I will be the first to admit, my safety kit on the bike is nearly empty. I have a basic toolkit, but not first aid or anything else. I really should have at least 2 flares in there, broken down on the side of the road you really need something to catch the attention of the driver that is busy texting his BFF about OMG... plus if you did take a mild crash off the bike and hurt yourself you still need to get to a hospital. Most of the time the bike will still be drivable unless you went off the road at 90mph. so if you needed to splint your broken fingers so you can at least ride 10 miles to a hospital, you need the stuff to do it. Sometimes it's even something simple as needing a bee sting kit for that honeybee that went in your helmet at 55mph. I also try to have $20.00 in cash in the safety kit or stashed on the bike. $20.00 will get you somewhere safe. $50.00 is even better, but some people cant spare $50.00 to sit around in an emergency kit.
First aid Kit: nothing special, but some band-aids, gauze, medical tape and two pop-sickle sticks. add a neosporin spray as well if you want. but keep it tiny. I like to throw in a first aid space blanket as well. they are small cheap and will save your butt when broken down on the side of the road in the middle of a rain storm when the temps dropped to 40. You need to get one.
Safety kit: Tools, you need your bikes toolkit, or if you own a newer bike then your bike maker hates you and gave you no tools. you need to build a toolkit with a multi-screwdriver, and at least 2 wrenches with double ends that have the 4 most used sizes on your bike. you also need a sparkplug wrench that actually works well on your bike. ALL of the tools must work well for your bike. The last thing you want is to fight with junk on the side of the road. I also bring 2 extra spark plugs. Also a tire plug kit, you never know when you need to fix a nail hole. set of 6 zip ties, 6" to 8" long. they work great for fixing a broken fairing or other bike part. Also at least 2 small road flares, waterproof matches in a container and a film can stuffed with cotton balls. the matches + cotton balls = instant fire. If you get a little gasoline on a cotton ball it will light instantly and burn hot and long. Yes you might have to start a fire. the 1.2 ounces for the cotton balls and matches are worth the rare chance of you needing to start a fire to save your life or at least be comfortable. A LED flashlight, crank type is best because you will forget and the thing will have dead batteries when you need it. But also add a small tube of sunscreen and a small tube of insect repellent.
Why? stuck for 5 hours in the sun being baked to a crisp is not fun. neither is getting eaten alive by mosquitoes in the eventing while you try and put a plug in the tire to limp to a motel.
This should be enough to make your breakdown comfortable and fix the cut on your knuckle when you bash it trying to fix the bike on the side of the road. 99% of the time it will not be a life or death thing, but you need to prepare for that 1%. Also having something to help a fellow rider who crashed is a big thing. if you can help a biker who is down until the ambulance arrives, you will feel better about yourself. Bikers help bikers, at least real ones do.
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