We are reviewing the instructions in the Pocket Survival Pak prior to the next printing and are preparing to make some minor correction of typos, etc. A copy of the current instructions can be found at:

High resolution suitable for printing (1.56 MB): http://www.equipped.org/psp/psp_survival_instructions_0204.pdf
Lower resolution suitable for viewing on a monitor (373 KB): http://www.equipped.org/psp/psp_survival_instructions_0204_lowrez.pdf

If you have noticed any errors or the like, now would be a good time to let me know. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> (even if you have already previously mentioned it to me, please do so again, just to ensure I don't miss it.) In addition, we are considering some minor additions or changes to some instructions for improved clarity based on feedback we have received. I am very open to any suggestions along these lines as well, but please bear in mind that we have very limited real estate to work with, the paper cannot get any bigger so any changes or additions must truly be minor or very brief.

Doug;

Bearing in mind that these instructions may be read for the first time by someone with no prior survival training, possibly in inclement weather, I think the instructions for starting a fire should be idiot-proof.

1. It is possible to start a fire with the Sparklite using toilet paper, for example, but you need to know that it will require repeatedly striking the Sparklite in the same location to build up heat. If the tinder doesn't catch the first time, there's a tendency for beginners to move the lighter to a different spot and try again; after this fails a couple of times, they may give up in frustration.

2. Foolproof instructions for starting a survival fire - others know more about this than me, but I was never able to get a good, sustainable campfire going until Mors Kochanski gave me some simple advice:

1. Lay two logs parallel to each other;
2. Lay two logs on top of these at a slight angle;
3. Put a large twig bundle (i.e. easily ignited kindling) on top of this and light it.

The coals from the kindling bundle will drop down between the logs and generate enough heat to ignite the main fire; once the main fire is burning, you can line up the logs into a parallel fire.

It took Mors less than a minute to explain this to me; the next day, I built a self-sustaining campfire that burned untended (not unattended,tho <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) for over an hour. I later modified the technique slightly (to get the fire into one of those circular metal fire pits in a National Park campsite) and built a fire that burned well into the night with only minor adjustments.

Even in the US Southwest, hypothermia is a major killer in survival situations; IMHO, somebody who has never before built a campfire must be able to read the instructions and get a sustainable fire going in a matter of minutes.

I looked at it and I think its pretty good. The only thing that I would think about changing is the size of the font. BUT, that means its going to have to be bigger. I did however, compare it to the one I already have in my PSK from this website, and I think it is significantly better.

Garrett

Interesting comment and experience. Curious as to the TP you have tried it with? In my experience, the TP I used lit off pretty readily. Sounds like I need a wider sample than I have tried previously. If your experience is common, then I'll probably delete TP as a potential tinder. Mostly, we want them to use the provided tinder and we have some minor changes to those instructions to emphasize how to fluff it up for best performance. We have experimented with this method and in our experience with naive subjects, IOW no wilderness experience, didn't find it as readily effective as what we chose to illustrate. That may be because of our instructions we provided, or... <shrug> It may well be worth considering as an alternative fire lay in an upcoming project we are working on which will allow for more options.

Thanks very much for the suggestions.

Doug

Thanks. Bigger is simply out of the question, but there is the magnifier in the PSP if needed.

Sorry, can't enlighten you as to the brand of TP. It had been hanging up under a military surplus parachute for a couple of days (through some pretty intense thunderstorms, to boot) so it may not have been as dry as I thought. As I said, it did light, just took a half-dozen strikes with the Sparklite in the same spot. (I also was unable to ignite a drop of Purell Hand-sanitizer with the Sparklite, although I've been able to do so with the Blastmatch or Firesteel quite readily in the past. But the sample I was using had been in my first aid kit for some time; maybe alcohol evaporation was an issue?)

Maybe the instructions in your sheet are better, but I didn't realise for the longest time that you really need a minimum of three decent-sized logs to sustain a campfire, so I thought it was important to point that out. Maybe it can be done with fewer, but I've never succeeded with just one or two, and on the few more recent occasions where I've used three, I had a hard time putting the fire out, so it seemed pretty effective to me. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

But if you've tried my suggestion and it wasn't as effective, then it doesn't make much sense to switch. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> It was just a suggestion, after all <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Do you need a french translation ?
(for selling in Quebec or France or Belgium or many african countries ... <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> )

Thanks very much for the offer. At the moment AMK does not sell the PSP into any areas with French-speaking peoples, so there's no need. Not sure what the situation will be if they do offer it into Canada. That's their call, not mine. I will keep your kind offer in mind, however.

I do have a suggestion for the "bonus" sheet - the one that suggests additional items to bring:

The survival instructions give a great description of using a transparent or semi-transparent bag to collect water from transpiration, but neither the kit, nor the bonus sheet recommend including such a bag, nor how big that bag should be.

Another suggested bonus item that likley wouldn't be kept inside the pak: diagrams/photos showing how the pak is assembled as shipped. This would greatly assist those who take the kit apart for practice and then struggle to get it back together as shipped.

According to Chris at AMK, they're talking to the buyer for Mountain Equipment Co-op and hope to have the kit in MEC stores across Canada by the end of the month. I don't know if they had considered the requirement for the survival instructions to be bilingual.

Of course, the irony is that they could probably get around that easily simply by taking the survival instructions out of the kit for all sales in Canada <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />