First aid dressing

A very basic piece of equipment in any army. The individual first aid kit seen in combat use since the Soviet war in Afghanistan consists of a tourniquet and a first aid dressing, these are often stuffed inside or strapped to the stocks of small arms for easy access. This pictured model is the latest and most common one, it's tightly packed inside an air-sealed rubberized cloth pouch. It consists of two large absorbant panels of cotton wool, reinforced by cotton weave. One of these is sewn onto a long strip of bandage, whilst the other one is free to be moved around. This way a wound through the torso can be patched up relatively quickly and easily as a means of first aid.