Product Review: Mastering Your Med-Kit DVD

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

About a month ago I discovered (I'm not exactly sure; I'm on all sorts of mailing lists, and Facebook friends send me prepping links) a DVD called "Mastering Your Med-Kit". It was produced by The Prepper Project, featured an emergency room surgeon and former US Navy doctor David Pruett, and was available for the low cost of $2.95.

Well, heck. I'm cheap and I always want to know more about how to do things, so getting it was a no-brainer.

Last night I watched the DVD, and my evaluation is: Not Bad. 



The Good
For $3, I saw an emergency room doctor demonstrate techniques on how to use an Israeli bandage, how to use a trauma dressing, how to apply a tourniquet, etc. This is a tremendous value. 

In addition, while watching him unpack his medical kit (and let's not be shy here, the entire DVD is, in fact, a commercial for his med-kit; it just happens to be a commercial with some good instructions) and demonstrate each piece I realized that "Oh, hey, that's a good idea, I should get one of those" more than a few times. 

It's also only an hour long, so it easily fits into anyone's schedule. 

The Bad

The DVD is no longer available at the $3 price point. Instead, if you want to see it, you either need to

1. pay $35 for it (and in my opinion, it's not worth that price; drop it by half and then it's worthwhile), or
2. buy the two-disc set which includes a second DVD on suturing, a suturing practice set with tools, and a "complimentary" SAM splint and Israeli bandage, for $100. This one might be worthwhile for the suture instruction, but I don't know this for certain. (I'm currently toying with the notion of getting it -- if I watch it, I'll let you know if it's a good value.)

The bag that he's selling costs $370 (free shipping, thank goodness). I think most of that price is the doctor's endorsement, as none of the items -- including the bag itself -- cost a huge amount of money. I say this with a fair bit of experience, as I've pieced together a fairly complete medical kit over the years. 

And the production of the video is -- well, it's a two-camera setup, and the video is nice and crisp. Audio is also clean, meaning I had no problem understanding either of them (and I'm a bit hard of hearing). Other than that, though, it looks like something you'd see on a public access station; Dr. Pruett goes "Umm" a LOT, and there's plenty of what I call "verbal fumbling" from both doctor and guest. This is something I would expect to see in live TV, but not from a finished product; this video desperately needs better editing. 

The Cheap

But here's the thing:  You actually don't need to watch the DVD or buy the bag to get the benefits. 

If you go to this page, you can see everything that Dr. Pruett has in his bag (and I'm honestly surprised that his Trauma Module doesn't have an occlusive dressing for chest wounds) and from there piece together your own kit for less than $370. 

Want a roll-out bag? You can get one from Amazon for $40. 

Want to know how to use a SWAT Tourniquet or an Israeli bandage? YouTube, my friends. 

So unless you need a medical kit right now, you're better off taking the time to build your own. 

Stay thrifty, my friends.