Backcountry Gear i.e. tools, first aid, etc.
 

I see similar threads on other forums. Everyone has their own ideas, of what to carry, while riding. I have the opportunities to ride far away from any sort of assistance. I think as riders of remote areas, we could pick up a lot of easy, unique, inexpensive, and valuable tips from each other. I won't bother anyone with the seemingly unnecessary grocery list of crap, that I carry. I do carry 3 particular items, that I rarely, if ever, see in anyone elses kits. I have an emergency bivy sack, an emergency blanket(which can double as an ultra-lite tarp). Last, but not least, a staple gun(like a doctor uses on scalp wounds). The bivy will reflect up to 80% of someone's body heat, back into themselves. The staple gun...Instead of sewing a gaping cut, as someone's rapidly losing blood(I've had to do this), hold the wound closed, staple it, then bandage the wound. Very quick, and it enables you to move on, and treat someone for shock and/or exposure(hence the bivy & blanket). Moreover, any of these items I can use for my own backcountry needs. I stapled a cut on my arm once, and have used the bivy sack, and blanket(used it for a tarp) to ride out a hail storm. By the way... the staple gun hurts like hell, but is very effective.

Me
 

A SPOT messenger, Vicodin (to help ease a fracture or other painful orthopedic injury), survival/space blanket, electrical tape (for bike repairs and splinting).

Matches

Ive got the spot communicator in my pack and feel that if I or any of my buddies get seriously hurt ie. Broken bones or other trauma I would not hesitate to use it and deal with a bill afterward than to try and stabilize and try to ride them out.

I also carry a Spot PLB. However, after the signal goes out, there's alot time spent waiting. In some of the more remote regions I have ridden, it can be half a day waiting for anything to happen(like a spotter plane). In the meantime a down rider may be medically unmoveable(God forbid). That's when most people wish they carried some of my seemingly unneccessary crap. Unless you know a victim's medical history, Giving any pain meds may cause an allergic reaction, possibly death.

Staple gun is gnarly! Good idea, but a lot of wounds are rough and not easily stapled like a cut. I had a foot peg tear a hole in my leg once and forget about staples or stitches. Better than nothing though.

Foot peg? OWWwwww! It was one of those thing I felt would be effective, when time is not my friend.

I think if I lived in an area where those rides were the norm, I would carry a sat phone and a GPS of course. Expensive, but may save someone and your group could split it. I took one to Costa Rica with me a few years back.

I've considered a SAT phone. They are so expensive. I can buy another bike for what those cost. I guess in the end, it's about priorities. Rentals are available. I split one with a buddy, when we were in Alaska. He got the rental(we split costs).

Zip ties, duct tape, 8mm hex wrench, sparkplug and tool to chance it (adjustable wrench maybe), "military band aid", chain coupler, pliers, good knife or Leatherman, screwdriver ( + / - ). It's good to have some painkillers with you because when you have them - you don't need them (if don't have you propably need them). Some energy snacs or gel and off course something to drink. Clutch lever, front brake lever...

That kind of stuff I pack to my toolbelt when I start 900km / 3 days winter race. Ofcourse I have extra goggles and a pair of gloves packed waterproof too.

Spare e-clips for the carb needle :D
And the other stuff mentioned. I've seen video of a buddy in Colorado sewing up a cut on a riding partners arm, just because somebody in the group "happened" to be carrying a suture kit. At the time, the discussion was about how odd it was for someone to have a freakin' suture kit in their backpack, but that seems positively ordinary compared to your staple gun. I'd have felt so much safer if I'd known we were ready to close after surgery during the meet-n-greet ride!

Tim H