CAPGear

First Aid Kit: What You Really Need

Murph asked me to write this post on “Essential items every CAP Member needs in their personal First Aid Kit.” I’m going to be working on a couple of assumptions here: one, you won’t be the team EMT/Medic; two, this is a base pack that should cover as many circumstances as possible. The first assumption means that you won’t be packing a huge amount of supplies; the second that we’re going to be working with tools that can be as polyvalent as possible.
As a general rule, I like my med kit to be modular: a small number of base items and a few separate packs covering some more precise, yet still general circumstances (e.g.: cold or hot weather injuries) that I can chuck into my go bag depending on the season and/or mission.

Creature Comfort

I haven't done it yet - I've tried to use personal restraint - but I feel the need to mention:

While I was deployed during Hurricane Katrina...

...I brought along a few "extras" that I knew would come in handy.  The one I'm going to write about today is one that has served me very well for my entire CAP career.

It's simply called:

Jetboil - (Personal Cooking System) Suggested Retail: $89.99
I have had one of these for 2 years now.  This has to be one of the best purchases I have ever made (thanks Midway 6).  Anyone in a cold climate, heck, anyone who likes a hot cup of coffee in the morning should cram one of these into their 72hr gear.  I have used it on every overnight mission I have been on.  It boils a cup of water per minute (it holds 2 cups of water).  I love MRE's as much as the next guy but a nice hot package of rehydrated eggs and bacon sure beats a beef stew for breakfast.  Since I purchased my unit they've come out with a plethora of exciting accessories including:

• Fry Pan
• Hanging Kit
• Utensil Kit
• Cargo Cozy Kit
• 1.5L Cooking Pot
• 1L Companion Cup
• Pot Support
• Coffee Press
• Cozies
• Maintenance Kit

Seriously folks - a cargo cozy kit?  Who can pass that up?  Not me.

I know some of you are thinking that this is merely a "nice to have" but think of it this way, if you get lost or separated from your team, and you're forced to "survive" on your own until you're rescued, this is a very functional survival tool.