I also have a variety of individually packed sizes – for various sized blisters, padding hot spots, etc. What is important is the size of the medicated pad that is fully surrounded by adhesive, it must overlap the wound.

and ‘butterfly’ plasters, that are used for finger tips and so on – these are great for on bends, between toes, over toes, as they neatly wrap round.

Butterfly -

Then I have much larger sterile pads, named ‘adhesive wound pads’, squares and rectangles that are the same design as plasters, medicated pad surrounded by adhesive, but much larger and individually wrapped

They are not strong enough on their own so I often seal the edges with dressing tape or cover over them.

On certain blister wounds I sometimes use extra thin hydrocolloid dressing. I buy it in large sizes and then cut to size … it goes on well, smoothly, and can be easily removed – unlike Compeed! And can be covered over, a cushion on top.

It is designed for covering lightly weeping wounds, such as after surgery, so is perfect for where blisters have been removed by the pilgrim (they sometimes do that) leaving a weeping wound. It can be left on for five days or so and tends to survive showers.

I carry a pack of adhesive surgical strips. These are like small ‘stitches’ that hold open wounds together until one can get to a hospital.

Packets of mole skin, which is perfect for padding over a pre-blister hotspot (not over broken skin). Adhesive on one side and is easily cut to size.

 Scalpel blades No. 11. Better than a needle to pierce blisters as they give a neat V shape cut each end so one can completely drain easily. Individually wrapped and sterile. You can see how No. 11 is the best shape. (I no longer bother with the clip-on handle).

Crepe bandages. These are my go-to for sprains and I keep them in two widths, I prefer them to modern sports tapes as they are easier for the pilgrim to remove and replace and get the tightness right for themselves.

I only carry over the counter medications – that are for general sale. Even then I always ask the pilgrim if they are tolerant - safety above all.

Anti-inflammatory gel – such as Ibupoprofen gel (never pills as some people are intolerant). In Spain one can buy Voltaren Emulgel 11.6 mg/g in any pharmacy and it is very very good indeed.

Germolene – a good antiseptic cream that also has the benefit of containing a mild local anaesthetic.

Now, there is a point of view that antiseptic creams are not necessary if the wound is properly cleaned and dressed as the body will self heal but Camino is a special case I think and extra protection on a wound is a good thing. It is also good for skin rashes, insect bites, and so on.

 Also, Savlon antiseptic and pain relief gel. Can sting slightly when it is applied.

One small packet of Aspirin kept handy for heart attacks, finely crumble two onto their tongue.

Paracetomol tablets.

Hayfever tablets – as they are anti-histamines in double dose they can often also reduce irritation reaction to such bites as from bed bugs.

Indigestion relief tablets. Choose the non-drowsy ones.

Antiseptic throat lozenges.

Cold/Flu relief sachets – they dissolve in hot water, very helpful and comforting.

Dioralyte electrolyte sachets, for quickly replacing electrolytes – sometimes these seem to work like magic.

A few ziplock sandwich bags – used as rubbish bags as when you work on someone there will be all sorts of small bits that need bagging.

Small gripseal bags. These I use to squeeze spare Voltaren or Germolene into so that the pilgrim has spares until they reach a pharmacy.

As I sort and cover a blister I try to show the pilgrim what I am doing/what I have done (not when I pierce the blister/s!) and then give them a couple of days supply so that they can replace/renew the dressings until they reach a town with a pharmacy, so for each I do I use three times the things I use – this depletes the bag quite quickly. They will shower so they will lose the plasters after a couple of days so they will need to renew. I tell them not to shower but to do a body wash instead but they resist, so I give them the extras. If I could find a genuinely strong adhesive waterproof alternative the problem would be solved!

Though – fabric breathes, which I like.

Now, this would be fine for a few days if busy with pilgrims but a lot of it soon runs out so I carry another bigger (25 litres) backpack bag filled with back up supplies.

I also carry elastic knee supports .. the problem here is that one needs to carry different sizes and it can get bulky.

Also – the real answer is for them to stop walking and elevate and rest but many resist that.

Soft knee compression sleeves

The main knee problem is overstretching of ligaments/tendons. If a ligament is torn (usually the inner, their excrutiating pain on slight movement will tell you) and anything internal to the knee structure is super serious and is a hospital case.

I used to carry some heavy duty knee braces, the type that are hinged either side to prevent swivelling but they are terribly expensive so as all is needed is to reduce the ligaments easily moving, causing pain and more damage, I now use these with the added elastic straps as they can be tightened to really reduce that. I may next year drop the plain sleeves and only carry these as they are very good indeed.

– all of these sleeves can be bought from AliXpress in China for much less money than at retailers (that is where they buy them!!).

So, that is what I carry, with back ups of everything which is why I use a trailer (and also why I need an Ebay shop to provide the funds to be able to do this).

If you look at the grab bag items you can see that they cover just about everything and such as plasters, Voltaren, dressings, antiseptic creams, and so on are easily replaceable at any good pharmacy in Spain so one could get by with just that on top of personal rucksack items.

Any questions at all please do message me - info@caminosamaritans.org  

Buen Camino!

David