>>480933In the case you have a deep laceration, that's not into a vein or artery, my steps to fix it in a survival situation would look like this.
If I am certain I will be out of the wilderness by 1 or 2 days, I would do this:
Immediately put pressure with a bandanna or cloth on the area, to control the bleed, and close the wound in on itself. After the bleeding is controlled, I would then work on getting my hands on some sterile water. For me personally, I use a 3L Geigerrig hydration pack, which uses air to create an irrigating stream of water (pic related). After the bleeding is controlled, and the wound has been cleaned, I would do my best to make sure that the wound stays covered, only revealing it to change out bandages, and I wouldn't bother with stitching it.
in a SHTF scenario where it's unknown how long I'd be out on my own, and I was considering sutures, my process would be similar as before, taking extra lengths of irrigation, and likely using boiled/still warm water to make sure all foreign matter was out of the wound. In most field suturing, an unbarbed fish hook is going to be the easiest needle to use. Using as few sutures as I can to keep it closed, so that way the wound can still breathe, as I'm likely going to still have foreign bodies in the wound. That being said... My FAK containes butterfly bandages and liquid skin... I'd be hard pressed to use a fishook on myself.
Ibuprofen is going to be your over the counter medication to have for anything risking an infection. It's also useful to have some knowledge of local flora, and which plants have anti-inflammatory/septic properties when bruised/crushed.
In the event you actually manage to sever an artery, your only course of action is to keep yourself from bleeding out. You are staying put until someone can rescue you, moving as little as possible. You can bleed out in less than an hour. No need for a tourniquet unless you're going full 147 hours on yourself.
