Cycle Touring DIY Travel First Aid Kit

3rd December 2022

If you're travelling you'll want to make sure you've got everything you need to keep you healthy and safe on the road, but without overdoing it.

When Stew and I cycled 13,000 miles with limited space and weight restrictions we need to pack our DIY first aid kit with great care. The thing with our trip was that it was long-term, crossing more than twenty countries and when we crossed the stans by bicycle we were going to be in the middle of nowhere so we needed an international first aid kit that would protect us in every situation.

Let me start by saying, we were really pleased with the items we packed and barely touched a lot of it. We feel like we've got the travel first aid kit perfected and this exact kit is when we take on every longer-term journey.

Let's jump straight in to the products that we took, scroll down for more tips and recommendations.

Recommended Products

The items in the table below are all the items we took. You won't necessarily need everything we listed here and you should feel free to tailor this list to your needs. For example, the dental first aid kit was really there just incase we got into a sticky situation cycling along the desert, miles and miles away from a dentist. The moisturisers are extra important for us as Zoe suffers with eczema. For you, the quantity we took might be too much.

Equally, you might know that you need more paracetamol or other medications to suit your individual needs. Like everything, your travel DIY kit needs to be unique to you.

First Aid Basics

Item		Quantity	Weight (Grams)	Notes
View	Plasters/Bandaids	1	0.03	Plasters are a must-have, pack a few of each size. You need enough to get you through one or two problems as you will be able to buy more on your travels.
View	Bandages	1		Please pack bandages. Stew was injured in Albania. He fell off his bike and the bandages were incredibly useful as we were nowhere near a town.
View	Mini First Aid Kit	1	425	In our first aid kit we packed all sorts out of the cupboards at home. For example: Plasters, bandages, steriles wipes, scissors, lip blam, vasaline, deep heat, thermometer, gloves, tape, burn patches, tick tweasers, rehydration sachets, mirror, ibuprofen, immodium, blister patches, allergy tablets, paracetamol. If you don't have this available this mini first aid kit will help jump start your collection of first aid items.
View	Mini Medium Scissors	1	18
View	Sterile Wipes	1		Although multi-pack and more expensive these individually wrapped wipes are ideal as they won't dry out if you need one or two. Pack a handful and give the rest to a friend.
View	Medical Gloves	1		You only need a pair or two. It might be worth asking around to see if family or friends can give you a paid before you spend any money on these.
View	Medical Tape	1
View	Immodium	1		Please be careful with Immodium. If you have a sickness bug or food poisoning you should not use it.
View	Forehead Thermometer	1		Although less reliable that a digital thermometer we took this product because it was unlikely to break, super light and it takes up no space at all.
View	Tweezers	1		Zoe has been using these tweezers for over 10 years. They're amazing and stay sharp. Take these in case of splinters. Or to get things out of tyres!
View	Mirror	1	22g	Take a mirror incase you need to perform some first aid in a difficult-to-see spot (bottom of your feet for example). This slimline portable mirror is perfect as it's thin and lightweight. The mirror is also protected by the case. Our first mirror didn't have a case and got really scratched.
View	Clarityn Allergy Relief Tablet	1		Stew likes Clarityn, but of course, you just need to take whatever works best for you.

Skincare

Item		Quantity	Weight (Grams)	Notes
View	Vaseline	1	400g	We recommend vaseline as it is so versatile. It'll help with chapped lips, dry skin and it keeps the skin moist to aid healing. We had it on stand-by for saddle sore, but didn't need it for that in the end!
View	Suncream	1	500
View	Jungle Formula	1	100
View	e45 Cream	1	50
View	Sudocrem	1	60

First Aid Kit Items For Adventure Travels

The items below could be useful for any type of travel, but for those cycling or hiking we highly recommend you include them.

Item		Quantity	Notes
View	Panadol Extra Advance Pain Relief Tablets, 500mg Paracetamol Tablets with 65 mg Caffeine, 14 Count (Pack of 1)	1
View	Ibuprofen	1	Ibuprofen was something we took quite a lot of because we were cycling every day.
View	Burn Patches	1	If you're an outdoorsy type and likely to be cooking on the road, on hikes, or while out cycling please prepare your first aid kit with burn patches.
View	Blister Patches	1	Compeed is amazing! This is a must-take for anyone hiking, cycling, or walking a lot. A blister is a fast track to a miserable day so have what you need to treat it.
View	Deep Heat	1
View	Rehydration Sachets	1	Rehudration sachets are great if you're doing a lot of exercise as we were, or if you need something to help you get back to normal after a bout of sickness.

Other First Aid Items For Consideration

Item		Quantity	Weight (Grams)	Notes
View	DenTek Home Dental First Aid Kit	1	1

Tips on Packing Your DIY Travel First Aid Kit

Don’t Overpack your first aid kit contents
Likely, the items your really need will be the items you use at home so prioritise those
Take what you need and remember common items can be bought all over the world
If you're travelling for a year you don't actually need a year's supply, just enough
Put your travel first aid kit in a bag or pocket that you can easily access

Post written by: Zoe Ashbridge