Best First Aid Kits, Checklist and Products

The purpose of a survival first aid kit is to provide first aid supplies necessary to repair an injury or illness in an emergency situation. We recommend first aid kits that are portable and complete with the necessary supplies.

The kits can be stowed in larger survival kits (i.e. transferring from your day pack to your backpacking pack or go-bag.) You want to have the essentials first aid with you as often as possible.

Survival First Aid Kit (Personal Kit)

We like the idea of a staged approach to first aid. We want to make sure we can have some first aid in many situations. It's hard to pack a trauma pack around so we want to have something smaller. Here are the recommended stages:

1. Stage 1 – Essentials Pouch - This is the personal first aid kit you can carry nearly anywhere. You can keep it in a vehicle, day pack, backpacking pack, etc. It has the bare essentials in it. Field versions will have a tourniquet, pressure bandage, and compressed gauze. Other version just has the basics.
2. Stage 2 – Go Bag First Aid Kit - This kit adds to the essentials pouch. It's stored in your go-bag (bug out bag or 72-hour kit.) It's not complete unless you add the essentials pouch to it. It has more advanced first aid supplies for evacuation scenarios.
3. Stage 3 – Home First Aid/Trauma Kit - This is a complete family/household first aid kit or trauma kit. It is stand alone and likely is less portable.

Download the checklist below to see the items that belong in each Stage.

Complete First Aid Kit Checklist

This checklist has everything you need for a complete survival first aid kit. We recommend you download and print out the checklist. Then below, shop for recommended products you need.

Recommended First Aid Kit (IFAK) Products

Explore our recommended survival products for the First Aid Pouch (IFAK). Below we go through each checklist item and suggest highly-rated, quality products.

First Aid Books and Handbooks

Having the right gear and supplies only helps if you know how to use it. We recommend acquiring a book or handbook dedicated to emergency or survival first aid. 

Required Attributes:

• included multiple levels of training
  • basic
  • intermediate
  • advanced
• included steps you could follow in an actual emergency
• easy to pack and carry

Reasons for Our Pick:

We've chosen these books because we've read them and compared them to others. The Scouting first aid handbook is a great intro resource. The Scouting program has spent decades training youth and leaders on how to survival in the wilderness and other settings. I personally helped save a woman's life using the training I learned as a kid.

The Medical Guide has advanced info including where to find medications in an emergency. It's a great survivalists handbook.

Personal First Aid Kits (IFAK)

We all have different lifestyles, budgets, and access to emergency services. Our checklist above contains the items we recommend based on years of experience and interaction with EMTs and other first responders.

These kits are selected to give you options for your situation. 

Required Attributes:

• complete
• portable

Reasons for Our Pick:

For our survival system we used the First Aid Kit - EDC and First Aid Kit - Tactical and supplement with a larger kit.

Household/Family First Aid Kits

Household or family first aid kits contain supplies in greater quantities and may have more robust items. You may see splints, wraps, tourniquets, medications, larger gauze, airways, etc.

Required Attributes:

• complete
• portable
• many supplies
• large container (wall mounted or portable)
• broad scope of supplies and medications
• tools like trauma sheers, tweezers, etc
• first aid guide

Reasons for Our Pick:

For our survival system we recommend larger first aid kits for families and households. The may be portable or wall mounted.

Community First Aid Kits

Offices, organizations, work places all need first aid supplies. Whenever there are numbers of people there's a higher chance of illness or injury. You'll want a larger first aid kit or trauma kit to cover most emergencies.

Required Attributes:

• complete
• portable
• many supplies
• large container (wall mounted or portable)
• broad scope of supplies and medications
• tools like trauma sheers, tweezers, etc
• first aid guide

Reasons for Our Pick:

For our survival system we recommend a larger kit that is either wall mounted or contained in a larger portable bag.