AMK Women’s Travel Medical Kit
September 12, 2009
You may remember my review of AMK’s Women’s Outdoor Medical Kit, and if you don’t, go read it so I don’t have to recycle my tampon, nail polish, and high heel repair kit jokes. I like AMK stuff enough to write a separate feature for their Women’s Travel Medical Kit, which is only slightly different from the Outdoor Edition. My willingness to feature both products has nothing to do with being loaded up with swag at the AMK Outdoor Retailer booth, or Simon’s willingness to provide hand sanitizer after particularly sweaty handshakes, not at all. But really, the welcome from the AMK crew was great and I enjoyed meeting them in person; and yes, the hand sanitizer was a lifesaver. How did I overlook that when packing for OR?
And I really do like this travel kit, especially the packaging. The Women’s Outdoor Kit had one flaw, and that was how items have a tendency to fall out of the pocket when you open the kit; a design rectified in the Travel kit with two fold-out pockets that keep the inner sleeves safe and secure. The kit itself reflects the usual AMK thoughtfulness, with everything you’ll need for a few days abroad. Blisters, small cuts and scraps, feminine “issues,” and stomach ailments can all be addressed with the items that come in the kit, and there is plenty of room for your own additions such as do-it-yourself Cipro and injectable morphine. It’s worth mentioning that AMK can set you up with everything you might need (barring the Rx items), including some great bug repellents and After Bite treatments in several different formulas, if the included wipes aren’t enough – regular (which evidently stings a bit); children’s for, well, children (and Simon, who said he is wary of the sting in the other formulas); and some other kind that I can’t remember and most importantly don’t want to go in from the 80 degree Alaskan sunshine to check on. And to take advantage of this brilliant segue, AMK provides sun protection for lips and skin in little one-use packets in the Travel Kit. Also available are some innovative first aid products like the (obviously) one-use blood clot packages which can be used to stop heavy bleeding, say, from going hunting with Dick Cheney (and that is a DIRECT quote from AMK, too, so feel secure that your medical kits are evil-free) and a really well-thought-out blister kit with the little doughnuts of moleskin already cut out.
One thing AMK did not do is make the kit pink. Evidently this decision was a result of market research during which many women emphatically stated that the kit should not be pink. Well, thanks a lot ladies; I like pink and therefore am disappointed. But for those of you offended by the “shrink it and pink it” method of developing women’s specific gear, you’ll appreciate the light blue packaging. Personally I appreciate that although the tampons are included as a necessary addition for most women, the rest of the kit’s contents aren’t dumbed-down and sissified. It’s a real travel kit with real applicability, and those of us who don’t need the tampons can just use the space for some other women’s thing, like Pureology shampoo, MAC lip gloss, and an iron-on Seven jeans logo for those times when you don’t want to be caught dead wearing Levis.
Women’s Edition Outdoor Medical Kit
March 24, 2009
The Geargals were all abuzz when we heard we were getting a sample of the new Women’s Outdoor Medical Kit by the folks at Adventure Medical Kits. My musings about what could be in the kit that would render it women’s specific were met with a flood of suggestions, all much more creative than my boring guess of “tampons”. “I think it includes chocolate and red wine,” declared one Geargal. Another was more practical: “A kit for emergency repairs to your acrylic nails, a special gadget for reattaching a wobbly spike heel, or maybe some evening primrose for the sudden onset of PMS.” Struck by inspiration, I jumped back into the discussion with the idea that the kit should have one of those Japanese pillows shaped like a man’s torso and arm, for those nights when you feel like snuggling and a fellah ain’t handy; a suggestion met with a loooooong silence. *crickets*
One thing we all agreed on, though, is that the Women’s Adventure Medical Kit should come with a masseuse (”for the women AND their dogs!” insisted one of our search dog handler Geargals). Well surprise, surprise – NONE of these brilliant ideas were included in the kit. Hmph! And we thought our opinions were valued for product development! But lo! What is this? Oh, look, I was right – tampons! Yes, the kit comes with tampons. Hah.
I didn’t think to ask for a regular kit so I could compare the women’s version and the regular version, but I did go through and check out the contents at face value, and what you get is a really comprehensive, lightweight, well-packaged medical kit that seems to have thought of everything (OK, except for the chocolate, red wine, stiletto fixer, acrylic nail repair kit, and masseuse, but hey). The women’s specific stuff seems to be limited to the tampons, some cramp medication (”Cramp Tabs”, hee!), and extra ibuprofen, but since I don’t have a regular kit to compare to I could be wrong about that. This kit seems to really have thought of everything, down to a little packet of lip balm (perfect for me, since I love re-enacting the desert scene from “The Three Amigos” when trips start turning into epics: “Lip balm?” Oh, I crack myself up).
One of my favorite items in the kit is a little packet of insta-towels. They are about 3/4″ diameter disks that apparently turn into towels when you activate them by putting them in water. I SO want to activate them now, because I bet I’d never get tired of that little trick, but I’ll resist until I really need them. I suspect they won’t be as compact and easy to carry once expanded, and it will be difficult to get them back into little disk form, to say the least.
One of the first things I always do with a new pre-packaged med kit is to assimilate all the little packets of medications into little baggies or jars, because I don’t like dealing with the little individual packets, but that’s up to you. The meds run the gamut from painkillers to antidiarrheal agents, and it seems that with this kit you could deal with a weekend’s worth of minor issues to one significant injury or illness. In addition to the meds, there’s bandaging material, gauze, moleskin, antibiotic ointment, gloves, biohazard bags, bandaids, burn dressings, you name it. With a few choice additions you could easily up the ante and turn this kit into a mini-trauma kit and outfit it for more serious issues. The kit comes with a first aid book, which I first thought was kind of silly considering I’m a lightweight gear junkie and don’t want to lug a book around, but the book is so comprehensive and helpful that it should definitely stay in the kit for anyone who isn’t 100% savvy about responding to medical emergencies. If you’re good to go on the knowledge front, you can take the book out and have even more room for stuff in the little kit bag. The bag really holds a lot of stuff; my one complaint being that only one side of the bag has a zip-shut pocket. The other side (the “medications” side) has folder-style pockets, which I don’t get because things tend to fall out of folder pockets so you have to be careful when you open the outer zipper. I will give the designers props for resisting the urge to apply the dreaded velcro solution, but nevertheless it would be nice to have a way to close that side of the kit.
A great little medical kit, plus tampons and “Cramp Tabs.” You can’t go wrong! And here’s a little tip: you can always slide your own chocolate bar into the amply-sized pouch. You’ll have to figure out another way to bring your masseuse on your trips.
