Camping Tip: Medications To Bring On A Camping Trip
There is nothing worse than feeling unwell in the backcountry and not having anything to help ease your symptoms... We're always trying to balance bulk and weight with efficiency so it's difficult to bring your entire medicine cabinet with you on every trip, especially when there's a decent chance you won't need much or any of the items within it. Enter the mini-pharmacy I used a pill organizer, which fits perfectly inside my first-aid kit, to create a little smorgasbord of medications that I felt were top priority for my own needs and have been very grateful to have them on a number of occasions – they've also come in very handy when I've had to assist others on my adventures. The idea is that there's enough of any one medication to at least provide a short period of relief until you can get yourself out of the backcountry, in most circumstances.
A few tips:
Keep a card in your first-aid kit documenting what medication is in each section and the dosing instructions
Completely empty and replenish your pharmacy at least once annually to ensure medications are well-stocked and not expired
An organizer with detachable units is really handy if you want to keep one medication out for easy access but there are other types of organizers out there including ones with larger compartments and ones with more compartments
What's in the seven compartments of my pharmacy (top to bottom)?
Immodium
Gravol
Antihistamines (Benadryl, Reactine, Aerius)
Tylenol Cold Daytime & Nighttime
Tylenol
Advil
Robax Platinum
*Note: I've included a screenshot of my dosing card but use some medical terminology that may not be commonplace. In particular, the abbreviation "q" refers to frequency so, for example, q24h means every 24 hours.
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