Erin's New GHB, part 2: Quick Access

Not actually Erin.

Picture by KJ Photography

& is used with permission.

Last week, I mentioned that the main reason I went with this pack as my new Get Home Bag was because of its modularity. This is very important to me because if there's something I need in a hurry, I don't want to have to dig through my pack looking for it. This post is all about that quick access. 

The bag that I bought has a separate and detachable "waist pack". I made this my Quick Access pack for things which I would want to access while at a rest. (For things which I would want to access while on the march, see my Chest Rig).

Bag also available for separate purchase at 
https://amzn.to/3yS6IgY

There are 4 pockets to the bag: Left, right, front, and center. 

The Front Pocket is where I keep my first aid kit (trauma supplies are in my chest rig). I want to get to them quickly with a minimal amount of fuss, so they are in the most easily accessed pocket. 

The kit is a 250-piece from "Be Smart Get Prepared", and no I'm not making that up. It fits snugly inside a dry bag and that perfectly fills the front pocket. 

Check out the Amazon listing for details on what it contains; the short version is that it's a nicely stocked booboo kit with an emphasis on outdoor injuries, so it also contains things like insect repellent, sting relief ointment, and so forth.   

As you can see I've also added some Steri-Strips to the kit. 

The Right Pocket is a combination of comfort items that I want to be able to access quickly (like pain medication) and spillover first aid items that didn't fit in the front pouch. 

• Top Row: Ace bandage, triangular bandage, medical tape, container of safety pins, 8 Breathe-Right Strips.
• Middle Row: QlearQuil; pillbox containing Aleve, Advil, Tylenol, Meperidine, Benadryl & DayQuil; Jet-Alert caffeine pills; Pepto-Bismol.  
• Bottom Row: Medi-Lyte electrolyte pills (I plan to get more), Loperamide Hydrochloride (anti-diarrheal), and Zantac.

The Left Pocket is for footcare. I have a pair of wool socks in a ziploc bag, an Adventure Medical blister relief kit, a travel size container of Gold Bond Powder, and a tube of Terbinafine Hydrochloride 1% to treat athlete's foot.

The Center Pocket is mainly for things I will use at night.

• Top Row: Wilderness & Travel Medicine: A Comprehensive Guide, 4th Edition Paperback. This wouldn't fit in the front pocket. 
• Middle row: Hand sanitizer, floss, travel-size toothbrush & toothpaste, Base Camp wash towels (can be used as toilet paper if necessary), an emergency mylar sleeping bag.
• Bottom row: Face wipes, plain wash cloth, eyeglass repair kit with screwdriver and extra screws, and anti-dry eye drops. 

The entire bag is secured snugly to the back of the pack, as I expect it will bounce a lot and I don't want to lose it. In addition to two MOLLE straps in the back, there are two other MOLLE straps hooked through the attachment loops for the belt/shoulder strap (the belt is also visible in the picture, acting as a compression strap for the backpack), and the pack's "ice axe loops" are used to secure it on the bottom with two sets of Nite-Ize Figure 9 Carabiners. 

In my next post I'll discuss the two side pouches, which are for food and water.