I’ve long been a fan of Adventure Medical Kits, which makes specialized first aid kits for a variety of travel styles.
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Their World Traveler kit came with me to Peru, Costa Rica, and Panama, and their Mountain Series kits have come on all our backpacking trips since about 2012.
I’m excited to see that they’ve revamped their Mountain Series this year, with a whole new look, but more importantly, even easier-to-use features. I checked out their Mountain Hiker kit, which I’ve used in the past in the older version. Here’s what I learned:
This Mountain Series kit serves two people for two days, which is why it works best as a day kit for hikes and trekking.
Like the older version, there’s a place for everything, but Adventure Medical Kits has really improved upon this feature with their Easy Care First Aid System.
Now, all supplies are stashed in injury-specific pockets, instead of grouped by category.
This means that instead of digging through the medications pocket for the pain reliever you need, you can go straight to the ‘cuts and scrapes’ pocket. This takes some user error out of the equation, which results in faster care.
While the organization of an AMK Mountain Series kit is by far the best feature, they’ve changed up a few other details, too.
Now, the kit is trapezoidal in shape, which means more room for gear inside without taking up extra room in your pack. The pockets inside are all secure, and all transparent.
AMK has also streamlined the supplies to the basics you absolutely need: products that stop bleeding fast, wound care supplies, pain and medical supplies, and blister management (which frankly, you’ll use the most).
You get hospital-quality tools, and of course, you still get the first aid pocket book.
You can see a complete supply list here for the Mountain Hiker Kit, and if you need something bigger, for more people or longer hiking or backpacking, there are four additional kits in the Mountain Series that go all the way up to mountaineering supplies.
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The Mountain Hiker hits the sweet spot for us, with just the supplies we need and nothing more, for $25. Since we’re usually hiking with more than two people, we just add a few extra supplies of our own, such as extra bandages and medications.
Remember, you can also re-order supplies for your kit directly at AMK. Yes, you can just go to your local pharmacy, but sometimes, this is easier.