likely to encounter.

I highly recommend taking a wilderness first aid course.

You'll learn basic first aid for hikers and backpackers, the skills you need to properly assess and treat injuries and health problems in the wilderness.

Some of the skills you learn are how to improvise splints, slings, and other items using your regular equipment and material from the wilderness.

This allows you to carry fewer items in your backpacking first aid kit.

If you can't find a wilderness first aid course in your area, you should at least take a basic first aid/CPR course through the Red Cross, or do an online course in your free time.

When planning your hiking or backpacking trip, think about how to contact emergency help in the event of a serious injury.

Will you have a satellite phone, personal locator beacon, spot gps, or cell phone? (Remember that cell phones are often out of network range in the backcountry.)

If you will not have any means of contacting emergency help, then your backcountry first aid kit must be very well-stocked, and you should know how to care for an injured person for an extended amount of time.

You can buy outdoor first aid kits or make your own.

Buy A Hiking First Aid Kit

A hikers first aid kit should be small, light, and stocked with just the essentials. Here are some good choices:

Buy Backpacking First Aid Kits

Backpacking first aid kits need to be as light as possible while packing enough supplies for more remote locations and extended time frames. These are a few of the best:

Make Your Own Wilderness First Aid Kit

Making your own outdoor first aid kits allows you to tailor them more closely to your specific needs.

Pack it in a waterproof, durable container, and stow it in an easy-to-access spot--an outer pocket or the top of your backpack.

Here are the supplies you need. The "Essential" column lists items that should be in every hiking first aid kit; the "Extras" column contains items that may be optional depending on your location, skills, and group needs.