The 5 best first aid kits for outdoor adventures, home emergencies, and disaster prep

The First Aid Only All-Purpose First Aid Kit comes with all the basic medical supplies you need for quick diagnostics and the treatments of many ailments. 

The First Aid Only All-Purpose First Aid Kit packs 299 doctor-recommended supplies into a soft-sided case about the size of a hardcover book. Within, you will find the tools needed to assess and treat everything from a scraped finger and heavily bleeding gash to a mild headache or high fever.

This kit is especially Band-Aid heavy, with 196 total, 50 of which are the small "Junior" Band-Aids. On the one hand, this is a good thing considering you'll likely tap into your first aid kit most often to cover a blister or a small. However, that large supply comes at the cost of other supplies: There's just one trauma pad, one gauze roll, one burn gel, and one set of gloves, so you'll need to restock if you have one bigger emergency.

With comprehensive-enough wound cleaning and closure supplies, various alcohol, antiseptic, antibiotic wipes and ointments, and essentials like tweezers and scissors, it's the perfect triage kit for a variety of common injuries.

The plastic partition pockets keep everything well-sorted and easy to find in a snap, so you won't be fumbling for the right gear when time is of the essence, either. 

The Coleman All Purpose Mini First Aid Kit costs less than a fancy cup of coffee but it helps treat all sorts of minor scrapes, scratches, bug bites, and more.

If you need to treat a compound fracture, you're probably going to need a more advanced medical kit than this option from Coleman. But more often than not, the damage we endure is often along the lines of minor cuts and scrapes, burns and bites, and the occasional puncture wound. For those everyday injuries, the Coleman All Purpose Mini First Aid Kit is the ideal choice.

It costs so little that there's really no excuse not to buy one, and given the diminutive size of this kit, you can (and should) bring one along whenever your travels might lead you away from ready access to medical treatment.

Into a charming little tin, Coleman packed several antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment, sting relief wipes, and a total of sixteen bandages in five different size and shape varieties. There's also a razor blade for cutting away clothing or trimming medical tape, as well as a pair of safety pins.

VSSL's First Aid is the perfect portable kit with 46 total items, including a flashlight and compass, all stored in a waterproof, aluminum container.

VSSL's First Aid kit is ingenious and convenient, containing everything you need for a backcountry hike in a portable container that tucks right into any size backpack.

Featuring 15 different items (and 46 total essentials) in an aluminum, waterproof carrying case, the First Aid includes a flashlight, compass, variety of bandages, adventure tape, and Steri-Strips, to name a few. It also has some antiseptic towelettes, medical face masks, and antibiotic cream. 

The entire contents of the kit store in a sleeve that conveniently folds up to slide inside the tube, which is perfect for the campground and the backcountry but also functions well at the job site or in your glove box. The sleeve itself features hooks on either side so that it can be hung up for easy access, too. 

At just 14 ounces in weight, the First Aid weighs less than a pound. As mentioned, the entire thing is waterproof, so you can rest assured nothing will get ruined if it gets submerged in water or you're trying to use it in the pouring rain. 

I've had my own First Aid (and replaced it a few times) for the last several years, and never leave home on a camping or backpacking trip without it. It's highly convenient, has enough first aid supplies to adequately support one to two people, and is useful in more ways than just administering first aid.

The Be Smart Get Prepared 250 Piece First Aid Kit is OSHA and ANSI compliant and covers the first aid needs of up to 50 people, making it perfect for the office.

The Be Smart Get Prepared Kit is a large, comprehensive first aid kit designed to meet the needs of several dozen people. It's a great choice for businesses, retail locations, schools, churches, and even for the home, though it's not a good choice for travel due to its bulky hard case.

The case helps keep the components organized and protected but it's not watertight or resistant to moisture or temperature fluctuations which can affect some of the components. Because of this, it should be stored in a temperate indoor environment.

The Be Smart Get Prepared 250 Piece First Aid Kit has all the wound care components you would expect, from alcohol prep pads and antiseptic towelettes to multiple bandages in varied sizes.

What sets this kit apart from the others in terms of suitability for use in the office or at a school are the medicines it comes with. You'd likely already have access to many of these medicines at home — like pain and anti-inflammatory tablets and antacids — but it's not always a given at work, school, or at other such locations.

It also includes cold packs, another handy feature for use when ice might not be nearby.

If you're cut off from emergency services following a natural disaster or in times of civil unrest, you'll be glad you have the Lightning X First Responder First Aid Kit.

While disaster prep might feel like overkill, the frequency of extreme weather events has shown us that everyone needs to be prepared. If you foresee a time when there won't be anyone on the other end of a 9-1-1 call, or you just like to be prepared for anything, the Lightning X First Responder First Aid Kit is the way to go. This kit is a bit much for most households but it's likely the last kit you'd ever need.

The aspect of this kit I liked the most was just how many bandages, rolls and pads of gauze, antiseptic wipes, ointments, and tapes it has. Anyone with actual medical training will also like the included stethoscope, sphygmomanometer, airway kit, and other more advanced medical tools. In the right hands, this kit is essentially a mobile trauma center while also having all your basic and intermediate first aid needs covered.

This comprehensive first aid kit comes loaded in a lightweight, ergonomic backpack with padded straps and reflective stripes, allowing it to be easily taken on the go — it's even comfortable to carry and highly visible. While it's a great choice for a well-prepared home, this kit was designed for emergency response professionals to use in the field.

A reliable first aid kit isn't exactly a mobile trauma center but it does provide the basic supplies you need to mitigate the ill effects of an accident, injury, or sudden illness. Remember, it's first aid, not final, comprehensive aid.

When choosing a first aid kit, you need to think about who might depend on it (in terms of the sheer number of people and the age and disposition of the user), where it will be stored and/or carried, and in what situations the likely users might endure an injury or illness.

Any first aid kit worth considering should have supplies capable of treating minor cuts, punctures, burns, and other such common injuries. Beyond that, the suitability of a given kit depends on careful consideration of factors ranging from weight to packaging to redundancy of the supplies included.