Thinking because I'll probably never write again...

[roxy]

but that's just the great big fucking frustration speaking....

Let me ask you something, or, as it would sound in real life if I was talking to you, "lemmeasyoosum-in", Hunters have been hunting for some time, our particular beloved hunters have been hunting for many years...would they still be cleaning their wounds with whiskey and stitching up their booboos with dental floss and carpet needles? I mean, you can get all the real medical shit pretty cheap on the internets. You can get all kinds of emergency first aid supplies. And hell, shit tons of survivalist stuff--I bet MREs would come in handy from time to time--just the kind of shit *I'd* want if I was a hunter.

In my head (and notes) at least one of those duffel bags they shlep around with has to be a warbag, packed with stuff they really need, a hell of a lot more important shit than tube socks and boxers. Though they should always have extra tube socks because dry feet are *very* important. I just can't imagine John not having a fully tricked out kit. I can see him teaching them everything he can about down and dirty stuff for emergencies, but not having clean, efficient equipment? That stuff is as important as their guns and knives.

This is the kind of stuff I think is interesting. And here you can see how overthinky I get about stuff. *G* I mean, sure, you can't make a story out of it but isn't it cool to know?

Comments

[nicnac918.livejournal.com]

That... is an excellent point. And yes it is cool to know. Plus, while you probably couldn't make a whole fic just about this, you could probably put it as a conversation in another fic. It would be interesting I think.

[portraitofafool.livejournal.com]

I've always worked under the assumption that they have a war bag (great way of putting it, btw :D). I also figure they would know how to stitch wounds with dental floss--or how to hold the seams of cuts together with super glue--if they were in a situation where the war bag wasn't available. I'm just thinking out loud here--or rather all over your journal--but in some instances, straight-up MacGyver-esque first aid would be needed.

I tend to get hung up on how, with some of the baddies they face, there must have been times when they've had veins nicked (even cut) or arteries even. Which means some hardcore field medicine of greatly imaginative proportions would be needed. Or, failing anything handily available, I imagine they've actually had to hold stuff closed until they could get something to rig up until they could get to their kit.

Aaaaaaand... as for when they're in hotel rooms, stitching themselves up with threads stolen from the cheap bedspreads... I figure that with the sheer amount of semi-serious to downright serious injuries they receive on a weekly basis (daily sometimes, I half think) then they would run out of supplies really often. Which brings me full circle back to them needing to have knowledge about how to make do with what they have. I also get really hung up thinking about how many scars they would have--some of which would be verging on disfiguring almost. I find it fascinating and when I write them, they're all scarred up like they would be if they were actually out in the real world doing that stuff.

[tabaqui]

Yes, yes, hell yes. As 'romantic' as it may seem, stitching someone up with thread from a sewing kit doesn't work all that well *and* would probably cause the wound to go septic. When Sam was doing that self-stitch bit in Mystery Spot, that sure as hell looked like a suture needle to me.

And John would know the value of super-fast and super-efficient medical skills. They started using super glue on wounds in Vietnam (fun fact), so he'd have been aware of it. Aware that the rapid response and medivac by helicopter saved a *lot* of lives.

So - honestly - writing the boys as doing some kind of half-assed field surgery with floss and a carpet needle is not only kinda dumb but totally goes against the grain of preparedness and survival thinking John would have instilled in them.

*Warbag, ftw!!* :) These are the details i think of at night when i can't fall asleep.

[ctbn60.livejournal.com]

I have to tell you before I totally agree with what you are saying above. I read the one line as:

They should always have extra lube. (forget tube sox) I think I have a one track mind. LOL ;-)

[cha.livejournal.com]

it's funny - I just asked someone that same question on twitter!!! about the whiskey. I think you're right. I think that, eventually, they would have clued in to the face that a well-stocked first aid kit would save them a lot of money on booze

[dimeliora.livejournal.com]

This would make an excellent conversation in a meta fanfic. Dean or Sam laughing at some of the first aid techniques people come up with. Still, whiskey is probably an important part of their first aid regimen. Not for wound cleaning, but important nonetheless.