The Best First Aid Kit for Hiking and the Outdoors Updated May 16, 2019
We’ve looked over this guide and still stand behind our picks and our advice Your guide Anna Perling
After putting in 14 hours of research and comparing the components of 12 wilderness first aid kits, we think the best first aid kit for most people having fun in the outdoors is the Adventure Medical Kits Mountain Backpacker Kit It has the best organization and layout of any kit we tested, contains a good range of high-quality supplies from a reputable company, and fits easily in a backpack for a day hike or a weekend camping trip This compact yet well-stocked kit has the best layout of any we tested, so you can easily access the supplies you need Buying Options $40 from Walmart
With a unique layout, clearly labeled pockets, and high-quality supplies, the Adventure Medical Kits Mountain Backpacker Kit is the best first aid kit for weekend campers and hikers Thanks to the kit’s innovative design, you can find what you want quickly and easily The kit is stocked with items to address common first aid needs, and it even includes a handbook to wilderness first aid for reference purposes The Backpacker Kit has enough supplies to cover the estimated requirements of two to four people who are planning to be out for up to four days, and it easily fits into a backpack, which is why we think it’s the best option for people planning short adventures Advertisement From the same company that makes our top pick, this kit is similarly priced but has fewer supplies and a less user-friendly case Buying Options $28 from FSAStore
Adventure Medical has several lines of first aid kits—many with names that are confusingly alike—and the Day Tripper from the Mountain Classic Series is in many ways similar to our top pick, which is from the company’s Mountain Series (see what we mean?) The Day Tripper has a more traditional fold-out case, is less compact, and lacks certain items such as trauma shears Also, although it offers the same medications as the Backpacker Kit, it does so in smaller amounts But if our pick is sold out, we think the Day Tripper is another great option Budget pick Although its components aren’t as high-quality as those of our top pick, this kit is chock-full of bandages and cleaning supplies suitable for minor incidents Buying Options $14 from Amazon
If you want a basic first aid kit for patching up minor cuts and scrapes, the First Aid Only First Aid Essentials Kit is a good choice

Its components are more cheaply made than those of our top pick, but that’s to be expected given the price (significantly less than what the Backpacker Kit costs).

Still, the Essentials Kit has tons of bandage choices and adequate cleaning materials for patching up minor injuries, it’s small enough to fit in a daypack, and you’ll find your supplies easily in the clear, open pockets Everything we recommend This compact yet well-stocked kit has the best layout of any we tested, so you can easily access the supplies you need

Buying Options From the same company that makes our top pick, this kit is similarly priced but has fewer supplies and a less user-friendly case.

Buying Options Although its components aren’t as high-quality as those of our top pick, this kit is chock-full of bandages and cleaning supplies suitable for minor incidents Buying Options Sources Why you should trust us
To research this guide, I consulted with medical experts at Wyoming’s National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); the Wilderness Medicine Training Center , based in Washington state; and the SOLO wilderness schools I also asked an Outward Bound instructor to go through all of the finalists we tested and give me his opinion
I have taken a Wilderness First Responder course, though (full disclosure) I’m due for recertification I have used my skills over the years when exploring on my own in my home state of Oregon, as well as while leading group trips as a camp counselor and outdoors instructor: I’ve patched blisters while hiking the Camino Portugués trail from Portugal to Spain, I’ve wrapped twisted ankles on the Appalachian Trail in North Carolina, I’ve cleaned wounds resulting from a fall while rafting down the French Broad River through Tennessee, and I’ve treated heat exhaustion on a bike trip on steamy Cumberland Island, off the Georgia coast Who this is for
No matter what you’ll be doing in the outdoors—hiking, rafting, climbing, or biking—it’s always a good idea to bring along a first aid kit, especially when you’re likely to be out of cell phone range or far from an urgent-care clinic With a good kit, you should be able to treat minor injuries or ailments in the field, or stabilize more serious ones until you can get help When we asked our experts what the ideal first aid kit would be, they said they would recommend assembling your own, basing it on your particular needs However, we think you can easily add items to customize your kit according to your needs, and a prepacked kit gives you a good place to start (After all, the very worst first aid kit would be the nonexistent one that you just hadn’t gotten around to assembling yourself!) You can easily add items to customize a first aid kit according to your needs, and a prepacked kit gives you a good place to start
This guide is for outdoor enthusiasts looking to take short trips with a small group of people Our picks are not intended for search-and-rescue responders or EMTs (emergency medical technicians), who are expected to provide higher levels of care to patients and use more specialized tools and medications Since you—unlike a first responder or an EMT—are probably out in the wilderness for recreational purposes, your goal is to never use your first aid kit But having the supplies to treat some of the minor injuries outlined in this guide can make the difference between heading home or keeping the fun going
Another benefit of having a first aid kit on hand is that its very presence serves as a reminder that any trip into the wild, however brief, requires adequate preparation “The most common reason we rescue people is that they are not prepared to go where they are going,” said Josh MacMillan, assistant director of education at the New Hampshire–based SOLO , one of the world’s oldest wilderness-medicine schools “I think that the general attitude is, ‘It’s just going to be a day hike, so I will just bring water and my camera and be all set’” Having a first aid kit on hand can also help you manage a medical situation before it worsens Our experts could list more than a few instances in which, by taking action promptly in the field, they were able to prevent a downhill slide from the initial injury (a campfire burn, a knife gash, or even a bee sting) to an infection (if you don’t clean and treat the wound) to having to call for evacuation (if things get so bad that, for instance, a fever develops) For more serious injuries, you can use the first aid supplies to help stabilize a patient until the EMTs or first responders arrive

In my experience, ignoring seemingly minor ailments can be humbling—I had to take a day off when hiking the Camino Portugués trail to let some blisters heal so they wouldn’t get infected.

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(I quickly invested in the superior foam and gel padding that the kit I was then carrying didn’t have)
When choosing a first aid kit, though, you need to make sure you’re comfortable using what’s in it Consider first taking a CPR course, at the least, or completing a Wilderness First Aid, Wilderness First Responder, or EMT certification Tod Schimelpfenig, the curriculum director of NOLS Wilderness Medicine , said, “Match the kit to your training Can you use everything that’s in the kit? Look in it every time [you] go on a trip” The best kits we considered came with instructional booklets and cards, but it doesn’t hurt to dig out your own notes, wilderness-medicine guidebook, or class textbook and refresh your skills before a trip And definitely go through your kit’s contents before every trip to make sure everything is present and nothing has expired, to replace anything you used up during the last trip, to add any extras you and your group may want, and to ensure that you know where to find everything you may need—it’s better to do this while you’re still at home than when you’re on the side of the trail, trying to comfort an injured friend
One last note: This guide evaluates first aid kits, not survival kits

While some of the first aid kits we considered did come with whistles, compasses, duct tape, rope, firestarters, and the like, we decided that having those tools wasn’t a make-or-break criterion.

Such items add weight to a kit, and many regular hikers and backpackers have them already—many backpacks come with whistles built into the straps, for example, and you may not want an extra roll of duct tape if you already have some wrapped around your trekking poles If you do want survival-type items, we recommend adding them yourself How we picked We considered the highest rated and best-selling kits from major outdoor retailers and companies Photo: Rozette Rago
A great preassembled first aid kit includes commonly used medications and bandages bundled in smaller quantities than you’d see in a store, since you aren’t likely to need a whole bottle of aspirin or an entire large box of bandages A great kit also has labeled and organized pockets for easy access as well as a design that won’t force you to dump all of the contents out to find what you need

The scope and size of your ideal wilderness first aid kit will vary depending on your trip’s length, the group size, individual medical needs, and the medical training level of the people going—no matter how good a prefab kit may be, you’ll probably want to tweak its contents based on those factors.

And, of course, the kit still needs to be small enough to fit into your backpack along with the rest of your gear, and light enough that you won’t be tempted to leave it at home A great preassembled first aid kit includes commonly used medications and bandages, as well as a design that won’t force you to dump all of the contents out to find what you need
With most first aid kits, you should be able to treat and clean cuts and scrapes to prevent infection, to pad blisters (a big one for hikers) and treat minor burns, to wrap or splint sprains or extremity injuries so your patient can make it back out to a clinic or doctor’s office, and to treat cold symptoms, headaches, fevers, allergies, bug bites, nausea, and diarrhea More extensive kits include tools for CPR (such as a breathing barrier, which is a plastic mask that the person giving CPR wears), trauma shears (to cut open clothing, say, if a patient is bleeding or severely injured and needs to be examined), larger bandages such as triangle bandages (for cradling splints or stabilizing clavicle or collarbone injuries until you can get the patient to a doctor), irrigation tools (for flushing dirt and debris out of wounds before dressing them), and pads to help stop bleeding
To find the best wilderness first aid kits, I spent eight hours researching existing options I read several articles discussing how to build your own first aid kit from resources like the Wilderness Medicine Training Center , and I tracked down a few published papers as well The Red Cross has a list of suggested first aid items that I cross-referenced I also compared kits side by side with our top first aid kit picks for emergency preparedness
Then I spoke with several wilderness-medicine professionals to see what they thought was most important to have in a first aid kit Along with the NOLS’s Tod Schimelpfenig and Josh MacMillan of the SOLO schools, I interviewed Wilderness Medicine Training Center founder Paul Nicolazzo and Trevor McKee , an Outward Bound instructor based in Portland, Oregon
The experts I spoke with and the articles I read all agreed that the most common injuries that are treatable in the wilderness include sprains or muscle strains; minor wounds like cuts, scrapes, abrasions, or puncture wounds; ailments such as headaches, allergies, muscle aches, and sore throats; and medical illnesses like diarrhea or dehydration Schimelpfenig said he recommended asking yourself a series of rhetorical questions when considering what should be in your first aid kit: “If someone gets a cut, can I clean, dress, and bandage it? If somebody gets a blister, can I manage that? If someone sprains [an] ankle, can I manage that by providing them some support? … I’m looking for antiseptic to clean small wounds, dressing so I can dress the wound, some tape to hold the dressing in place, some tape to support a sprained ankle, and materials to help dress a blister

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When choosing or packing a kit, it’s also important to consider your group’s demographic.

Outward Bound leader Trevor McKee said that if he knew he would be leading a rafting trip for older veterans, he would pack extra aspirin, which could help slow blood clots blocking arteries , whereas if he would be leading a group of young kids, he would bring extra Band-Aids and cleaning supplies for the inevitable cuts and scrapes Consider allergies or medical conditions and prepare accordingly—that could mean packing glucose for a diabetic person or an EpiPen if someone has an anaphylactic allergy (although you’ll need a prescription for the pen and a certification to use it; rules vary by state)
To compare different kits, we considered the best-selling and highest-rated ones available at such leading outdoor retailers as REI and Cabela’s, as well as the best-selling kits on Amazon We also checked out what Target and Walmart had to offer Then we dove deeper into offerings from individual brands that our experts recommended, including Adventure Medical Kits, Coleman, Lifeline, NOLS, and Wilderness Medicine Training Center (WMTC), as well as Cabela’s and REI’s own proprietary kits After visiting the Outdoor Retailer trade show in the summers of 2017 and 2018, we also looked into kits from companies that we saw on the floor: 12 Survivors , Coghlan’s , Stansport , UST , and the Kickstarter-backed VSSL The Day Tripper (left) and the Backpacker Kit (right), both from Adventure Medical, are two of our favorite kits, but the Backpacker has a few more supplies and a superior design Photo: Rozette Rago
Through our research and interviews, we learned that Adventure Medical Kits is the dominant first aid kit manufacturer: As well as producing its own extensive assortment, the company makes the proprietary kits for Cabela’s and REI (although REI is phasing out its line), as well as kits for wilderness-medicine behemoth NOLS The Cabela’s-, REI-, and NOLS-branded kits all differ slightly from one another and from Adventure Medical’s own kits, with the companies adding or subtracting ingredients based on what they deem necessary for their customers For example, the Cabela’s kit includes such survival supplies as a whistle, a space blanket, and a firestarter; the NOLS kit has items geared toward more serious medical scenarios, including a nicer CPR barrier, a triangle bandage for creating slings, povidone iodine for cleaning wounds, thermometers, and wound-closure strips As for Adventure Medical’s own kits, the company offers 11 lines of first aid kits, with focuses ranging from hunting to ultralight backpacking

After comparing all of Adventure Medical’s offerings, we concentrated on the three lines that had kits most appropriate for wilderness medicine: the Ultralight/Watertight Series, the Mountain Series, and the Mountain Classic Series.

(We also considered the Sportsman Series, which we recommend for our emergency preparedness first aid pick, but those kits have items geared toward heavy bleeding and trauma from gun or arrow wounds, such as tourniquets and hemostatic dressings, and most hikers won’t need those items If you’re likely to be out in the woods during hunting season, though, you might consider buying such a kit)
After eliminating kits with a focus on survival tools (like firestarters, space blankets, and water purifiers) and kits that were exceptionally minimal and didn’t have good ratings or reviews, we ended up with a list of 27 first aid kits to look at more closely, evaluating them according to the following criteria:
Adequate scope: Whether a kit’s scope is appropriate depends on your group’s size and your trip’s length

Most kits specify how many people they’re meant to serve and for how long; we considered whether the included supplies seemed sufficient for the given parameters.

We also noted whether any items had already expired by the time we got the kit, if anything inside the kit seemed superfluous, and if any crucial tools or medications were missing
The items we deemed crucial included a CPR barrier and gloves; a large quantity and variety of bandages; dressings for larger wounds (with bonus points for things like wound strips and tincture of benzoin, which helps tape stick to the surrounding skin); tape; cleaning supplies like antiseptic towelettes and alcohol prep pads; antibiotic ointment; moleskin or other blister care like foam or Engo patches; and elastic bandages for wrapping sprains Essential medications included ibuprofen (for aches and pains), as well as aspirin, antihistamines (for allergic reactions), and antacids (for gastrointestinal issues) and diamode (to stop diarrhea) Other must-have equipment included irrigating syringes to clean wounds, trauma shears to remove clothing, and tweezers to remove splinters, ticks, or debris from wounds Although single-use cold packs can be helpful in the case of a sprain or strain, our experts agreed that they likely weren’t worth the additional weight
Note that this list doesn’t include tourniquets or single-use cold packs You may be scratching your head and asking, “How can I follow the RICE formula for strains and swelling (rest, ice, compression, and elevation) without ice? And don’t I need a tourniquet, just in case?” Although cold packs can be helpful, our experts agreed that they likely weren’t worth the additional weight “Those things don’t stay cold very long, and most often you can find snow or a cold stream if needed,” said Outward Bound’s Trevor McKee Josh MacMillan of SOLO agreed, adding that “the disadvantage I have found with the cold packs is they have an ability to rupture in your pack and make a mess” As for tourniquets, if you’re going on a hunting trip, they’re a good idea; for short hikes or lower-risk outings, though, they’re probably unnecessary Tod Schimelpfenig of NOLS said, “The average person in the wilderness has a very low risk of needing a tourniquet or a hemostatic dressing I don’t carry these in my first aid kit If I were hunting, maybe ” A great kit lists the items included so you can cross-check the contents before a trip, easily find what you need, and reference items you may need to replace Photo: Rozette Rago
Organization: A good kit should be organized efficiently, with the sections clearly labeled The best kits list all of the included supplies on or in the kit so you can see what’s inside at a glance and quickly cross-check items you need to replace When you open the kit, the contents shouldn’t immediately fall out—the kit should hold them in place with Velcro, zippered pockets, or elastic loops “Some kits are like pouches—you have to open them up and basically dump everything out,” said Schimelpfenig “I don’t like that because if it’s wet at all in the environment, that potentially exposes everything in the kit I like a kit that I can unzip and lay open, like a little purse—that provides a little bit more protection for stuff that’s inside the kit”
Durability: Because you’re likely to place a first aid kit on the ground, you should consider how waterproof the case is Our experts also noted that the zipper quality was important, as zippers easily fail The best kits have protective pockets inside to keep medicine packets and bandages dry and intact while you’re treating your patient and the kit is open The Day Tripper (left) has taped zippers to help keep water out of the kit—a feature the Backpacker Kit (right) lacks Photo: Rozette Rago
Completeness: All supplies listed for a kit should be inside—nothing should be missing
Manuals and patient-assessment forms: The best kits have first aid manuals or booklets (even if you’re trained, these are helpful for reference) and patient-assessment forms that you can fill out and then provide to emergency responders or to a doctor when your patient reaches a clinic
Based on these criteria, we were able to pare down our list to 12 models to test: