One question we are frequently asked is, "why does the Pocket Survival Pak cost what it does?" The implication being that they don't understand why it isn't cheaper. All the while, we're amazed we've managed to keep it so affordable. :-) While the high quality components that are worth betting your life on are part of the story, the other part of the story is the amount of individual labor that goes into assembling some of these components included, and then assembling and packing each Pocket Survival Pak.

We decided the best way to illustrate this was to present a slide show that illustrates many of the steps necessary to assemble both the individual components and then the Pocket Survival Pak itself. I've uploaded the show and added some commentary. Please let me know what you think. If you happen to notice any typos, I'd appreciate letting me know about those as well.

http://www.dougritter.com/psp_slideshow/pspslideshow.htm

Nicely done and very interesting, thanks, Doug.

Dave

Doug, that's a very interesting insight into the process! I'm amazed that it's almost all by hand. I suppose that machine looping the duct tape and steel wire and even the nylon cord hank would take a great deal more demand to justify the cost of replacing labor with machines.

Wow... just really impressive. And if you figure that you can buy this kit and your light for $40 (saving $7 in total) and it's still giving ETS some money, that's really rather sweet.

I have one of these kits, and I know assembling the same components costs quite a bit more individually, so kudos and thanks for the slideshow.

Awesome! We rent out commercial buildings to companies that produce and package different products. It has always amazed me to watch what they do. It's incredable how much stuff is still done by hand.

Well, I'm no master in english language .....

I would have written "principal" rather than "principle" ...
or is this an americanism ?



OTOH, I am satisfied with half dozen of PSKs I have .... <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Good catch! Thanks.

Amazing <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />, awesome <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />and just plain old cool <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />. Hopefully, it will give those who are on the fence regarding the cost; just what it takes to put a quality kit together. On the other hand, it is a very detailed set of instructions on putting a kit together, maybe a little too detailed and hope it will not give away too many of the little time saving ?secrets? <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />.

Pete

Thanks!

Yeah, we thought about that, but if someone's going to knock us off, and sooner or later someone will, they are unlilely to do it with the same quality because it's too darn time consuming. <G> It's a risk, but...it's not exactly rocket science... <shrug>

About the cost of the PSP :
I guess anyone on this forum who has tried to assemble such a kit (should be everyone .. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> ), knows for certain that the PSP is not expensive ; just getting all the components is more expensive ... I know, I did try...

So, add manpower, etc... and the retail price (27$ IIRC) wont look expensive at all.

This is really cool! You should contact the Made in America show (The Discover Channel???) and see if they'll do a segment on the PSP kits. It would be good advertizing!

One thought - I'm not the slowest reader, but I did have problems reading slides with longer text before it moved on to the next slide. A slightly longer time between slides would be appreciated. If there is any way to allow only the long-text slides to go longer that would be best.

Great presentation, Doug, and who SAYS it costs too much??? I thought the kits I got for me & mine were a heck of a deal... especially compared with other kits out there... high quality, low price, what more do they want???

Troy

Unfortunately, the timing can only be set for the show, not per slide. (I suppose someone who knew how to play with the script could modify it to allow that, but that is way beyond me) That's why we recommend doing it manually with the Next button. <shrug>

I found the slide show very enlighting and informative. I have several kits to which I have added other items(matches, micropur tabs, Gerbr milk bags, etc.). I have even bought extra mirrors, whistles and duck tape rolls. I find that all items are of excellent quality and a real value. People will always want things for less, but you get what you pay for. I have tried winding other types of cordage and it is a very time consuming process that usually takes more than one attempt. My hats off to the people who perform the labor to put these kits together. Excellent Job! Bottom line is that I would gladly pay a little more for this excellent kit. Thanks for putting it on the market.

You got that right!

I can't believe anyone is complaining about the price.

I wrote about putting together kits that I gave out as gifts for the holidays over in the Campfire section. The cost to do so, even in cases where I could buy items in bulk, was extremely high and way more expensive than buying the Ritter PSK.

Plus, as Doug showed in the slide show, the whole thing was labor intensive. By the time I got to the 10th roll of "Duck" I was more than a little tired of the process, and I hadn't even started wrapping the fishing line and heavy-duty thread.

If I had it all to do over again, I would have just bought Ritter PSKs for everyone, added a few items, and would have saved myself about $400 dollars and a hell of a lot of time.

Next year that's what I'm going to do.

Anyway, the slideshow was pretty informative. Good Stuff Mr. Ritter.

Doug--

Excellent presentation! My first job ever was as a proofreader, & it's marked me for life. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I did catch a typo in one caption...I think it's #41. The text reads:
"...then above the flat components, the remainder of the Pocket Survival Pak? componets are laid out."

It should be components.

David

Who says it's expensive? By the time you buy the components and have them shipped in ones and twos from half a dozen suppliers, the PSP saves them money.

Very cool.

After watching "Castaway" on DVD over Christmas, I bought one of the kits! I hope I never have to use it, but I plan on always having it with me.

Thanks, Rosa! (and Doug)

WOW, very cool.
Unfortunately, there is always someone wanting to "build a better mousetrap" therefore they want the product as cheap as possible.

It is sad when you think of it, are the "cheaper" crowd thinking of what it would cost them, or what is their own life really worth?

Owning two kits myself, I can say these are good quality kits, there is really nothing cheap about them. In fact, I would have gladly paid higher for the same thing. I have a couple of other kits and when I think of the individual cost and factor in what I would have paid myself (wages) building them, tweaking them, housing (house payment) carrying (clothes and vehicle) I think I would have went easily over 100+ USD per kit.

A very good job, a quality job and very well done.

Thanks Doug, Rosa and the other folks at AMK.

Stargazer

ASAP = Always Suspicious, Always Prepared

Good catch. thanks!

It is not the knowledgeable enthusiasts like frequent this forum that think that it is expensive, it is the general consumer and they are the ones we depend upon to sell to. Not enough enthusiasts to be even worth the effort of making the kit, :-) we have to sell to the average guy who rarely gave the subject a thought until they see it online or in a store.

I though it was a bargin when I bought one.

If I had bought the signal mirror, Spark-light and Fox 40, one each at retail, I would have had $20 tied up. Probably more with shipping. I do not see any way I could put one kit together with similar quality components for the price.

The way I view it is that you are buying in bulk, doing all of the work and selling the kit to me at about the retail price of the parts.

The only comment I have about the price is: THANKS !

...finally, a crochet hook is used to pull the end of the Brainded Nylon Cord under the last turn to secure it in place. ...BRAIDED...

Doug, I found some errors in the PSP slideshow, which I must say was very well done. I would like to thank you again for the work you have done and I would also like to thank Rosa and Berta for helping demonstrate the production of the PSP.

Here are the errors I have found (some may have been mentioned before) Thanks again.

Slide 6—Insterted—Should be inserted.

Slide 20—Brainded—Should be braided

Slide 21—Stanlesss—Should be stainless.

Slide 38 to 39 should read Final assembly # 1 and # 2, the sequence jumps # 2, right to #3.

Take care,

Stargazer

Looks good!

Good catches, thanks.

Got it, thanks.

Now I want to get out the drill and roll me some duct tape!

Not to say that I would want to do it all the time...it's like the time I ate alligator in New Orleans. I wouldn't want to have it all the time, but I tried it, and now I know what it's about.

When planning items to include in a Nalgene bottle kit, I was adding up what the components would cost, and IIRC with the cost of the bottle itself it was easily over $100.

Now I plan on emptying the contents of a Ritter PSK into a ditty bag or something similar to fit through the mouth of the bottle, and most of my kit assembly will be done!

If I were to want the PSK to be less expensive, it's only so I could buy more and not have my wife go <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I learned in cutlery selling class once that in order for someone to buy something, the perceived value has to outweigh the cost. For all but the completely obtuse, I think this slide show would greatly increase the perceived value of the PSK, if for nothing else, because of the labor intensive nature of the assembly!

From start to finish, how long does it take to assemble one kit?

That is proprietary information, but I can tell you it is the most labor intensive product in the AMK line-up and that includes their largest and most sophisticated multi-hundred dollar professional medical kits.

I know this might sound silly, but why don't they use a better jig and multiple roles of tape to wind several simultaneously. I can't imagine that being a very fast process, and depending on the strength of the mandrel (seems tough enough) - one could probably do 4 or more at the same time either with a drill or hand crank. Just not having to chuck up on a 1:1 basis would help.

And a similar process could probably be used on the wire and the rope (at least to get the right number of rotations around a specifically sized core to get the right length). Then you wouldn't have to deal with as much measuring and since the number of wraps gets you the right length. The labor would be in tying them off.

Anyway, it's still an amazing price for everything you get... just tossing some ideas that may (or may not!) further improve the profit margin. I have mine sitting right here and I know I couldn't come close to replicating the cost (I tried). If you factor in that in order for an individual to build this that a lot more of the product needs to be purchased (whole roles of wire, rope, & tape, etc) then it's even more a bargain.

I've tried doing this for small scale winding of wire on micro-spools (bobbins), and I can say that it isn't as easy as it looks.

I'm curious if it was a problem tensioning the source wire. If allowed to slack, there are problems. In the past when I've done this I had help or used my spare hand to put two almost 90 degree bends in the wire (without actually making a full angle). That and the friction from my fingers helped. I know I've seen wire tensioners before too. Not sure how they do it on the tape, but anything that keeps tension should help in winding. The hard part for me was getting it to spool up evenly instead of bunching in the middle or against one side.

Actually, with a moment's more thought based on what you said, my drill doesn't throttle down all that slow. Speed might have been a part of it, but if it was in my case, I can't imagine doing it with duct tape.

Thanks for the suggestions. Let me just say that it sounds easy, but they have tried a lot of similar concepts and keep coming back to refinements of this. They do have some ideas for further automating some aspects of the assembly process, but there's a significant capital investment barrier. They are always working towards improving the productivity. Beyond that, I really can't say anything more.

No need to Mr. Ritter. I think we all appreciate your efforts. And I'm sure it's not as easy as I've made it sound (I haven't tried it except with wire and only with one spool).

Again, thanks for the entertaining and educational insight into the process..... now if we can just get a slideshow for the ETS Knives. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

People think it's expensive? I saw them at REI and got one to check it out. Went back in a few days and bought 4 more. Now I have one for each vehicle, and one for each backpack. Of course, I still tinker a little with mine... <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I'm amazed that the cost is so low, but then again, I buy some of these individual components from time to time, so I know the relative costs.

Why is it that people can always count the cost, but never the value?