Additional items for the ritter PSK

Pretty Decent. Sad tho that there is not a single mention of Doug Ritter In the entire video and description...Looks like AMK gets all the glory once again...Not even the knife was mentioned as Ritter designed...oh well...

"Glory?" - Hopefully DR gets the royalties - that will put meat on the table.

SPARTA FIGHTS FOR GLORY!

Same thing can be said about the spark lite and fox 40 whistle most people think AMK Makes and designed them...sigh...

No slag on Doug here but I think the creator of the video was trying to emphasis his alternatives to the expanded PSK kit. Apparently he balked at the extra money for the expanded it and decided to improvise his own additions.

Many of them were well thought out, except I laughed at his mickey mouse imitation SAK he added. I've got a nearly identical one at a trade show -- it is a joke. Although he did say that it was no substitute for a good blade carried external to the kit. A much better choice for the micro knife would have been a Leatherman Micra or Squirt P4 which is what I added to mine. But that does add to the cost.

He picked an inexpensive squeeze light. I prefer a slightly more expensive Photon 2 which is smaller and doesn't use a momentary switch and pushed to activate.

I do like his additions of the Gerber bags and the water tablets and sewing kit though. Doubling of the fire tinder doesn't hurt. But his kit was so crammed that it looked like it could burst its seams pretty easily.

I wouldn't waste $2 or 1/2 oz on a light with no constant on. About the only thing the squeeze light is good for is getting your keys in the door lock. Aside from that he had some good additions. In one of my own Ritter/AMK kits I added a cheap LED that has a squeeze-on and a locking sliding switch, along with a bit more tinder, a real firesteel, a folding razor knife and micro saw, etc. I also added a 1 Qt folding water container.

A real SAK Classic is actually a pretty good tool. I EDC one along with a Leatherman Wave. Kept sharp, that small blade performs amazingly well. I probably employ the scissors as often as the blade in everyday use. The tweezers are definitely handy.

JMNSHO.

There are a couple of things about the PSP that bug me.

First off, I am not real sure just what it is supposed to be for. It seems to me its real utility is as something you keep in your pocket in the woods when you are out and about in case you get separated from your real gear somehow. That's about the only thing that makes sense to me for such a kit.

The second thing is the inexplicable inclusion of a scalpel blade that is completely unusable in the field. A 59 cent disposable Exacto type craft knife that comes with a short handle and a blade cover would have cost about the same, easily fit in the kit, and actually added utility instead of just taking up space and adding to the kit's quantity of items.

The rest of the kit seems pretty good for me in its role as a backup to my real gear that I somehow lost.

I don't think a fishing kit is all that useful, but the line might be. To his credit, Doug admits in one of his articles that this kind of stuff might be more marketing than useful.

There is not enough snare wire to be useful for much of anything as far as snares go, but it might be useful for other things.

The needle might be useful but ever try to sew with large thread and needle with even moderately cold fingers? Just about impossible.

One can nitpick at the choice of firestarter. I kind of agree with the guy in the video that a small butane lighter will serve most people far better in most cases, even though it has some issues of its own. Adding one to the kit makes a lot of sense to me.

If I had a PSP, I would add some doggie poop bags to it for water storage. They are amazingly strong for their almost negligible weight and size. And dirt cheap.

I would add a few water tabs of some kind as well. Does it bug you guys as much as it bugs me that people refer to boiling, water tabs, etc as purification means instead of disinfection means? Words mean things, and the tablets purify nothing. Nor does boiling.

I can't say I think much of the tiny knife added to the plus version. I have used such blades in the past and never liked them. To me they are not all that much more useful than a small handled Exacto knife.

The idea of adding Tabasco sauce packets to this kind of kit (as the video showed) seems about as useful to me as those who add a piece of hard candy.

To me a small light of some kind is an important thing to add. It gets very dark in the woods, even during the day.

I doubt it would fit in the PSP pouch, but an emergency poncho of some kind in another pocket might turn out to be the most useful item of all.

That's a proper SAK classic, not an imitation. I have one in mine.

Also: Adding the mini-BIC is a very good idea. Again, I have one in mine. In my view it's a better choice than matches. Gives you a substained flame. I've added a ziplock bag to mine and MP-1's. I'm seriously thinking about adding a hot drink and a sachet of sugar.

Over all I would rate that as a video giving excellent advice.

Feel free to disagree.