Recap from Part I and II...

• IFAK: Individual First Aid Kit.
• IFAK: Can also mean "Improved" and / or "Improvised".
• On Body: On Your Body...With You, RIGHT NOW.
• Off Body: Not On Your Body...NOT With You, RIGHT NOW.
• Part I: Part I can be found here and covered Medical Gloves...never leave home without 'em!
• Part II: Found here covering ABD pads...light, easy to carry.

Gloves aren't the end all be all, but they allow you to "get your hands dirty" without getting them too dirty. ABD pads don't cover all the bases, but they beat the hell out of letting someone bleed all over the place. Stepping it up a bit is an idea for a "fuller" kit used for on body carry...this one isn't so much about what's in your kit, but more about how to carry a kit. 

I don't like having a kit stuffed in my pocket. I almost always wear a belt, hence...I want an IFAK that is "Belt Fed". I could buy a kit (pouch) or make one up, I prefer making my own to fit my needs and I thought an AR based IFAK pouch would be a slick option and hopefully push other to build a kit that they will actually wear! I break it all down below...

Personal Needs / Desires:

• Easy onto and off of the belt.
• Easy to deploy from.
• Some flexibility as far as the pouch went so I can change IFAK contents. 

Problems:

• I don't want to buy 100 AR pouches in an attempt to find the one that is "just right".
• 5.56 size pouches were too small for the kit I wanted to carry.  

Solutions:

• Use the pouches I have on hand to guide my journey.
• Examine other pouches I see at courses and competitions.
• Expand the size of the pouch to a 7.62 magazine.

Results - Soft Pouches:

• I liked the flexibility and expandability of Blue Force Gear's Ten Speed pouches as they allowed me to tweak contents as desired, but wanted more options as far as belt mounting.   
• I didn't like that some of the other soft pouches I tried were not expandable or were too deep (long). These pouches also didn't fit the bill with how I wanted to mount them.

Results - Hard Pouches: 

• Belt mounting options on some of the pouches are limitless. 
• Little expandability options limited my ability to tweak contents.

Results - Hybrid (Taco Style) Pouches: 

•  "Just Right"!
• Flexible or expandable for your kit.
• A large variety of mounting hardware options available depending on which pouch I went with.

Final Results:

• G-Code's Scorpion 762 Magazine Pouch with Blade-Tech's Tek Lok.
• Easy onto and off the belt.
• Easy to deploy an IFAK from.
• Several "TactiCool" color options available.
• Several mounting options available.

Alright, so what's in the IFAK stuffed into the Scorpion...I went with bleeding control focused kit and built two of them
​ as follows: 

• Dukal ABD Pads - 2 Pads
•  Gloves - 1 Pair
• Coban - 1 Roll
• Tourniquet - 1 (I set one kit up with a CAT and the other with a RATS).
• All contents are contained in a plastic baggy. I found a heavy duty bag that was the same width as the mag pouch that works great. Another option is to build your own baggy using a "FoodSaver" type bag.  

After running two of these for a year or so now at a variety of courses and competitions I feel that they both have not only met, but exceeded their initial goals. They are easy to carry, easy onto and off of the belt, and are easy to deploy from.

On Body IFAK #3: AR Magazine Pouch IFAK

• Kit: AR Magazine Pouch
• Pouch Brand: G-Code Scorpion 762.
• Attachment Brand: Blade-Tech's Tek Lok.
• Why: Bleeding Control focused IFAK pouch for On Body carry...always with you!
• On Body Carry: Put it on, do work.
• Positives: Easy onto and off of the belt. Easy to deploy from. 
• Negatives: You know it's there when you sit down in a chair...a little digging into the back.
• Considerations: Build a kit that works for you; education and skill set should be your guide.
• Purchase: G-Code and Blade-Tech's websites along with others that sell these type of items.

Again, this is just one option out of countless that allows you to pack some sort of IFAK on your person, you owe it to yourself and those around you to be prepared for those problems that don't fit into the "Gun Problem" category.

Stay safe, Do Work, Help Others!

V/r - Rob

Recap from Part I...

• IFAK: Individual First Aid Kit.
• IFAK: Can also mean "Improved" and / or "Improvised".
• On Body: On Your Body...With You, RIGHT NOW.
• Off Body: Not On Your Body...NOT With You, RIGHT NOW.
• Part I: Part I can be found here and covered Medical Gloves...never leave home without 'em!

Alright, another day out to breakfast at your favorite bagel joint and all of sudden somebody's grandpa falls and splits his head open. He's sitting up before you can get to him, he's got a little gash on his forehead, is bleeding like a stuck pig and blood is running down into his eyes and mouth. Every time grandpa talks he sprays blood into the air, he also keeps wiping his head and now has blood all over his hands.  No worries! Break out your handy dandy, low profile, ABD dressing and cover that thing up! Next request that the folks at the store to call 911 and then bring you two hand towels; one wet and one dry to help clean him up a bit before the good guys arrive. External bleeding controlled - check, 911 system activated - check, clean up on aisle 3 in the works - check, being able to help your friends and neighbors - CHECK! 

What are ABD dressings you ask, depending on what circles you run in ABD can mean "abdominal" or "absorbent". There is also the definition "Army Battle Dressing" which furthers explains the concept that ABD dressings are a bulkier type dressing designed to absorb blood. ABD dressings come in all shapes and sizes ranging from small to ginormous and may also be referred to as "trauma pads" or "trauma dressings". Regardless of what label you throw on it, the ABD Pad we are talking about here is a bulky pad used to help stop bleeding. Considering the fact that this discussion revolves around "On Body" carry, it should go without saying that I prefer a more compact ABD pad if I'm going "light", one that is small enough to carry easily, yet still big enough to actually do some good. Most of the time, I can't tell that I'm carry an ABD Pad and gloves, yet they are there if I need them.     

On Body IFAK #2: Trauma / Bleeding Pad

• Kit: ABD Dressing
• Brand: There are a lots of these out there, I prefer Dukal's 5X9 Combine ABD Pad #5590.
• Why: Bleeding Control. Wound Packing. Occlusive Dressing (if it has a plastic wrapper).
• On Body Carry: Just like your gloves, stuff them in the pocket of whatever you are wearing. 
• Positives: Light. Compact. Easy to Carry. Inexpensive. 
• Negatives: None. 
• Considerations:  One thing to consider is that you will either need something to hold these in place (tape, ETC) or someone is going to have to hold it in place. 
• Purchase: Online, Any place that sells medical supplies...Walmart, Target, Walgreens, ETC.
  
  

Like a set of gloves, this little pad hardly covers everything we may run across, but it sure beats the hell out of carrying nothing at all! Again, this is not the end all be all, just another option for those that usually carry nothing at all in the form of medical equipment. Stuffing this thing along with a set of gloves in your pocket means you have SOMETHING with you...and SOMETHING always trumps NOTHING. 

Stay safe and do work!

V/r - Rob