Who Has One of These?

[Sparkyprep]

Who has a C-A-T tourniquet? I am thinking of buying a couple. One for my BOB, and one to keep in our master FAK. What say the panel of experts?

[Gambit]

not a bad idea

[Kfilly]

Who has a C-A-T tourniquet? I am thinking of buying a couple. One for my BOB, and one to keep in our master FAK. What say the panel of experts?

Get them as they can save your life. It does not take long to bleed out from cutting a major artery. These can save your life before EMS arrives on scene. I work as a firefighter/EMT. We stock those in our trauma kits. We adopted them straight from military experience. Personally, I would have access to one whenever I am firing a gun or doing anything with the potential of getting significantly cut or hurt (in addition to a small trauma kit). The CAT model is also easy to install. A person can use one hand to install it on themself. Just install it close to the torso on whatever extremity you are installing it on. When installing it on a leg, the strap must feed through both ends of the plastic triglide. On an arm, the strap only needs to go through one side of the triglide. You will know what I am talking about when you see it.

I would also consider something like an Ascherman chest seal or Halo bandage for sucking chest wounds.

[Dwight55]

Just ordered mine from Ebay, . . . $16 total with shipping.

Thanks, Sparky..............

May God bless,
Dwight

[Coppertop]

I agree with KFILLY. CAT are the ones we run with also and I carry them in my own jump bag. I haven't used them in a real situation thankfully, but others in our group have and say that they wouldn't use anything else. A halo seal and an Israeli bandage are also in my kit. With these three things, you can do a ton of life saving when out playing.

Thanks
Coppertop

[juskom95]

Who has a C-A-T tourniquet? I am thinking of buying a couple. One for my BOB, and one to keep in our master FAK. What say the panel of experts?

I have several (in fact, I think they are reproducing in my gear boxes) and have used them for years. Be mindful not to get the garbage counterfeit ones, they'll snap. But we used them in Iraq with pretty good success.

[juskom95]

Just ordered mine from Ebay, . . . $16 total with shipping.

Thanks, Sparky..............

May God bless,
Dwight
Be wary of counterfeits, I was warned about those a while ago, and I'll be honest I'm not %100 sure how to identify them, but Kfilly might be able to.

[Camel923]

Definitely a good idea to have a few on hand.

[Sparkyprep]

Thanks for the positive reviews.

I don't know how to spot the counterfeits on Amazon, but I'll do my best to buy from a reputable dealer. I already have a trauma kit/ IFAK on my BOB, with an Israeli bandage, and a many other things. I just wanted to ad the CAT as an extra measure of precaution.

[juskom95]

Thanks for the positive reviews.

I don't know how to spot the counterfeits on Amazon, but I'll do my best to buy from a reputable dealer. I already have a trauma kit/ IFAK on my BOB, with an Israeli bandage, and a many other things. I just wanted to ad the CAT as an extra measure of precaution.
Inside my IFAK
Outside on my IFAK
On my IBA
In my glove compartments
There might even be one rattling around somewhere the floorboard or in the junk drawer.



My unit supply was getting rid of old equipment and dumped literal boxes of IFAK's, CAT's and other gear that was 'disposable,' of which I took the liberty of securing properly.

[Kfilly]

Thanks for the positive reviews.

I don't know how to spot the counterfeits on Amazon, but I'll do my best to buy from a reputable dealer. I already have a trauma kit/ IFAK on my BOB, with an Israeli bandage, and a many other things. I just wanted to ad the CAT as an extra measure of precaution.

I unfortunately do not know how to spot a fake. Best bet is buy from a reputible source. I would also consider replacing them every couple years (especially if stored inside a vehicle or any other place with temperature extremes). The nylon strap that is attached to the windlass (part to tension tourniquet) can become brittle and fail when tensioned. That is a bad time to find out it is defective.

[juskom95]

I unfortunately do not know how to spot a fake. Best bet is buy from a reputible source. I would also consider replacing them every couple years (especially if stored inside a vehicle). The nylon strap that is attached to the windlass (part to tenaion tourniquet) can become brittle and fail when tensioned. That is a bad time to find out it is defective.

I think I have an old Gen2 (right after they went from the aluminum handle to the plastic one) still, I may have to dig it out and see if it can still 'hold up'

[Kfilly]

I agree with KFILLY. CAT are the ones we run with also and I carry them in my own jump bag. I haven't used them in a real situation thankfully, but others in our group have and say that they wouldn't use anything else. A halo seal and an Israeli bandage are also in my kit. With these three things, you can do a ton of life saving when out playing.

Thanks
Coppertop

I definitely forgot to mention the Israeli bandage. Good call on that as well. Not meaning to hi-jack the thread, but have you ever used a Halo Chest Seal in the field? My department uses the Ascherman Chest Seal. I am sure they cannot be all that different as far as use or effectiveness.

[Kfilly]

This would make for another good thread. What's in your first aid kit? And explain why its in there....I am at work until 8 am otherwise that thread would have started already.

[Kfilly]

Just ordered mine from Ebay, . . . $16 total with shipping.

Thanks, Sparky..............

May God bless,
Dwight

Here is a way to spot a fake CAT.


https://www.thecounterfeitreport.com/product/595/North-American-Rescue-C-A-T-%28CAT%29-Combat-Application-Tourniquets.html

[Kfilly]

Who has a C-A-T tourniquet? I am thinking of buying a couple. One for my BOB, and one to keep in our master FAK. What say the panel of experts?

I just posted a link on how to spot a fake CAT. See my post above this message.

[OSFG]

I have 4 and have taught everyone in the house how to use them....easy as pie.

[Jerry D Young]

Have a few as well.

Just my opinion.

[Sparkyprep]

This would make for another good thread. What's in your first aid kit? And explain why its in there....I am at work until 8 am otherwise that thread would have started already.

Yes please.

[Inor]

I have several Israeli bandages in our packs and a few more hidden in a bin somewhere in the house. I do not have any of these, but will have them on order within a day or two. Thanks!

[Kfilly]

I have several Israeli bandages in our packs and a few more hidden in a bin somewhere in the house. I do not have any of these, but will have them on order within a day or two. Thanks!

Do not forget to train with them. There are videos on YoutTube that demonstrate their use.

[Coppertop]

I definitely forgot to mention the Israeli bandage. Good call on that as well. Not meaning to hi-jack the thread, but have you ever used a Halo Chest Seal in the field? My department uses the Ascherman Chest Seal. I am sure they cannot be all that different as far as use or effectiveness.

No thankfully, I haven't had to use the Halo either. Knock on Wood, we run a pretty mundane service here. Lots of nursing home transfers, a few car wrecks that aren't too terrible, and a few Heart Attack patients. From examination of the Halo and of the Ascherman, I don't really see much difference. We changed suppliers about a month ago and they don't carry the Halo so we will be going to the Ascherman to finish filling out our MCI bags.
Thanks
Coppertop

[Slippy]

Excellent Spark!

[Kfilly]

No thankfully, I haven't had to use the Halo either. Knock on Wood, we run a pretty mundane service here. Lots of nursing home transfers, a few car wrecks that aren't too terrible, and a few Heart Attack patients. From examination of the Halo and of the Ascherman, I don't really see much difference. We changed suppliers about a month ago and they don't carry the Halo so we will be going to the Ascherman to finish filling out our MCI bags.
Thanks
Coppertop


I pretty much figured that would be the case, but I have only trained with the Ascherman. I have heard of that used a few times by my department. Once, the wound was bleeding so profusely that the Ascherman did not stick. That probably would have also happened with the Halo seal as well. The only issue with the Ascherman is that it appears to be a smaller bandage which might make it harder to stick to a patient due to the aforementioned bleeding issue.