Ultimate Survival Technologies Sparky Review
Well I decided to try out the Sparky to see how it does and managed to break my 1 of 2 bought within the first few minutes. I attribute the failure as my own fault with this one but all in all I think it's a good concept I just think it could be built a little more rugged. The Sparky has a cheap plastic bar that separates the flint from the housing and it you strike the thing more than 3 times in a row it will damage the unit. So I go out and play with the thing to take it for a test run and striked it 3 times lighting off a dead palm tree leaf and it worked like a champ. But I didn't know how long to let it cool down and went to light up some old bark a few seconds latter (thinking it was cool enough for another 3 more times) and the rod got locked up in the handle. I took off the outer jacket to see if there was any user way in the field to unlock it and I could not find a back up release. So that one will be going back. All in all I think it's a good product but needs some design modifications. I would not put my life on the line at this point with this design but I think with some modifications from UST that it has the potential to be a good product. I would not recommend this product at this time until issues are fixed.

Update:I soaked the thing in the sink for a few minutes while running water over it and it freed the jam up, turns out it is very sensitive to debris getting into it. I think some issues still need to be resolved with a bigger rod for the body, unlimited strike capability (metal rod bar vs plastic),and a better non jamming mechanism.

Advantages
1. Small, goes on a keychain
2. Sparks and uses the same great fire steel as the blast match

Disadvantages
1. Can only spark 3 consecutive times (no instructions of a cool down period)
2. Small Rod
3. Jams up real easy



http://www.ultimatesurvival.com/product_category.cfm?category_ID=710




Seen with blastmatch rod in comparison