I'm taking my yearly Stop the Bleed class this weekend, and I started to think about the surplus medical items I have seen at the local surplus store and how they compare to stuff available on the civilian market. Some of the mil. surplus items can be had for cheap (especially if they are expired), but are they worth it over the civilian market alternatives. I have no problem buying mil surplus expired combat gauze and Israeli bandages, but are there better alternatives to stuff like H&H compressed gauze? Burn dressings? Blast bandages? etc? You can get a huge box of 4x4 gauge for cheap, along with burn gel. For those with experience, would recommend buying the military surplus items for this stuff? Or stuff on the civilian market?

Not talking about bandages and Neosporin, but purpose made specialty items you would keep in a large family med kit.

Also not talking about tourniquets, as those should always be tccc approved.

I guess that depends on how much of something you are buying. I doubt I’d go surplus for a box of bandaids I could get at Walmart for $5. Most people don’t keep a large med kit, they rely on the system working.

I stick with brand new stuff purchased from reputable companies even if it costs more.

Apparently there's knock off medical gear out there.

What can you afford?  
Shop rags are better than nothing.
knockoffs/fakes are often better than shop rags
Expired bandages are usually better than knockoffs/fakes.
Current civillian medical gear is better than expired .mil gear.

The main appeal for me, personally, for something like Israeli bandages is they are designed to store/travel better than many civilian gauze rolls, so if I need one, odds are that one that has been riding around in my toolbox/gunbag/truck door pocket will be more useful than a civilian packaged roll of gauze that has long-since been broken and is no longer sterile or clean.  A secondary benefit is they are cheap enough that you can stash them lots of places, anywhere really without going broke.

Just buy the compressed gauze hell I carry a roll of kerlex for packing wounds I haven't used combat gauze in years. Chest seals tq compression dressing and kerlex or compressed gauze is all you need on a bystander level.

Buy new if you can. You have no idea where that mil-surp medical is coming from and I wouldn't trust a TCN's life on it. Northern Rescue runs sales pretty often that will give you a decent medical kit eventually.

Don't worry about TC3 - treat at the level you are trained to. You can carry LR, Hextend, NCD, and a crich kit... but, its worthless if you are going to do more damage applying it or not knowing contraindications.

Identify what things you could encounter on your mission. Going to Disney World; Light on trauma and heavy on sick-call. Visiting Gaza; heavy on trauma and light sick-call.

Nice, minimal GP trauma bag:
- 2 Israeli
- 2 abdominal
- 1 SAM splint
- 4 sling and swathe
- 2 CAT
- surgical tape, sharpie, shears & blue chem-lite
- 50 brick of 4x4
- 1 combat gauze (NO granulated)
- 2 nose trumpets; 30 & 34
- 4ea ketchup packets of lube and burn gel
- travel bottle of 500mg Ibuprofen and 250mg Naproxen (Know the contraindications)
- Maaaaybe an Asherman$$$ if you want but... you can handle the same task with cigarette cellophane and tape if you have to


Editing to add-
Hell... yeah, can't believe I left out what 1bama said above me. Kerlix and Coban were my staples. Good call sir!

Second edit: I guess I got carried away and got lost without answering your question  :)

Buy new supplies. We audited supply every 3 months and *anything* out of date went straight to the dumpster. If find medical at a surplus store, I would wonder how it got there.

Don't get hung-up on 'civ -vs- mil' supplies. They all do the same thing when applied properly.

Knockoffs are not better than shop rags.

A knockoff TQ that snaps off the windlass is less effective than dirty, oil soaked shop rags you used to pack a wound.

A gauze roll does not perform the same task as an Israeli bandage.  Two unrelated and completely different med supplies

No one gives a fuck if a gauze roll or bandage is sterile in a trauma situation