Lightweight Travel Tip #18: Survivalist first aid

In this Lightweight Travel Tip I discuss how I use items I carry for basic first aid. Most of this comes from my back-country experience where good-enough is good enough. So, I present this video not as advice, but in how I think through common media situations and how I would approach them. If you have access to a proper medical kit then do use it.

The leuko tape I carry on my pen for blisters can also make a decent dressing, with a bit of tissue as gauze. I'd only do this for small scratches because getting tissue into a wound could make it worse.

I use hand santiser to clean out a wound because it kills germs and drives out moisture. The downise is the hand santiser on an open wound is going to sting - a lot.

Do what you want with this advice, but I'd recommend getting some training in first aid for everyone. Each group of travellers should have a medical officer IMO.

Lightweight Travel Tips is a series of short videos where I showcase the lightweight travel philosophy by discussing specific situations. The individual tips are gateways to the lightweight travel mindset.

I can recall my first trip overseas with overweight suitcases full of things I never used. Even though I have larger baggage allowances than ever, I take less. Less luggage makes it easier to move around, and I'm less likely to lose an item because I have fewer items to track. It's easier to move through crowds and over imperfect ground.

Lightweight travel tips combine my experience in travel and the outdoors to examine what I carry and if I could do without it. I'm not an ultra-light backpacking gram weeny - my outdoors philosophy is more informed by bushcraft, where I learned to make the most out of whatever I carry while keeping necessities and local conditions in mind. So, lightweight travel is a mindset of efficiency - that each item must be helpful or it should be left behind.

At the core of my philosophy is: Passport, Credit card, Phone - everything else is a solvable problem or a luxury item.

This isn't to say you shouldn't carry anything - decide what balances weight, size, convenience and comfort for yourself and where you're going! Figure out what is available where you're going - both free at your accommodation or what you can easily buy.

How do I start thinking through a pack list? First, learn about the trip: what about the weather when I am there? What activities do I expect to do? What can I obtain at the destination if I need it? What equipment must I take? These questions are the genesis of thinking through what to bring.

And the biggest tip: Start with a small bag. If you can't make your load-out fit, it's easier to get a larger bag rather than the other way around. People tend to think in terms of bag size: it's the airlines that make us weigh everything!

Do you have some lightweight travel tips of your own? Please share in the comments.

Until next time.