Recently I was asked for what I would put into a travel sized First Aid Kit. Something perfect for a backpack or glove box. Something all Natural that would be great for a backpacking/camping weekend for adults and children alike. It didn’t take long for me to figure out my must haves, but the challenge came in keeping it small and making sure it was very useful to many. I am always looking for a fun challenge and brain activity and I came up with the best I could think of that is the most natural and gives the biggest bang for the buck! So find a small container or a gallon sized ziploc bag and find out what I recommend and why!
The Travel-Sized First Aid Kit
First get your container. You know how big or small of a container you need. My goal is to get all my supplies in a pencil box. That way it is quite portable.
Next begin accumulating supplies…
- Sterile Gauze
- Paper Tape
- Essential Oils- must haves are lavender, Purification blend, Peppermint, and Thieves
- A 2 oz bottle of a carrier oil (like olive oil)
- Activated Charcoal
- Arnica Gel/Cream/Tablets (you can get both here in the same package)
Okay so that’s the list of items, but maybe you aren’t familiar with many of the items or their uses. Read on for further information or you can print my All Natural First Aid Printable to take with you and store in the kit itself.
Why I Chose These Items:
Wound Care:
It is probably reasonable to say that you might get cuts and scrapes on your adventure. How would you address this naturally (meaning no commercial ointments and such)
1. Cotton Gauze
You may need to cover a wound to prevent infection. Cotton gauze is more versatile in my opinion than plastic bandages, plus you can throw them in the campfire with less pollutants. I am going to assume that you will have a knife on you, so I wouldn’t think scissors would be necessary, but you may want to think about adding a roll of paper tape, just in case. You could even use these for cleaning a wound in case you don’t have a clean cloth on hand.
2. Essential Oils
Essential oils have many uses and applications. They eliminate the need for separate medicines for separate uses. Iwill go into more detail in the printable, but here are a few just to give you an idea: Lavender can be used for allergic reactions, to help stop bleeding, to clean and soothe skin irritations, and has mild pain relieving properties. Peppermint can reduce a fever, soothe an upset stomach, and also help with headaches and general pain. Purification can repel bugs and soothe bug bites and kill germs. Thieves kills germs and soothes sore throats. By having these 4 oils you have eliminated approximately 6-8 different OTC medications.
Please note: The only essential oils that I use are Young Living. They are the only ones that I have had safe consistent results with. Different brands can vary in quality so please consider that when stocking your first aid kit. If you are interested in order Young Living oils please click here.
3. Carrier Oil
This is basically a vegetable oil that you will need in your kit. If for some reason you get an essential oil in your eye, you will put a drop of the carrier oil in there to get the oil out instead of flushing with water (because oil and water don’t mix) also if you need to use essential oils on a larger area you can mix a few drops in a carrier oil to disperse instead of using your whole stash.
4. Activated Charcoal
This is primarily used for drawing out toxins. It can be made into a paste and applied topically in case of snake or spider bite and can also be used if you have swallowed something poisonous. However, if you have swallowed something toxic, you should really call poison control or get a professional opinion before ingesting.
5. Arnica Gel/Cream/Tablets
Arnica is a homepathic remedy used for pain, swelling, and bruising. It can be applied topically to the site or you can ingest the tablets as recommended on the bottle, much as you would acetaminophen, but without the liver damage.
I hope you have found this useful and informative. As stated above, for further instructions feel free to print my All Natural First Aid Printable with my suggestions on how I use these items.
To Pin for later, Click HERE
