Traveling & Hiking With Diabetes: How We Built a Real-World Medical Kit (Not a Store-Bought Fantasy)
Most first aid kits are built for convenience — not reality.
If you travel internationally, hike on excursions, or live life outside predictable environments, you already know this. Add diabetes into the equation — especially Type 1 and Type 2 together — and off-the-shelf kits fall apart fast.
After completing the first module of my Wilderness First Aid (WFA) training, I took a hard look at our medical preparedness before an upcoming international trip. We’ll be traveling and hiking with:
My wife (Type 2 diabetic)
My mom (Type 1 diabetic)
What I found confirmed what I already suspected:
👉 No ready-made kit actually covers real needs.
So we built our own.
This post walks through why, how, and what we carry — not as medical advice, but as travelers who believe in being prepared, not panicked.
Why Store-Bought Kits Don’t Work for Real Travel
Most prebuilt kits:
Focus on bandage quantity instead of decision-making
Ignore chronic conditions
Add gimmicks instead of redundancy
Assume help is always nearby
Diabetes doesn’t allow those assumptions.
Blood sugar issues don’t wait. Dehydration compounds risk. Minor foot issues can become trip-ending problems. And international travel adds delays, language barriers, and limited access to familiar care.
Preparedness isn’t about fear — it’s about margin.
Our Philosophy: Modular, Redundant, Practical
We built our system around three principles:
Modular – Each category lives in its own pouch
Redundant – Critical items exist in more than one place
Usable Under Stress – No digging, no guessing
This mirrors what Wilderness First Aid training emphasizes: early recognition, simple interventions, and clear escalation points.
The Core Medical Travel Kit
This is our foundation — illness, injury, dehydration, and common travel problems.
What’s inside:
Adhesive bandages (fabric + waterproof)
Sterile gauze, rolled gauze, medical tape
Antiseptic wipes & antibiotic ointment
Burn gel
Elastic wrap (ACE)
Pain relief (acetaminophen, ibuprofen)
Antihistamines
Hydrocortisone cream
Thermometer
Nitrile gloves
Trauma shears
Nothing fancy — just things that actually get used.
Blister & Foot Care (Non-Negotiable)
If you hike, feet matter.
If you hike with diabetics, feet are critical.
Our blister module includes:
Moleskin sheets
Hydrocolloid blister pads
Second-skin gel pads
Medical tape
Small nail clipper & emery board
Extra socks
This kit lives in the daypack, not buried in luggage.
The Diabetes Module (Always Accessible)
This is its own pouch — never mixed with general supplies.
Key items:
Blood glucose meter + backup meter
Test strips & lancets
Insulin (split across bags)
Pen needles / syringes
Glucose tablets & glucose gel
Fast carbs (juice or equivalent)
Glucagon emergency kit
Ketone test strips
Insulin cooling case
Written dosing & emergency plan
Critical rule: insulin and glucose never ride in the same single bag.
Hydration & GI Support
Travel illness and dehydration are a fast track to blood sugar problems.
We carry:
Electrolyte packets (including low- or zero-sugar options)
Oral rehydration salts
Anti-diarrheal medication
Antacids
Stool softener
These items prevent small issues from becoming big ones.
Wilderness & Trauma Add-Ons
Because we hike and explore, we also carry real trauma capability — not “survival kit” toys.
What we added:
CAT Gen 7 tourniquet
Pressure dressing
Compressed or hemostatic gauze
Permanent marker (tourniquet time)
CPR face shield
These live in a small trauma pouch that can move between packs.
The Most Important Tool: A Simple Flowchart
Gear doesn’t save people — decisions do.
We created a one-page Medical & Diabetic Emergency Flowchart that walks through:
Conscious vs unconscious
Blood sugar ranges
Hypoglycemia treatment
Hyperglycemia & DKA warning signs
Trauma response
Clear evacuation triggers
It lives in the kit, on our phones, and is something anyone can follow under stress.
👉 Prepared, not panicked.
Final Thoughts
Preparedness isn’t about carrying everything.
It’s about:
Carrying the right things
Knowing why they’re there
Making calm decisions when things don’t go to plan
Whether you’re traveling internationally, living full-time on the road, or heading out on a day hike — chronic conditions demand respect, not fear.
That’s what Bigfoot Trails Basecamp is about.
Want the Flowchart?
We’ve made the Medical & Diabetic Emergency Flowchart available as a printable PDF for travel kits and daypacks.
