Building an EDC Medical Kit You’ll Actually Carry

Emergency medical gear might not be sexy, but it’s vital—especially for everyday carry (EDC). Building a kit isn’t rocket science, but creating one that’s compact, organized, and practical enough to carry daily? That can be a challenge.

Uncle Zo

July 3, 2025

3–5 minutes

Emergency Medical, Every Day Carry, First Aid, Gear, Individual First Aid Kit, Medical Response, Personal Trauma Kit, Stop The Bleed

Not a day goes by without some self-defense nut or preparedness junkie chanting, “Carry your tools and know how to use them.” Guilty as charged—I’ve preached that gospel more times than I can count. It sums up the essence of everyday carry (EDC) perfectly. But one EDC essential I haven’t tackled in ages is the medical kit. Come to think of it, my only deep dive was a review of the Solatac Pocket Trauma Kit years back. Sure, I’ve sprinkled medical mentions into other posts, but always as side notes. Time to fix that. Let’s build an EDC medical kit you’ll actually lug around every day.

Bottom line up front: Pack a tourniquet, hemostatic dressing, and bandage—the holy trinity for stopping major bleeds. Go custom or grab a ready-made like Mountain Man Medical’s ankle kits (starting around $150, affiliate link). Train with it, or it’s dead weight. That setup buys you time in a trauma until pros arrive. Now, let’s unpack why and how.

Why Bother with an EDC Medical Kit?

Last month, wrapping up day two of Active Response Training’s Extreme Close Quarters Gunfighting Instructor Development Course at the top-notch KR Training facility, my classmate Dr. Troy Miller spotted my ankle medical kit as I fiddled with it. Troy’s got 30 years in emergency and tactical medicine, so his thumbs-up felt like gold. If it passes muster with him, it’s a damn fine blueprint for yours.

A close-up view of a person's ankle wearing a black medical ankle kit secured with straps, sitting next to a brown hiking boot on a textured floor.

An EDC medical kit lives on your person daily—always there, always ready. It must be compact and comfy, or you’ll ditch it. I already haul keys, wallet, knife, flashlight, gun, and more. Some get daily workouts; others collect dust until crunch time. But preparedness ignores odds—it’s all about stakes. In trauma, that’s life or death. This kit stops massive bleeding, keeping blood inside long enough for a pulse until advanced help shows.

Call it a personal trauma kit, compact stop-the-bleed setup, or individual first aid kit (IFAK). Point is, it handles traumatic injuries solo.

Tailor It to Your Mission

Chat with my pal Caleb Causey from Lone Star Medics, and he’ll hammer home: Kits match missions. Spot on. Assess activities, risks, environment, group size, your skills, then layer kits accordingly. Do this for EDC too—knowledge, planning, prep.

Our mission? Halt major bleeds from trauma. Three ways: direct pressure, wound packing, tourniquet. Pick based on injury—learn that in a Stop the Bleed class (we’ll skip the weeds here). Since Murphy’s Law rules, pack for all three.

A compact medical EDC kit featuring two rolled bandages, a tourniquet, and a black carrying pouch, all arranged on a wooden surface.

Minimum viable kit:

Tourniquet for cutting blood flow.
Hemostatic dressing for packing.
Bandage for pressure.

Skill and grit might hack it with a triangular bandage alone. Not my style—I want purpose-built gear.

Picking the Right Gear

Tourniquets: I swear by North American Rescue’s CAT-7 or TacMed Solutions’ SOF-T. Only these get consistent nods from trusted experts. For EDC, SOF-T wins—it packs flatter, boosting carry compliance over the bulkier CAT-7.

Hemostatic dressings: Stick to the “three C’s”—Combat Gauze, Celox, or ChitoGauze. I’ve heard the mnemonic a zillion times but blank on it half the time. I roll with ChitoGauze XR Pro for its tiny footprint.

A compact medical kit containing emergency trauma dressing, ChitoGauze XR Pro, and other essential medical supplies, placed on a wooden surface.

Bandages: Trickier. Israelis rock for most kits—proven track record. But bulky for EDC. I grab North American Rescue’s 4” Flat ETD for pockets or the mini compression bandage (RIP, discontinued) for ankles. Size matters for daily haul.

Add light-colored nitrile gloves to every kit. Blood’s messy; stay safe.

My Dual Setup: Pocket and Ankle Kits

I run two flavors, swapping by outfit. Pocket for shorts; ankle for pants. Both nail the core trio plus gloves.

Pocket kit: Lean and mean. TacMed SOF-T and gloves in Wilderness Tactical’s Basic Pocket TQ Pouch. ETD and ChitoGauze in their Basic Pocket Med Sleeve. Rare days it’s too much? TQ pouch solo. Suboptimal, but beats zilch.

Ankle kit: Built on Wilderness Tactical’s Ankle IFAK/Cargo Cuff. Roomier, so I toss in HyFin Vent Compact Chest Seal Twin Pack and Leatherman Raptor Rescue. Extra oomph without bulk.

An assortment of medical and tactical gear arranged on a wooden surface, including a tourniquet pouch, hemostatic dressing, and a compact kit for emergency medical supplies.

Ready-Made Kits: Skip the Hassle

Sourcing and organizing daunt you? Me too, back in the day. Market’s got your back. Mountain Man Medical (affiliate) slings three ankle kits hitting our bases—solid starters. My ankle setup evolved from their ASP Ankle Kit, snagged pre-affiliate days. Brutal honesty: Shop around, but these deliver.

Train or It’s Useless

Buy or build? Cool. Now train. Red Cross Stop the Bleed is cheap, killer value. A pistol ain’t a talisman; neither’s this kit a potion. Gear sans skills? Luck-dependent gamble.

Stop the Bleed vets know: One TQ sometimes ain’t enough. Lone Star Medics grads hear Caleb preach endless gauze and gloves. Your personal kit might fall short for multiples—it’s immediate response. Layer up: Car kit, home stash, whatever. Buy time till EMS arrives.

It goes without saying—but I’ll say it: Carry your tools and know how to use them.