Rethinking My Pack - First Aid Kit

Back when I was first thinking about a backpacking first aid kit, I wrote about my background in first aid, what I assessed to be the risks, what I thought I'd need to deal with those risks, whether I'd be happy with a pre-built kit, and what I put together. See that post [here].

Back then I was packing for two and my kit weighed 13 ozs. Since then I've hiked 644 miles of the trail, and used the kit to deal with blisters, cuts, aches and pains. I swapped out tools for lighter ones, added stuff to better prevent and deal with blisters, but I never really tossed anything out. I figured I could find weight savings without impacting my ability to care for myself or others. When I pulled it out of my pack and put it on the scale, it weighed 12 ozs. So I dumped the contents on the counter, and broke out the scale. What I found after the break...

MYOG - A Smaller, Lighter Cook System

My MSR Titan Tea Kettle has an 850 ml. capacity, and I never used more than a half that during my, uh, shakedown hike this spring. So I boiled water in my old 600 ml Snow Peak cup over my backpacking stove to see if the flame pattern was ok. It was.  I have one of Tinny's aluminum lids for the cup, and together it weighs about an ounce less than the MSR. Takes up less room in my pack too.  Now I needed a cozy/pouch.

I had built one for my MSR Titan Tea Kettle. It's a simple, insulated pouch with a drawstring top, that serves as both a cozy and as a bag to carry the pot with stove, lighter and misc cooking stuff inside.  It's made of a light ripstop cotton duck, and insulated on the side and bottom with Insul-Bright, a hollow polyester fiber with a metallized film backing. 

It's over-built, and I figured I could get away with a lighter material. I still wanted cotton, cause I didn't want it to melt from a hot pan.  I broke out some scraps from a Ski Patrol project, the leftover Insul-Bright, and Mary's sewing machine.

MYOG - A Cozy for my Kettle

I like the concept of freezer bag cooking, but multiplying two baggies per day, by 170+ days equals a whole lot of plastic in landfill. I'll still use the basic concept, but I'll do it in my MSR Kettle. That means bringing food to a boil, taking it off the heat, and putting it in a cozy. I needed a cozy.

I envisioned a simple, insulated pouch, with a drawstring top, that would serve as both a cozy, and as a bag to carry the pot in.

I went to my local fabric store where I found some light rip-stop cotton duck which won't melt when I drop a hot pot in it. To keep the heat in, I found some Insul-Bright which is hollow polyester fiber with a metallized film backing. The backing resists radiant heat loss, the fiber resists conduction.

Now all I had to do was put it together ...

A Backpacker's First Aid Kit

Anyone venturing into the woods should carry a basic first aid kit.  But what should be in it? Should I buy a pre-packaged one?  Or build my own?