This may be a little bit on the extreme adventurist’s side of the gear spectrum, but so long as I am jumping head first into geardo bankruptsy, I might as well talk about it…

I picked up a very nice, compact first aid kit from Adventure Medical Kits. I first read about this brand in the February 2009 issue of Powder Magazine. This issue featured an editor’s gear guide and they spoke highly of The Fundamentals kit. It is spectacular but beyond the needs of the average backpacker or backcountry skier. But the magazine’s recommendation helped me to get smart on what is available.

I did some basic research on Adventuremedicalkits.com to figure out what kits they offer, which are too limited and which are just plain overkill. First of all, I don’t have first aid training. I can wrap a laceration, apply a little antibiotic and maybe even set up a splint if I had to, but anything beyond that, I’m hoping for a helicopter ride and a first responder.

Ultimately I settled on the “Trekker.” The kit is a couple years old, so it is no longer featured on the company website. But I did find a good description of it on Backcountry Outlet. Incidentally, I managed to pick up the kit from Backcountry’s Steep and Cheap limited time offers website for a steal. Here is how they describe it:
Bring the Adventure Medical Trekker Kit any time you and a small group spend a weekend in the backcountry. This kit contains the equipment necessary to treat cuts, burns, blisters and trauma and neatly organizes these supplies with the Easy Care System—an ingenious design that helps anyone from novices to EMT’s quickly and confidently administer first aid. The Easy Care System relegates hospital-quality supplies and instructions into injury-specific compartments  so you can instantly retrieve the medication and injury management you need.

Sounds about right to me. It’s a kit that Liz and I can carry relatively easily on any adventure, whether it be through the jungles of Belize or the groomed trails of Maine’s Sunday River (our favorite) without breaking the bank (under $30.00) or our backs (weighs just 17 oz.).