Snake!

[funkymonkey1111]

Pretty interesting story about a lucky guy saving his arse with a snake bite kit he learned to use post-bite.

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/natur...tlesnake-bite/

[wctriumph]

Pretty neat, I should probably add one of those to my bug out kit.

[Wulf202]

Just make sure to get the suction kit they show. The little pill sized Coghlans ones don't work

[Irving]

Interesting, I picked up one of those Coghlans ones and was considering not carrying it because I wasn't sure how effective it would be.

[BuffCyclist]

Living in the desert with rattlesnakes not even a few miles away from my house, it sounds like I definitely need to get at least one of these and keep it nearby...

[wreave]

I have one of the Sawyer Extractor kits.

However, when I last recertified for Wilderness First Aid, they said they were no longer teaching to use them or even recommending them. They were just recommending wash it and get medical help. I even asked the trainer one-on-one, did he really believe in not carrying them anymore, and he said yes.

This article is exactly why I think it's still worthwhile. In the backcountry, it could be hours at best before you get out. Worst case scenario, using the kit will do no harm.

[Scogin]

I carry one when I am in the woods. I figure we carry so much other crap "just in case" that adding this doesn't make that much of a difference.

[Dingo]

Chuck Norris would have bit the snake, and the snake would have needed an extractor to pull all of the awesome out of the wound...

[whichfinger]

I have one of the Sawyer Extractor kits.

However, when I last recertified for Wilderness First Aid, they said they were no longer teaching to use them or even recommending them. They were just recommending wash it and get medical help. I even asked the trainer one-on-one, did he really believe in not carrying them anymore, and he said yes.

This article is exactly why I think it's still worthwhile. In the backcountry, it could be hours at best before you get out. Worst case scenario, using the kit will do no harm.

I think we're looking at two different kits. Medics have, for a long time now, said do not make any cuts at the bite site. The kit in the article seems to be simply a suction device, used without cutting over the bite marks. I don't see how it could possibly make things worse, whereas a layman in this situation generally has no idea what might be in the area of a potential cut.

[Ah Pook]

I haven't heard of "cutting" being taught for at least thirty years. The premise being that the venom is already in the system. Plus you still have to suck on the cuts. My thought is that people were getting carried away with the cut marks and doing more damage.

My Mother was bitten by a rattlesnake when she was a teen. She still has two little X marks on the back of her calf.