High Sierra Topix

Wanderingdaisy He does not carry a PLB as far as I can tell from his gear list, and he does not carry any pills as "those mask the problem" and "you need to listen to your body". Another point where I think UL hikers take a good idea to the extreme. Yes, I agree that popping pain killers day after day is a bad idea; however, having pain killers in the event of an injury is still a good idea. It's as if they can't comprehend any type of injury other than a repetitive motion injury that builds slowly. Besides traumatic injuries, I had plantar fasciaitis hit me over night, literally. That happens in the wilderness and I want lots of pain killers.
The one time that I punctured my hand and needed stitches, it bled plenty before I got the stitches. They didn't bother to irrigate the wound before stitching, probably because of how much blood flowed in the short time spent cleaning the skin around it and injecting a local. At least a half a cup came out in the tray that my hand was in and more than that came out at home before I put pressure on the wound and again after I tried dressing it myself. My worry with super glue is there may be too much blood fornthe glue to stick and stop the flow. Also, with the kind of hand injury I had then there was no way I could have hiked more than 5 or 6 miles while keeping pressure on the wound before I would have had to go to a restricting band around my wrist - not easy to do 1 handed either. I guess that would provide the opportunity to use the super glue after cutting off circulation to the hand then loosen it after 30 minutes and hope it holds the wound closed. I hope I never find out.

mort wrote:

The best "first aid kit" you can have is a wilderness medicine course or training.

I also take "Medicine for Mountaineering..." ed. by James A. Wilkerson http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Medici ... -P506.aspx But his recommended "outing" first aid kit is a bit over the top. His personal kit includes morphine.
-mort

Doctors certainly do carry a nice variety of medicine unavailable to us. Morophine would be a nice pain killer to have on the trail in the event of a broken leg while you wait to be rescued. Though heavy doses of ibuprofen worked well for me after I had a bike accident that resulted in 4 damaged or lost teeth and 13 stitches to close a gash on my face. I never bothered getting the percocet that I was prescribed. Maybe I should have, just to have it in my first aid kit.

Lumbergh21 wrote:

mort wrote:

... I never bothered getting the percocet that I was prescribed. Maybe I should have, just to have it in my first aid kit.

Most drugs have a shelf life, so writing the expiration date on your pill pack is a good idea.

Unfortunately, drug laws have tightened up a lot in recent years. I used to have a good rapport with my doctor, and he would write me prescriptions for my kit (antibiotics, percocet, et al). My current doctor will not, saying the DEA no longer allows that. One local doctor just lost her controlled drug rights because she was too loose with her painkiller prescriptions.

Odd that marijuana is now legal for everyone yet I cannot get tylenol3 for my kit without a medical diagnosis.

dave54 wrote:Odd that marijuana is now legal for everyone yet I cannot get tylenol3 for my kit without a medical diagnosis.

Opoid abuse is rampant and overdose death is epidemic. Marijuana on the other hand is relatively benign. That said, it isn't legal either, not in all states and not at the federal level.

It's funny, when I've had Tylenol-3 in the past I found it to be pretty much useless. If I were injured I would turn those down in favor of a prescription dose of ibuprofen. You don't need a doctor to obtain that.

Marijuana is reportedly an effective pain medication, at least for some people and some ailments. I wonder how many people have that in their first aid kit?

ditto on Tylenol. Doesn't phase or work for me.

It's funny, when I've had Tylenol-3 in the past I found it to be pretty much useless.

Perhaps 10% of us have a defect in a liver enzyme which would convert the codeine (and similar components in Tylenol-3, Vicodin, Percoset & etc.) into morphine. The enzyme, CYP2D6, is important for a number of drugs, it would be nice if there was a way to figure out if you are a "poor metabolizer." There are also a few (1 or 2%) ultra metabolizers, for whom normal dose of codeine could be toxic.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK100662/
-mort

mort wrote:Perhaps 10% of us have a defect in a liver enzyme which would convert the codeine (and similar components in Tylenol-3, Vicodin, Percoset & etc.) into morphine. The enzyme, CYP2D6...

Good stuff, mort. Maybe that's it? I've always wondered.

Not that I'm offended but "defect" implies a particular genetic perspective. I think "poor metabolizer" might be more accurate.

My main worry is puking until I die. I rarely get digestive upsets,but one bout of food poisoning about did me in. It horrifies me to think of how I could handle that, by myself, in the wilderness, on a cold rainy night. Or severe diareah. I have had a few nights in severe storms where it took all I had, without a single illness or injury to keep from getting wet and hypothermic. Not that the illness itself would kill you, but you would be unable to handle a survival situation - even a fairly mild one.

a bit confused.. what is a fairly mild survival situation?

(long boring anecdote deleted)