Your first-aid kit needs trauma gear, not just band-aids

If you’re camping in bear country, your first-aid kit is incomplete without serious trauma supplies. A standard blister-and-ibuprofen kit might work for a scrape, but a bear encounter can mean deep puncture wounds, heavy bleeding, or broken bones.

You need stuff that stops blood loss fast. Tourniquet (learn how to use it first), hemostatic gauze (QuikClot or similar), and a pressure bandage. Add a few large sterile gauze pads, a triangle bandage for slings or pressure, and a splint—SAM splints are light and work well. Antiseptic wipes, plenty of gloves, and ibuprofen (for pain and swelling) round it out. A small suture kit can help close wounds if you’re far from help, but only if you know what you’re doing.

Bear spray goes on your belt, not in the kit. That’s your prevention. The kit is for after something goes wrong. Don’t forget a whistle and emergency blanket—extraction might take hours.

Pack for the worst, hope for the best.