If you've ever taken a wilderness first aid class, you learn pretty quickly that the standard prepackaged off-the-shelf first aid kit is pretty useless for much more than a tiny cut on your finger and a headache. If you want quality supplies that can treat more serious injuries, you have to mostly build up your own kit from scratch. But then the question becomes, where can you find fairly priced, small quantities of good quality supplies? (Hint, not at Walgreens.)

Well, here’s one good option - WildMedcenter.com. This is a great online store for replenishing or stocking up your first aid kit with quality supplies. One thing that's especially nice is you can buy small quantities of things, rather than say a 10 pack of expensive dressings or a huge bottle of tincture of benzoin that you are unlikely to ever use up.

They also make very high-quality zippered first aid kits in several different sizes, and have a complete checklist of how to stock each one with the recommended supplies.

I recently went through my own first aid kit, tossed a bunch of outdated or not very useful items, and then spend about $20 restocking from this web store with proper supplies. Now my kit’s ready to go and I’m much better prepared.

Here are some examples of a few goodies from their web store.

For starters, how about four different sizes of sturdy first aid kits, sewn in the USA?

(Note, bottles and supplies not included.)

Tegaderm microfilm transparent bandages? Yes please. (These bandages are quite amazing, if you have not heard of them.) You can buy them individually, in two sizes, starting at $2 each.

How about lots of handy different sized Nalgene containers for storing just about anything in your kit?

(Tip - A pair of examination gloves or a roll of 2 inch gauze fits perfectly in the 50 mL snap top vial.)

Every kit should have a few a few extra large safety pins. No need to go to the fabric store, get a packet of 4 pins here.