Anyone looking for an aspirator that will function in austere conditions may find the Rico RS-6 will work for them.  I’ve used these before for military and civilian applications and have never had problems.  What I like most about this suction unit is how it is made to be portable or stationary and can be powered by engine, electric or hand.  It doesn’t get much better when looking for something for austere conditions in my mind.  This one was an eBay item that I was lucky enough to get for $43.00.  A really great price.

Although it is portable it is not ideal to be hauling around by hand and would be better suited for mounted applications that required the occasional use away from your transportation/station whatever/wherever it may be.  The way I have this unit set up is a connection in my POV since it’s the designated medical/emergency response vehicle for our homestead.

The other way this set up works good for us is a backup in an aid-station or in camp to the electric/battery operated aspirator that usually uses disposable collection basins.  Or this could be connected as the collection basin for the electric portable aspirator in place of the disposable ones.  Although I would not want to use this without the disposable liners it can be and is designed to if necessary.  The other surprising item that works well with a little modification to power the Rico RS-6 is the little FoodSaver handheld like the one below.  It works so well that it is part of our emergency aspirator kit.  I’ll have a video/blog on that as soon as I put the footage together.

Here is a video that’s just under ten minutes that shows all the items that originally came with the Rico RS-6.  I’ve cut most of the ramble out to save you some time.   Another item of interest for those who may need the information is the scanned PDF of combined printed material that was with the original packaging.  That link is just above the video. -13

OPERATORS MANUAL RICO MODELS RS-4 RS-6 RS-5X