Review on 🏥 Surviveware 100 Piece Premium First Aid Kit – Ideal for Trucks, Cars, Camping, Office, Sports, and Outdoor Emergencies by Ricky Brooks

Purchased August 2020. Read alot of reviews and recommendations while searching for a small first aid kit (NB: I said first aid kit, AKA "boo boo kit," NOT TRAUMA KIT. I have one of those I built myself for range days and home emergency use - completely different kettle of fish, so stop griping about fitting a CAT tourniquette in here) for my backpack when out camping and hiking. Settled on this one based on OutdoorGearLab's supposed "Best Kit Overall" and Revain's Choice ratings, as well as some YouTube reviews (which I now strongly suspect were purchased by Surviveware for marketing purposes, so I'll trust those channels alot less - I'm looking at you SensiblePrepper, among some others). Was swayed most by the layout/internal organization, size and components included for the price at $36.95.Arrived in a red ziplock-type outer bag with the 600D bag inside. First tip, don't go ripping that outerbag open, use scissors to open neatly so you can ensure you can reuse the ziplock bag for waterproofing when this goes in your hiking/camping pack.The 600D bag is well made, but NOT waterproof (in the product Q&A, no idea why Surviveware lied and said it is, just dumb on their part. Maybe, maybe some slight water resistance to a few droplets, but not something I would trust - hence my tip above to ensure nothing inside gets wet). I've played with the zippers and they open and close nice and smooth. The molle attachments have sturdy velcro and snaps. Upon opening the bag, I removed all components and continued to inspect the interior. Everything seems well-stitched, so that's good. The netting is kind of flimsy, though, so I'm not sure how that will hold up over time. The elastic is very stiff as well, so it's not exactly easy getting things in and out of those net pouches. As for the labels on the net pouches, I already cut those off, as I find them either dumb (more on the utter garbage Chinese knock-off ace bandage later, but why the hell does the pouch say snake bite?!?!?!?!?) or not the optimal layout for my taste/purposes. But overall, I'm happy with the bag, it's decent and what I was expecting. Grade: B+Now let's turn to the components. Seems they are all "Made for SURVIVEWARE" by Yancheng Trancom First Aid Supplies Industrial Co., Ltd, 8 West Fuling Road, Yangma, Yancheng, Jiangsu (Chinese Province). As someone in the business world, it is shockingly poor vendor management by Surviveware to allow Yancheng Trancom to put their name all over EVERY component in this kit - whose kit is it, anyway?!?!?! Yeah, JNJ has stuff made in China, every company does - but they make damn sure it's their branding/marketing, not the subcontractor's - my 2 cents. but I digress. So let's go through each component and I'll give you the good, the bad and the ugly:-Adhesive tape - GARBAGE! Flimsy, ultra-thin paper tape, not very adhesive. Think single sheet of tissue paper from your last Christmas gift, with some light adhesive on the back - not good for first aid, or anything else. And to make matters worse, it's really bulky with the plastic shell. WENT RIGHT INTO THE TRASH CAN. Immediately replaced with a roll of JNJ medical tape. Quick tip/fun fact - you don't need to carry 1,000 different styles and sizes of band aids in your kit, you can save space and weight by making your own band aids as needed, in any size needed, by carrying medical tape, sterile 4x4 gauze pads and scissors. Cut the gauze to size, place over wound (preferably with a dab of antibiotic ointment), apply strip of tape. Get it? Got it? Good! Now back to the components review.-Tweezers - beefy, not flimsy. Initially pleasantly surprised, until I tried to use them to pluck a day old whisker from my unshaven face. No good, wouldn't grab, tip is too fat and round to grip anything. Multiple attempts and angles tried - NEGATIVE, GHOST RIDER! That whisker is equivalent to the splinter you're going to try to remove, or thorn, or stinger from bee, etc. If you can't grab it, then this tool is useless in your kit. Going to put this one in my small tools box in the garage and replace with fine edge women's eyebrow tweezers. Thanks for the slot in the bag, but the tweezers also need to be replaced with something functional. Another FAIL.-Splinter probes - who cares, will leave them in there since they take up no room. But why on Earth would Surviveware label a slot for 2 tiny probes? I took a Sharpie and blacked it out. Also put the 10 knockoff Q tips in that slot. Oh yeah, Surviveware also seems to be playing the "number of pieces" marketing game. "OMG, Look how much we give you!" Using those 10 knockoff Q tips (and 4 crappy safety pins and a bunch of crappy band aids, etc, etc) to get the piece count up. Just be aware - I'm actually an honest reviewer if you haven't figured that out yet :)-Shears - surprisingly beefy and well-made, sharp, cut well. Was afraid they were going to be like the kindergarten safety scissors that don't cut anything. Keeper! (Spoiler alert - keepers are few and far between in this kit, sadly - hence the 1 star review)-Safety pins (4 of them) - cheap and flimsy, too small to be useful with the triangle bandage. Threw those in the tackle box to organize my hooks, added a couple of extra large, beefy strong safety pins into the bag with the triangle bandage (which is where the safety pins should be in the kit, Surviveware team - no US military on staff there? Or even Boy Scouts?!).-Band aids - as mentioned, a bunch of them in different sizes. I think I've used 1 knuckle band aid in 42 years on planet Earth, but Surviveware gets the piece count up by including a whole bunch of them, in 2 different sizes. I opened one of the 40 or so 1x3s to get a sense of the quality. Not pleased! First off, the gauze part was an offputting yellow color, not white. Immediately made me question the sterility, as I've never seen anything except white when using a "band aid" (be it a genuine JNJ or another generic band aid - nothing wrong with generics btw, I've worked for two generic pharma companies, but our facilities were under constant FDA scrutiny here in the US. How many times do you think underfunded FDA inspectors get on a plane to Jiangsu Province to make sure things are sterile?) Next test was to put it on my dry, clean leg and head outside to cut the grass on an 85 degree summer day. After 2 hours of sweating and getting a little dirty, this thing was falling off. Now I know what would happen on the hiking trail. Another FAIL-CPR Kit - removed and threw into the hallway closet first aid kit. Gonna use this compartment in the kit for a roll of leukotape (highly recommended, much better than moleskin for hiking blisters). But let's pause to question a couple of things: 1) Why is that even in here?! Who the hell does CPR from a boo boo kit?! AND 2) Can you even trust this Chinese knockoff crap (see above, Yancheng can't make a decent band aid) to function properly in an emergency? I don't. I'll keep the small nylon pouch, but the mask goes into the trash. Maybe one day I'll replace it with a 3M CPR mask, but probably not - in 42 years on planet Earth I haven't needed to perform CPR on anyone. If I want to prepare for that, I'll buy real kit for that. Net-net, another component fail from Surviveware.-Conforming bandage (center compartment) - didn't open the package, up, but did notice that it is not sterile gauze, says "non-sterile" right on the plastic wrapping. Going to replace it with a roll of sterile Kerlex gauze. Another component fail from Surviveware. This should absolutely be sterile gauze that can be packed into deep wound to stop bleeding, say from a slip and fall on the trails, then wrapped with the "Ace bandage."***OK, now we're on the right side of the kit***Going to start with something that REALLY PISSED ME OFF!-Pressure bandage (AKA "Ace bandage") - opened this up to check it out, so glad I did and yet pissed off at the same time. I undid the clips and started to wrap my arm to check out the elastic - not very strong, COMPRESSION SUCKS! Even worse: the clips are PAPER THIN METAL and the V notches cut to hold the clips in place immediately broke off. CHEAP CHINESE GARBAGE, ZERO QUALITY CONTROL by Survivewear, UTTERLY USELESS. So glad I tested this in my living room, rather than finding out the hard way that it is garbage after rolling an ankle on the trails. Another item that needs to be replace BY YOU, another component fail from Surviveware. There seems to be a theme developing.- Various wipes (alcohol, sting and antibiotic) - well they are made by Yancheng, so probably junk. I will replace with quality components. Let's keep it moving since this is getting long already.- Gauze and eye pads - same thoughts as the bandaids above, no need to repeat. I will replace with sterile 4x4 guaze pads, probably skip the eye pads there "One-Eyed Willie" - Goonies anyone?- Wound closures - same thoughts as the bandaids, I will replace with quality butterfly sutures. Yet another thing YOU will likely have to replace in this kit.- Triangle bandage - Unexcited keeper. Material seems strong enough to make a sling or wrap a head wound and tie a knot in it without it breaking, though I didn't try to do that. Safety pins upgraded per above. "Nice to have" in the kit, probably will never use it. If you want to upgrade, go Army-Navy surplus, they use real muslin. If it's good enough for my US Marine father to be issued by Uncle Sam in the 'nam, all you need to know. As for Yancheng's version. up to you.- Emergency blanket - assume this is mylar, but since it is not labeled as anything other than "Emergency blanket" there's no way to know for sure. So how do I know how well it will insulate? Short answer: I don't. And neither do you. I did try to rip the corner and it stretched but didn't tear, so there's that bit of knowledge for you. But it's also made by Yancheng and as I've amply demonstrated by now, their quality SUCKS, so there's that bit of knowledge. Well, here's my thought on this - it's $3 for a quality rip-proof MYLAR emergency blanket, and Yancheng makes garbage. So looks like I'm replacing yet another component from this kit. Theme continues!- First aid pamphlet - blah. OK, leave it in there, doesn't take up much room.What's not in the kit that you'll need to add (as opposed to replace, per above):- OTC meds (ibuprofen, Tylenol, aspirin, immodium, pepto)- Any prescription meds you take- Antibiotic ointment (Neosporin)- Sewing kit (learn the needle and thread blister draining trick) *- Roll of leukotape (or some moleskin) *- Toenail clippers *- Foot drying powder (Gold Bond) ** If hiking, must care for your feet!Well there you have it. Wish I could have just bought the bag by itself for like $15-20, then used the other $15-20 of my cash toward buying quality components to stock it with. I'd return it if I didn't immediately start making modifications and then throwing things out, don't feel like trash picking through this morning's egg shells and coffee grinds. Oh well, not the first $20 bucks I wasted, won't be the last."But now you know, and knowing is half the battle!" - G.I. Joe (from my youth).And CAVEAT EMPTOR! (from ancient Rome)