Valid. I’d be pleased to offer a few recommendations, but first let me tell you why I don’t like the QC Trauma Paks —
primarily, I think they are marketing based off of their Quick Clot branding/reputation. The Combat Gauze is a great product and highly recommended, but there are many different Quick Clot gauze products. There are different lengths of the gauze and if someone doesn’t take time to realize the difference, they could be poorly prepared for real trauma. The Quick Colt in the Trauma Pak is only a small 25g sponge, it is not the same as the Combat Gauze that is 4 YARDS in length. Other items in the pack are standard 4x4 and 2x2 dressings, nitrile gloves (1 pair), 2” wide duct tape, 3” wide conforming gauze and a few other items. Most guys buy this kit thinking they are getting Quick Clot, but not all Quick Clot is equal… this is what you are getting in the Trauma Pak.
[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.rei.com/product/869098/adventure-medical-kits-advanced-clotting-sponge-25g[/URL]
As for recommended companies, I have a few I personally like, but I also assemble my own. I like Dark Angel Medical because they warranty their kits — if you ever use it, the will replace the components for free. The Blue Force Gear Kits are excellent, I also like the Live the Creed products, and the Phokus Research under the plate kits are sleek also and the Bear Independent kits look promising because they mostly use the North American Rescue (NAR) components. That said, NAR also has kits that are great, but a little pricey.
If you build your own kit, you can save some cash and get as much high-quality gear as you want — but gear without training is only a little better than no gear at all.
here are two of the kits I built:
[ATTACH=full]503725[/ATTACH]
That’s a Cabela’s dry box packed with all sorts of trauma goodies. Splinting materials are in their own separate mesh bag on top so I can triage and get to them first, or set them all aside if I don’t need them.
I carry this kit on me every day:
[ATTACH=full]503728[/ATTACH]
That is a SWAT-T wrapped around Quick Clot Combat Gauze LE and a pair of nitrile gloves. I can quickly tourniquet a limb, then apply the gloves to myself and pack a wound with the Quick Clot.
I didn’t mean to come off as a d*ck sh*ttin on the Trauma Pak, I just fell very strongly they are of little value. God forbid there is a car accident and someone you care about is injured and bleeding out, I’d hate to think all someone may have is one of those kits.
If you buy real Combat Gauze and a high-quality tourniquet like a CAT or SOF-T and a pair of nitrile gloves and stick them in a 1 gallon ziplock freezer bag with 20 feet of duct tape, you’ll have a basic kit much better than the Trauma Pak.
Edit, I’m ok with the Rats tourniquet also — although not TCCC/TECC approved, they adjust to very small limbs and are better than an improvised tourniquet. Just be aware of knockoff CAT and Rats tourniquets that you can find online. They’re garbage too.
