The Ammo Can First Aid Kit

When it comes to having a well-stocked first aid kit, I want to be prepared.  I truly do.  Having spent weeks at a time on a boat in the remote waters of British Columbia, I have always understood that a drugstore and medical doctor may not be accessible.  If sick or wounded, I would be on my own.

So why then, were my first aid supplies in such a disorderly mess?

In hindsight, I believe that in spite of having good intentions, it was a lot easier to keep purchasing supplies then to organize them.  It was easy to get something on Amazon then toss it in a drawer or into the  large “first aid” bin I keep in the garage.  The problem with this method is that I never really had a good handle on what I had and what I really would need in an emergency.  I simply kept buying and tossing, buying and tossing.  Sound familiar?

I recently decided to do something about it.  As I sorted everything out on the floor of my great room, it became apparent that my first aid supplies needed to be broken up into separate kits: routine first aid, trauma, sick room, pandemic, and the all important portable kit that I could grab in the event of a disaster or carry with me on a road trip.  It was an epiphany!

Kit #1: A Portable Kit with the Just the Basics

The first kit I put together is a portable kit with just the basics.  Before starting, I laid down a few requirements.

1.  The portable first aid kit had to include the items that I felt were most likely to be needed during bouts of routine illness and day to day injuries.

2.  The kit needed to do double duty as my in-home basic first aid kit as well as a transportable kit that I could use on road trips or during an evacuation.

3.  The kit, in total, could weigh no more than 10 pounds.

This was not as easy as I thought it would be given that the weight and space requirement would require some tough choices, not the least of which, was the container itself.  My choice?  An ammo can!

The “Ammo Can First Aid Kit” was born!

A Portable First Aid Kit in an Ammo Can

After much trial and error, here are the items I settled upon and included in my ammo can first aid kit.

Bandages and Wound Control:

Remedies and Medications:

  • OTC pain killers, including Tylenol, Aleve, Motrin and plain old aspirin
  • Benadryl
  • Anti-diarrheal 
  • Potassium Iodide 
  • Cipro, an emergency antibiotic prescribed by my physician
  • Hydrocortisone Cream
  • Antibiotic Ointment

Natural Remedies:

Tools:

  • Swiss Army Knife
  • Surgical scissors
  • Nail Clippers
  • Flashlight, both for digging around in the kit at night and for close work
  • Tweezers for splinter removal
  • Disposable Razor 
  • Digital Thermometer

Antiseptics Sanitizers:

  • Betadine Solution, to disinfect cuts, scrape and wounds
  • 91% Isopropyl Alcohol
  • Hand Sanitizer Foam

Misc:

Holding it all:

Final Weight:

Nine pounds, four ounces

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