Your Best First-Aid Travel Kit

Your Best Travel Medical Kit is the one you keep with you all the time!

Let's face it.  The best first-aid kit in the world is useless if it is sitting at home when you actually need it.  NOT cool.  Worse yet is when you do take one, the essentials may be there but something to help you get home, (or back to the hotel), is not there.

On My Bicycle
This doesn't have to happen especially when you enlist some professional help and then customize your kit from there.  Rather than giving you a list of items to go forage for, I'm going to recommend that you simply purchase an Ultralight / Watertight Adventure Medical Kit for most of your core first-aid needs.  They are reasonably priced and well stocked.  I keep either a Medical Kit .5 or a .7 on on my touring bike, depending on the distance of the trip.

Taking a bicycle tour?  Pack a Medical Kit!

Car Trouble
The same thing if I'm off to parts unknown in my car. Yes, I keep a separate EMS First Responders Bag in my trunk but you may at some point be separated from your car and have to walk, (gasp)!  I know in this age of cells and wifi this may seem impossible but it can still happen.  Then what?  On the outside chance that you may have to hoof it or at the very least, stay put in a remote area you might want to carry a medical kit in your handbag too.

My medical kit does not take up much more space than my cosmetic bag.

So how do you start to build the perfect first-aid kit FOR YOU without bringing the kitchen sink along?  Well, you should think beyond bandages and safety pins to include items to keep you comfortable and even energized in case you have to walk some distance.

Include any daily medications and supplements with your medical kit.

Summer - Fall 
You'll want to include seasonal supplies.  Summer through Fall:  Insect Repellent, Sunblock, Ssssting Stop, Topricin Pain Cream (for body AND feet)!  These are just a few things I've added to my Medical Kit .5 and .7

Extra Medical Supplies
In addition to taking along my supplements, (I don't take any medications), I like compact products that do double duty. I have included a little antiseptic / pain relief spray with my kit.  It takes up about as much room as a book of matches and can disinfect a wound while taking some of the pain away.

Energy Gels & Liquids
Ok, your car's run out of gas so you'd better make sure that YOU don't run out of fuel yourself!  You may have to walk to a nearby station to get gas or help.  You may even have to push your car. Once I pushed my car off the Interstate in HIGH HEELS. Another time some lovely men came along and helped but if nobody is around, guess what?  It's ALL YOU! Take along a 5 Hour Energy for the long haul or a GU Energy Gel in Peanut Butter or Chocolate for a quick jolt.

Going boating or sailing? Pack a marine-specific medical kit!

Bring the H2O
We don't think of including water in a first-aid kit but it is really important to keep a few bottles with you and a way to filter more if needed.  August is National Water Quality Month so this is a good time to learn more about pure water benefits.


Water Travel
If you are going to be on the water, kayaking, canoeing, a fishing vessel or sailing a larger watercraft, you can pack a marine specific kit like the one above. You can take along your anti-nausea medications just in case and add it to the medical kit but most marine kits already have that one covered.  Also whether on land or water, you should keep a water purifier with you as well.   
Purificup makes a very compact system for sterilizing natural water in the outback and one for tap water you would encounter in your hotel room or cruise ship. With these tips, you'll find you'll be better prepared for most emergencies that can arise while traveling.

Backcountry Cooking: Bicycle Picnic

 

August is National Picnic Month!  Add a healthy twist by packing & pedaling

Summer is the time for outdoor eating:  Cookouts, backyard barbecues, clam bakes, fish frys and picnics in the park.  Packing a wicker lunch hamper for the park was quite common in Victorian times.  Since there was no such thing as plastic cups and paper plates, they also packed the fine china right along for eating on the grass.  A movable feast!

Well, there's no reason to stay home as food packaging and utensils are much more high tech and lighter these days.  In fact all the foods, plates and camp stove fit in my Basil Jada Rear Basket with room to spare.  I did a lunch for two which included a delicious, hearty potato soup and barbecue sandwich with chips.  Keep in mind you can transfer this same technique to catering your own bicycle tour or campout. Here's how I pulled it off:

Camp stove set up to cook some Hearty Potato Soup by Augie Foods

I unpacked everything from our rear basket: Augie Foods Hearty Potato Soup, Trangia 27-5 Ultralight Camp Stove with Primus burner, Light My Fire Outdoor Meal Kit, Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter, cooking utensils.  After setting up the stove I lit the gas burner with the Aurora Fire Starter.  I adjusted the hose regulator and started my 1 cup of water boiling.

Once the soup starts to boil, it thickens quite quickly.

I used the Light My Fire stay dry cup to measure and hold the dry soup.  I then whisked the 1/4th cup of soup mix into my hot water and got it boiling. You need not bring anything but fire and water.  All of the ingredients are included in each of the delicious Augie Foods soups we tested: Cheddar & Broccoli, Chicken Flavored Stew.  They even carry a product called Ready Fuel which is gel based and allows you to heat water and cook without a camp stove.  We were being fancy today so we used the Trangia Set!

Cooking with a Primus gas burner is clean and efficient.

Another simpler version of this picnic lunch would be to cook the soup at home and pour it into an Insulated Klean Kanteen.  You would just need to bring bowls but I have to say the one that comes with the six piece Light My Fire set is exceptional.  It can be used for coffee as well but the ergonomic finger dents in the sides keep it from slipping in your hands.  Both the Light My Fire Outdoor Meal Set and the Trangia 27-5 are made in Sweden. We added a very tasty Barbecue Sandwich from Bridgford and Organic Blue Corn Chips and Rice Crisps made with Sweet Potato by Utz.

The finished meal with a little Barbecue Sandwich & Grandma Utz chips on the side

Augie Foods
We could not believe how scrumptious and satisfying the Hearty Potato Soup was! Big pieces of potato, celery and carrot, it does not taste like it came from a soup mix.  What will blow you away is that these soups will keep for up to 20 years in a cool dry place!

Bridgford Shelf Stable Sandwiches
The bread of the Bridgford Barbecue Sandwich was incredible. These are like gourmet Military MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat) and can take high temperatures but still stay fresh.  They come individually packed in air-tight pouches and do not need refrigeration if unopened. These are a great idea if you do not want to bring ice packs and a cooler to keep your food cold.

Utz Snack Foods
Known in the east for their incredibly crispy potato chips, Utz has really kicked it up a notch. Their Organic Blue Corn Chips have just the right amount of salt but the fresh corn taste is what hooks you.  A new product for them are the Rice Crisps which are all natural brown rice tortillas. The kicker in these chips are the sesame seed and sweet potato ingredients that give them a rich, nutty flavor.

Everything to prepare our picnic lunch packs easily in this Basil Rear Basket.

Back Country Cooking

This summer try a back country hike & foraging excursion

There are so many good things to eat if you know where to look.  Maybe in your own backyard?  Back Country Cooking uses organic, wild foraged edibles and can really add interest to your next hike or camping trip.

KNOW YOUR PLANTS

Some plants are pretty obvious as weeds tend to be the most prolific and recognizable.  Weeds are a great place to start!  Did you know that young Dandelion, Clover and Lambsquarters greens make a delicious salad?  Also wild Mulberries are scrumptious eaten raw or added to a salad.  In my book, Nature's Weeds, Native Medicine - Lotus Press I explain that many such plants not only taste good but have great medicinal value as well.  Dandelion root tea for example, is rich in iron and acts as a liver detox.

To familiarize yourself with other more important plants I recommend the Edible & Poisonous Plant Cards from Camping Survival  You can take them for a little hike in your backyard to begin identifying and harvesting greens and edibles from clean, un-sprayed areas.  When you do this enough, you can take the card with you on your hiking or camping trip to find the same plants in the wild.  The card deck has full color photos on one side and detailed descriptions of the plants on the reverse.


CAMP COOKING

Update: This summer, we rented a small cabin again in one of our state parks for a week.  I prepared nearly all of our meals on a simple Trangia Camp Stove.  Everything from eggs and bacon in the morning to more elaborate meals at night.  The Backcountry Cooking Deck gave me ideas on how to organize and carry in our meal ingredients.  We also had the addition of piping hot soups from Augie Foods!  These were easy to prepare and utterly delicious.  The Backcountry Cooking Deck by Dorcas S. Miller (Mountaineers Books) is a set of 50 large recipe cards for camp and trail.  Covering all sorts of easy meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner as well as snacks and dessert, these cards offer delicious variety and much needed nutrition for your campers.  

What I like about these cards is that they all include "At Home" pre-prep instructions to help make the meals easier to put together once you're out there.  One of the most versatile recipes from the deck is the Biscuit Mix.  It is very simple to throw together at home but transforms into pancakes, biscuits, pie dough, coffee cake or dumplings on the trail.

Backcountry Cooking Deck of 50 Recipes for Camp and Trail

The deck recipes include wholesome ingredients like wheat germ, whole wheat flour, quinoa, bulgar, nuts, vegetables and berries.  I can't say that I'm too sure about some of the tuna, salmon and mussels based recipes as fishy smells tend to attract all sorts of critters but the wide array of various ingredients will appeal to nearly everyone's palate.  The Hobo Dinner recipe uses Jerusalem Artichokes which are native to North American and relatively easy to find and harvest in the wild.

Light My Fire Outdoor Meal Kit

 

Augie Foods Cheddar Broccoli Soup in the Light My Fire Meal Kit

I like to bring along my SOL Origin Survival Kit  plus an Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter.  The survival kit has fire starting and survival tools all in one and the Aurora Magnesium Fire Starter can even ignite your camp stove's gas burner.  It is always good to have a back up cooking / heating method when you take to the outback. 

TecX Inceptra with blue anodized aluminum handle makes quick work of kindling.

The same thing can be said for a camp knife.  The SOL Origin comes equipped with an AUS-8 blade folding knife with a light in the handle. This is good backup and you will need to sharpen it first but I would reserve it for emergencies. My primary knife for cleaning fish, preparing kindling, cutting rope, etc would be this TecX Inceptra folding knife from W.R.Case. It is much easier to open and use than the traditional Swiss Army knives. The 440 stainless steel blade and blue anodized aluminum handle equals a nearly indestructible knife you don't have to worry about. The stainless steel blade locks in place and the knife comes with a belt and key ring clip. The TecX Inceptra comes pre-sharpened and ready to go as you can see it made kindling very quickly in the photo above.  A definite must for all your camp cooking & fire starting needs.

Camp cooking eggs and sausage.  Trangia Camp Mess Kit & Stove