REVIEW: ITS Tactical ETA Trauma Kit

At the crucial moment, you need to have the right stuff with you. Individual First Aid Kit (IFAK) is what the bandages are called according to modern military standards. ITS Tactical offers a kit in several versions with extra matching pockets that has everything you need, but there's a catch. You can't order it. We explain why here on SPARTANAT.

This is what's inside when we unpack the military version of the IFAK: a Chest Seal (left) to seal a wounded chest, a casualty card and a packing list (we'll show you both below) and underneath a regular bandage and a few green rubber gloves. On the right, you see a sterile wound dressing, a so-called Israeli Bandage, a nasogastric tube (spiral tube) and a needle for decompressing a pneumothorax, as well as Combat Gauze, which is stuffed into wounds to stop bleeding as quickly as possible.

If you don't believe us, here is the packing list for the ITS Tactical Trauma Kit again. (The lubricant for the nasogastric tube was missing when it was put on. In an emergency, you can also replace it with saliva.)

Here's all the fine print: instructions (left) on how to proceed with casualty care according to TCCC. On the right, the casualty card in front and back view.

CONCLUSION: ITS Tactical has a perfect IFAK and you can also choose between different packed versions - "tall" or "fat". The problem is that you can't get them delivered because the blood-stopping Combat Gauze is "export restricted" in the USA (the evil enemy shouldn't have it). However, you can buy them quite normally from us, which makes the whole thing somewhat paradoxical. So if you don't have friends in the States, you can buy the practice kit (marked: INERT) and exchange the training gauze for real ones bought here, and the IFAK is complete and active.

You can get the ITS Tactical ETA Trauma Kit in the Online Store of ITS Tactical in a Fatboy and a Tallboy version (both not exported from the USA). Those who want to train IFAK can order the INERT ITS Tactical ETA Trauma Kit. For the EDC, there is a separate version. ITS Tactical also offers the corresponding bags for its IFAKs.