In before the armchair medics start foaming at the mouth: this isn’t a trauma kit. It’s an ouch pouch. If your arm’s dangling by a thread, this won’t help. If you need a tourniquet, you’re shit outta luck.
But if you’ve got a blister, cut, bite, burn, or a sudden urge not to bleed through your shirt, this’ll do the trick. Mostly.
The Ouch Pouch — now to be known as OP(P) — nails the single most important thing a kit like this needs to do:
Be there when you need it.
It could have a team of surgeons or a flock of golden geese inside, but if it’s not with you? Doesn’t help for shit.
This one’s small enough to fit in any tote or backpack. It also fits in my boogie bags (read: super manly fanny packs), my chest rig (a rig that rides on your chest, not a kit to build one), and even the pockets of most hiking or cargo pants.
It’s aimed at life’s little shitty moments, and I carry it pretty much anytime I leave the house. For longer trips, it doesn’t ride solo — it pairs with a larger kit (hiking loadout, day trip bag, whatever). But it’s always with me. And that’s the point.
Just to say it out loud: this setup works for me. Yours might look different, and that’s fine. (This isn’t like what I see in EDC groups, with people showing off their IFAKs — which is great, but that’s not what I’m aiming for here.)
Quick Terminology Break
A first aid kit is meant to treat bumps, bruises, and small cuts. While an IFAK (Individual First Aid Kit) can handle those types of issues, its real focus is on treating traumatic injuries, and it tends to lean into more specific gear, like trauma shears, pressure bandages, etc.
However, it’s not a get-out-of-ambulance free card- consider it (way) more useful than thoughts and prayers, and way less valuable than real medical help.
An IFAK is meant to keep someone alive long enough to receive real medical care, and they typically target bleeding and breathing issues.
Inside
- Meds are divided into: individual baggies of meds, labeled with type/strength/date added to kit, OR expiration date, and then some tablets in packets.
- The holy trinity: Benadryl, generic Loperamide (anti-diarrheal), and Ibuprofen. There are very few problems that can’t be at least improved with one of these three:
- Allergic reactions to bites, stings, or mystery food? Benadryl.
- Random rashes? Benadryl again.
- Need to not cling to a bathroom all day? Loperamide.
- Headaches, cramps, sore joints, general “I hate being in this body” issues? Ibuprofen. Bonus points for being anti-inflammatory!!
- I round out the (baggy) pill collection with: Famotidine (acid reducer), low-dose aspirin (Low-dose aspirin — not super useful for pain unless I take 4+, but Becca’s only cleared for that in emergencies, so it’s in there), and Tylenol.
- A full strip of AM and PM heavy-duty Tylenol flu. Equally useful if I’m at a house sit and wake up sick, or if I have to suffer through a day sick.
- Two are pictured, but usually three packets of electrolyte tablets. These are tiny doses as I see what works best for me (powder, tablets, chews) because I pretty much uniformly hate any Gatorade or any flavor type of electrolyte drink. I also hate swallowing pills. BLEH.
- The holy trinity: Benadryl, generic Loperamide (anti-diarrheal), and Ibuprofen. There are very few problems that can’t be at least improved with one of these three:
The rest of the random assortment.
- Individual packets – so I can give someone in need, so I don’t have to haul tubes- of:
- Triple antibiotic ointment – for cuts, scrapes, or anything sketchy that might get gross.
- Hydrocortisone cream – for itching, irritation, bug bites, or mystery rashes you’d rather not be dealing with.
- A variety of bandages, including ones sized for knuckles, waterproof, etc.
- Contact solution in the form of drops.
- I have three spare contacts because I have shitty luck, and sometimes one is ripped in the package.
- Multiple wipes!
- Benzalkonium chloride – good for cuts, scrapes, and general cleanup.
- Isopropyl alcohol wipes – for when something feels extra gross or needs actual sterilizing.
(Also handy for gear cleaning, tweezers, wiping phone/electronics down from germies.) - Sting wipes. For when you reach into your hoodie pocket OR feel something in the shell of your ear OR have your hand outside the car window and a bee stings you. ASK ME HOW I KNOW THESE THINGS.
- Safety pins – for bandage hacks, blister drama, wardrobe malfunctions, or just poking stuff on purpose.
So, again, this setup isn’t for everyone – there will always be things that make sense in mine and not yours. Maybe you don’t wear contacts. Perhaps you don’t have eyes! Maybe you hate pills more than I and carry tiny vials with liquid Tylenol, IDK. 🧪
Sometimes the contents shift- remove the drops if I’m wearing glasses and need the space for something else, add in packets of petroleum jelly (chafing, cracked skin, blister prevention, and emergency “make this tape stick” solution, or even help as a firestarter), or aloe vera (sunburns!)
I also prefer methods and packing that let me share the wealth: individually wrapped items, excess, etc.
Not for nothing, but I’ve gotten some excellent use out of this pouch: multiple bee stings, flu at a house sit, a metal splinter from deciding that using rusty pliers to get a treat out of a dog toy was a great idea, endless skinned knuckles and elbows (no idea how), and the usual aches and pains (hiking, aging, getting tossed around by dogs all day… and aging).
It’s brought me nothing but pain relief, and I love it.
A first aid kit prepares you for what could happen.
An ouch pouch covers what always does. 😂
How about you? Anyone rocking something similar?
Needs a small needle + thread and superglue for larger wounds and then also maybe gunshots would be covered
Endless pouch possibilities!