A good field kit is built around the injuries you're actually likely to face — bleeding, blisters, sprains, and minor infection — not a giant box of things you'll never open.
Core contents:
- Sterile gauze pads (multiple sizes) and a roll of gauze for wound packing
- Adhesive bandages, various sizes
- Medical tape
- A commercial tourniquet (rated, not improvised — improvised tourniquets fail at the moment they matter most)
- Nitrile gloves, at least two pairs
- Antiseptic wipes or solution
- Tweezers (splinters, ticks)
- Blister treatment (moleskin or blister pads)
- Any personal medications, clearly labeled, plus a copy of any critical prescriptions
- A small pair of trauma shears
Check it every few months — adhesives dry out, ointments expire, and gloves degrade in heat. A kit you haven't opened in two years is a guess, not a plan.