The Doug Ritter Pocket Survival Pak, a review

[Graham_S]

I picked up one of these from outdoor code at the last north meet and as I'm at a loose end, i thought I'd write a review

first things first.
it comes in a small pouch made of fairly heavy gauge clear plastic. the pouch is sealing (in the manner of ziplok bags) and waterproof with a lanyard attachment point. it fits handily in a pocket of my swanni and is fairly unobtrusive.

the contents are as follows
1. Fresnel lens magnifier.
2. signal mirror.
3. spark-lite fire starter.
4. 4x pieces of tinder.
5. whistle.
6. button compass.
7. fishing kit.
8. nylon thread and needle.
9. scalpel blade.
10. duct tape.
11. aluminium foil.
12. nylon cord.
13. wire.
14. safety pins
15. pencil and paper
16. aide memoir.

as you would expect from a Doug Ritter designed kit it's pretty good.
the whistle is very loud, the compass reads true (i checked it against my silva 54) etc. the only thing i have issue with is the "spark-lite".
all i can say is "it works" I'd prefer a proper fire steel, but it'll get the tinder lit and you can use it one-handed.

the supplied cord is quite strong, rated to150lb and is a decent length (about 2m) for a psk. the thread is meant for sewing and fishing and is actually a small bobbin of black thread rated at 10.5lb. the fishing kit itself consists of 4 hooks, a couple of split shot and a swivel. hardly comprehensive, but adequate.

the aluminium foil is quite heavy duty and is meant to fashion a container for boilong water/cooking in

so with this kit (which is clearly designed to be a back up to the kit you would have on your belt) you have enough kit to keep body and soul together for a couple of days (or longer)
you have;
means of getting food (fishing kit/snare wire)
means of purifying water (boiling in the foil)
means of lighting a fire (spark-rite, fresnel lens, tinder)
means of attracting attention (whistle, mirror)

with this and a knife you would definetly improve your chances of survival.
i'd probably add a couple of things though.
tweezers, elastoplast, puritabs, and some matches. but that's it.
it is after all a pocket kit.

 

[scanker]

Interesting about the sparklite. I used one a couple of times this weekend. The tinder is excellent. I broke one into three or four smaller pieces and teased them out so they were quite fibrous. They took the sparks from the sparklite very easily and the tinder burned a long time. I did have trouble once with the sparklite being too close to the tinder and the fibres wrapping round the wheel a bit, then the tinder igniting whilst stuck to the sparklite but it soon shook off.

I like the sparklite. One-handed operation obviously has it's advantages in a survival situation, where you might have injured a hand, but I do like the fact that it's brightly coloured (not easy to lose) and doesn't weigh very much.

I've moved my Ritter kit into a BCB tin and supplemented it with the puritabs, plasters and sliver grippers you mentioned, also a photon torch for signalling/lighting and a SAK.

 

[Brian]

Graham,

I just got one of these too, as you say it's not bad. I also got an RSK 1 at the same time. I like the Fresnel lens thats in the kit and for the size of the pack it's quite well equipped. I would also add the items you mentioned just to finish off what is not a bad kit.

Brian

 

[Graham_S]

a decent pair of tweezers are a nessessity as far as i'm concerned. an infected splinter could ruin your day.

 

[JonnyP]

Hi Graham...........I would be interested in, if the magnifing lens would actually start an ember. I have started fire by some lenses before, but my lens on my swiss champ, which is a powerful magnifier, is no good for fire lighting, I am wondering if it down to the small diameter of it...................Jon

 

[Graham_S]

the fresnel lens is big enough to start an ember. the reason the swisschamp has trouble may well be due to the small size.
magnifying lenses work by concentrating light to a point. the more light it gathers the hotter the central point.

 

[Brangdon]

The kit is designed not to have any items which expire, so there are no meds, no puritabs, no torch with batteries.

I like the Spark-lite. Maybe it's a matter of skill, but I find it easier to put the sparks where they need to be, than with a ferro rod. I don't trust matches at all. I'd rather a Bic lighter (which will also work one-handed).

Does the foil work? Whenever I have tried to fold common kitchen foil, it developed pinhole leaks. I gather the Ritter PSK uses thicker foil, but I'd hesitate to trust it with testing. A better approach might be some 1l plastic bags and some chemical water treatment.

How big is the fresnel lens? I've never been able to start a fire by that means in this country.

I gather the fishing kit was added for marketting reasons as much as anything. It takes a long time to starve.

 

[wizard]

I went through a number of sparklites back in my US Army days. They work pretty well. I prefer a firesteel but I also like the tinder that comes with the sparklite. One problem with the sparklites though, if you use them once and let them set around, the flint deteriorates over time. It is pretty much the same as the flint that is made for cigarette lighters and if the protective coating is scraped off, they start to oxidize. If you used the sparklite at all, check it before a trip to the bush, it may have oxidized to dust! Cheers!

 

[jamesraykenney]

I went through a number of sparklites back in my US Army days. They work pretty well. I prefer a firesteel but I also like the tinder that comes with the sparklite. One problem with the sparklites though, if you use them once and let them set around, the flint deteriorates over time. It is pretty much the same as the flint that is made for cigarette lighters and if the protective coating is scraped off, they start to oxidize. If you used the sparklite at all, check it before a trip to the bush, it may have oxidized to dust! Cheers!

Yikes... Never thought of that... I have a lot of them stuffed everywhere... But It was always recommended to me to always test them before packing them away...