This tourniquet saved my life overseas but......there's a caveat former spec ops combat medic here - North American Rescue NAR Gen 7 Combat Application Tourniqet

These are effective, quality tourniquets but there's a CAVEAT. If you have this tourniquet all wrapped up and velcro'd down in an aid bag or IFAK... and YOU YOURSELF have to apply it to YOURSELF... all I'm going to say is GOOD LUCK and God Speed. If one of your arms is shot like mine was.. and you can't really use that arm and or hand... GOOD LUCK getting the velcro apart with one hand while you bleed out. YOU WILL DIE. So if you're going to use this tourniquet... TAKE IT FROM ME... Someone, who was shot through the thigh and forearm... who's femoral artery and vein were completely severed and who lost half or nearly half of his blood volume... who's Right Dominant hand wouldn't function and was flopping around... and who could not have gotten his CAT tourniquet out of his IFAK and taken it apart with his Left NON Dominant hand... or reached down and looped it over his completely numb leg due to a severed femoral nerve.... Take it from me... one of the most highly trained Special Operations Combat Medics in the entire WORLD... and someone who got a medical degree and has worked YEARS in Critical care.... Or don't take my advice and have the forewarning and foresight to avoid a mistake that would surely get you killed as it would have me, without help from those around me.... Either purchase a NON VELCRO Tourniquet or LEAVE THIS ONE UN-VELCRO'D. Maybe use rubber bands to hold it together but DO NOT have it velcro'd in a circle. You will not be able to loop it around your leg if your leg is seriously shot or blown up or shattered and bleeding internally with two good arms and hands, let alone ONE. You SHOULD have it undone and snake it under your leg above the wound and then run the tail through the buckle.. .then tighten by pulling and velcroing... then twist the rod and secure... but I have become more of a fan of the non velcro tourniquets with metal buckles because of my own experiences.... From that experience I have learned that velcro tourniquets are not ideal. A nylon strap with a metal buckle is what I would recommend as my number one choice for a LEG TOURNIQUET now... If we're talking a tourniquet for your arm.... that's a different story... you could get a smaller tourniquet made for specifically for arms. (yes, they exist) and you could leave that LOOPED ahead of time because looping that over the injured arm with one arm is going to be more doable than threading the tale through a buckle and then tightening if you just have one arm to do so. But AGAIN... imagine looping a VELCRO tourniquet around your hand, up your arm til it's above the arterial bleed and then pulling the velcro apart so you can tighten it down.... HOW do you think that will feel on your wounded arm ? NOT GOOD... So AGAIN... Probably BEST to get a NON VELCRO Tourniquet......... or just do it YOUR WAY.... Just thought I'd try to help those with the ability to learn... and learn from those who are subject matter experts, who have been there and done that and not only have the training but the 1st hand experience as well.... . Former US Army Ranger and SOCM or Special Operations Combat Medic here... .Best of luck to those willing to read this, take it seriously and humble themselves so that they can implement WISDOM and avoid an unnecessary death via Hypovolemic Shock and bleeding out. SO TO SUMMARIZE... Leave it unvelcro'd... for self application on your legs... you CAN leave it velcro'd a little with a BIG LOOP for putting it on your own arm. You want it big so it's easy to unvelcro with one hand once around your hurt arm. If you're pulling lots of length apart with one good hand over a severely injured arm, you're doing it wrong and inflicting a lot more pain.. especially if your humerus is fractured/shattered....