Recently I have mostly done day hikes instead of multiday trips. This has gotten me thinking about my medical kit being overkill for such short trips, and not having enough "personal care" items. In a previous post I talked about my loudouts for various medical kits. One that I am now starting to think about is a personal care kit, which to me is an extension of a foot care kit.
While a group will probably have a single medical kit, which has supplies appropriate for dealing with a medical emergency, each member of a group should carry a kit of supplies to help mitigate issues and deal with minor problems. One major problem that this kit needs to be able to address is hotspots and blisters. Being such a common problem it is best if everyone has enough supplies for the length trip for their normal foot problems, and hopefully something like trail toes or body glide to prevent these problems. Additionally each person should have sufficient doses of their preferred analgesic for minor aggravations.
Another critical item, especially in rougher terrain, is a roll of 1" or 1.5" athletic tape. This can be used to deal with minor hotspots prior to them becoming a bigger problem, as well as being useful for an ankle supporting taping. This is a critical skill to learn, and I recommend everyone take at least a WFA class so that they learn this along with other skills.
Some other items make this kit more useful, depending on conditions and how much weight each person wants to carry. Tincture of benzoin is useful when trying to get tape or moleskin to stick, especially in warmer weather when a lot of sweating is happening. I would also consider adding lip balm to this kit along with some sun screen to deal with wind and sun exposure in all seasons. Sun burns are unpleasant, and in the long term increase risk for skin cancer. During warmer months adding a backup of insect repellent can help reduce the chances of mosquito and tick borne diseases.
For day trips the sunscreen and insect repellent are mostly backups for previously applications. It makes sense to have single use packets of these items to reduce weight, and since they may not be used every trip. Likewise a small bottle of each is useful for multi day trips, since reapplication will be necessary, and the reduced waste is preferable.
It is important that each person in a group have the minimum items to deal with their likely or known medical problems without dipping into the groups medical kit. In most cases a few preventative items can go a long way, allowing fewer treatment items to be carried by the group.
