>>2762591>>2762591>What are, in your opinion, the essentialsThe most likely injuries/medical incidents are probably minor-to-moderate cuts, blisters, sprains/strains, maybe minor fractures, maybe minor burns.
Heatstroke, sunburn, hypothermia, frostbite depending on your location (but most of these probably aren't things you'll carry gear to treat imo).
Headaches and maybe gastro too.
For these I carry a couple of different sizes of band-aids (yes, you can improvise a band-aid with gauze and tape but it's not like a handful of band-aids take up a lot of space), tegaderm or a similar waterproof dressing to keep cuts clean if you need to make a river crossing, leukoplast or some similar fabric medical tape, gauze swabs (for cleaning wounds, soaking up blood and improvising band-aids if you don't have the right size). Also basic meds (paracetamol, ibuprofen).
If you have more space you might add a 50cc syringe (for squirting wounds clean, a jet with a bit of pressure is more effective than just pouring water out of a bottle), a SAM splint (extremely useful if you can bother carrying the weight - could easily be the difference between needing to call for a rescue vs walking back to the trailhead yourself if you have a minor fracture or serious sprain), mylar space blanket, gloves, more meds (loperamide, metaclopramide, etc), compression bandage
The less likely but more serious injuries are worth considering too, sure, they're unlikely but if they occur then having the right gear might be the difference between life and death rather than merely discomfort. These include major cuts, serious fractures. Gunshot wounds if it's hunting season. Drowning if you're around water (not something you can carry gear for though). Snake bites if you're Aussie.
For these I usually carry a tourniquet (you can improvise one, but probably not before you bleed out). That's it.
My larger kit also has an Israeli emergency bandage, a couple of big rolls of gauze and some more niche shit
