Ultimate Survival Technologies Sparky Review

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

Thanks for the review and pictures.

Is it better than a rod and a steel? That fits on a keychain, too

Correct, that's why I carry a blast match rod and a small hacksaw blade. I took a blast match to the extreme one day to see where it would fail and after sparking down the rod past where the V blade wouldn't grab much anymore I split the case and I use the rod with a hacksaw blade. I love the materials they use with the rods, I don't care to much for how bulky there items are but i do like the one hand bit. I can see how easy it would be for the sparky to fail for durability but the blast match held up well for a long time before I wore it out. I would trust my life on a blast match but that was after I abused it to a failure point to see the capabilities.

No problem dweste.

TeacherRO, right now I would say no, if they could get the blastmatch rod into a really small housing and completely change the design and make it as small as possible and a back up release in the event of a jam or failure then I would say it could be.

Great review.
It seems like their attempt to downsize the blast match was only a somewhat qualified success.

I have heard a lot of people complain about the size of the blast match, but that was one of the things I liked about them.
It made them much easier to use with cold wet hands.

I would rather carry something a bit bigger that works than something small that does not work.
Thank you for this review.

I don't blame you Izzy, it's really not that big but it's prone to failures (unacceptable). I just like the UST rods they use over the Swedish rods, I have both but I don't know if it's a higher magnesium count in the steel or what, but I can really catch a lot of stuff on fire with a blast match than I could with my light my fire steel. I just gutted a blastmatch for the rod and use a hacksaw blade and it's rock solid and 2X the diameter of my light my fire steel. I'm definately a blast match steel rod believer.

Thanks scafool, I hear you, I still keep a blast match regular one in my gear, I just have the rod for my PSK but that was after wearing the heck out of one taking it to a destruction test. Blast Match in my opinion is money well spent and yes I would rather carry the bulk knowing I can get a fire going now.

Well, that kinda sucks a bunch. I was really excited by this thing.

*shrugs* Maybe they can debug it.

If anyone remembers I broke a blast match too... usable if you have another piece of metal or a knife but the striker broke off it.

I think I talked about on here too about that one rod that was supposed to have an abundance of magnesium mixed in... it worked REALLY REALLY well, and had an AL base, and it was an "AIO" kind of thing, and could fit on a keychain, by far the best 'fire steel' I had used. I forget who made it or where I got it.. man I need to get these upon my site so I can reference them hahaha.


-Todd

Dude, I don't know what you paid for these but i hope you get your money back!

and I was gonna jump on one these when they became available...

Thanks for good and objective review falcon5000.

I like my UST Strike Force very much, one of my favourite piece of gear I own but unfortunately this looks too much like a toy. I don´t understand how company that have "Ultimate Survival" in their name can come up with almost a plastic toy. I like the concept a lot but like falcon5000 and others I wish they change it or do another version in the future (with important parts made from metal). When your hands are cold and you are tired you have no luxury to be carfeul not to break or jam the firestarting device.

Well I prefer Swedish firesteel on my keychain and Strike Force in my bag. Those solutions are not one-handed but are more powerful and straightforward for signaling. I would like to try out Blastmatch in the future too though. And maybe even the Sparky if they fix the issues.

Good idea and sign of an invention but I hope this is just a "beta version".

When people burn magnesium they burn it in mini-pieces / powder... I don't think you can light a stick of it on fire (with a small cold flame like a spark or match).
If you try get a video... haha
-Todd

Looking at the size of the thing, and it's "three strikes you're out" rule, I'd think that a simple Mini-Bic would be more robust and reliable - even given the butane lighters problems with water, cold, etc. I still think a simple Bic and a large firesteel is the best two-item survival combo to have. I also carry waterproof tinder, a fresnel lens, some waterproofed matches, a normal candle, and a few of those trick birthday candles as well. I am not overly concerned about the one-handed deal, but I do have two BlastMatches at home (which I usually do NOT carry hiking - maybe I should!)

Thank for the review!

I was going to pick one of these up, but I think I'll stick with my current fire steel for the time being.

While the sparky doesn't sound that great, on a different topic, I noticed in one of your pictures that you put stuff in what looks like the "waterproof wallet". I purchased one of these and took it on vacation. Three seperate tests swimming in the ocean with it and it leaked all three times. You would think that I would have learned from the first experience, but I tried to ensure it was fully sealed. It was, but both sides leaked. You may want to test yours for extended periods or put in through a wash cycle. Afterwords you may reconsider it as a waterproof container.

Do you mean Aurora Fire Starter by Solo Scientific? It is a fire starter with greatest amount of magnesium that is directly integrated into the rod. From the videos on the Internet it seems this is the most powerful sparker on the market. Does anyone own it? If so, can you share some experience with it? Thanks.

Good catch GoatMan with the waterproof wallet, I had got that when i had gotten the sparky to give me more room for the PSK and hadn't even got to test it for water yet. I have a vacuum sealer at the house and have been putting the contents of a lot of items in freezer bags cut to go in the space and pulling a vacuum on them to gain as much room in those pouches and add as a extra waterproof protection. Most everything in the kit can be submerged without concern for the bag but I will look at the bags design and have to make sure if I continue with it that water resistance will have to be ruled out. What did you end up going with, I'm trying for max space with min volume and using vacuum bags are helping a lot in squeezing more items in the little space that I have.

OK, here we go again...

Pure flint does not spark at all.
With a flint and steel, it is ONLY the steel that burns.
All of the firesteels have NO flint in them...
With a firesteel, it is ONLY the fero rod that burns.
It is made out of Mish-metal, which is a combination of several of the rare earth elements(which are rather interchangeable as they are all so close in molecular structure that they all behave almost identically).
Some do add magnesium to help.
They can be 'sparked' by ANY sharp, hard object. Broken glass works great, as does any of those carbide knife sharpeners. A REAL flint works great to 'spark' them with too!
What you may have heard about needing carbon steel to strike a flint with, does NOT apply to a firesteel, as it takes the place of the STEEL in a flint and steel set, not the flint. And the steel striker takes the place of the flint!
Mish-metal, aka firesteel, aka ferrocerium is a VERY soft metal and so can be cut by steel(and MANY other things). Steel is softer than flint and so can be cut by flint.
Mish-metal is VERY much softer than flint and and therefore be cut VERY easily by flint.

I know I get a little too perturbed about this, but knowing how these things work, makes them a LOT easer to use when thing are not going right, and you have to improvise.

jamesraykenney +5

It is a good comment because a lot of people are confused about how ferrocerium or pyrites work and how they are different from the old time flint and steel.

The comment deserves this bump back up to the sidebar.


ps. With the old flint and steel you just want a light glancing blow to shave a thin enough sliver of the steel and the heat of friction is what makes it a spark.

Ferrocerium actually burns in a chemical reaction when it is sparked. This makes the spark from the Ferrocerium quite a bit hotter even though it becomes a spark at a much lower temperature.
The magnesium is added as an oxide and is just there to make the rod more brittle so it is easier to scrape sparks off of.

The rare earth magnets spark the same way and are usually nickel coated to prevent them from sparking or oxidizing.

JamesRayKenney and Scafool, Thanks for this info. I always like to know how things work, as well as if they work. As you say, knowing how they work makes it easier to make them work.

Yes, it was a revelation to me, when I found out that wood(and most other things), does not burn, but that the GASES emitted by heated wood is what does the burning...
It makes a lot of the 'tricks' of fire making make a LOT more sense!

Here is quite detailed explanation - Flint and Steel Notes – Some Clarifications
by Rob Bicevskis



Regarding Aurora firestarter that I mentioned above this is not the case. A big amount of magnesium is integrated directly into the rod so when you strike you throw chunks of burning magnesium. The magnesium is there to make it more powerful.

I will find out in a few days, when my order comes in...
This place sure costs me money...
I also got the super replacement scraper, but I did not get the case, as I plan to put it in a pocked of my BOB...
Did anyone notice they are making a flare launcher(?!?!) attachment for it?

Great. It´s on my to-buy-in-not-so-distant-future list.


Yes.:)

That was an excellent link Raptor.

Great link, Raptor. Thanks so much. Am I a wilderness geek or survival nerd now? LOL

No problem, Ed. These were quite important informations for me too when I came across the article. It´s always good to know how stuff works.

Hehe, wilderness geek? Maybe .