I've not received yet, but chatted with a few who have. General feel of the conversations has been that it would have been useful if they were just starting out, but less useful to people who have been involved in psychic entertainment. A few friends have hated it, some a bit more like warm. Not had many raving about it yet. So I think it'll depend on your experience level. But like I say not got mine in the UK yet. Will give more thoughts when I receive.

I’ve received everything except Beyond the Veil, which is supposed to be sent later this week. Once I have everything I bought, I’ll share my thoughts on the whole package.

Psychic Survival Kit: My Honest Review

For my 10th anniversary, I booked a concierge level room at the Disney Wilderness Lodge and splurged on dinner at Victoria & Albert's; the kind of night you want to feel truly special. The meal was immaculate, the staff exceptional, but the portions were tiny. After all the expense and anticipation, I found myself slipping back to the concierge lounge for a big bowl of chili. Good, yes. Special, no.

That is exactly how I feel about Peter Turner and Pigcake's Psychic Survival Kit.

The hype was enormous. The Kickstarter funded in nine minutes. The marketing suggested something elevated; a premium, upgraded experience. I bought the kit immediately after missing the Kickstarter, paying $200 with the hope that this would be something genuinely unique.

Unfortunately, I don't think it lives up to that promise.

Content & Instruction
The video material is well produced and solid, but ultimately nothing unexpected, fine but not groundbreaking. The one item I was most excited for, the "Beyond the Veil" video, wasn't included as part of my purchase price, and is slated for separate purchase later, but is still in production.

Props & Materials
The props are well made, but nothing impressive:

Pendulums: Nice, but not magnetic. A surprise given the discussions leading up to release.

Tarot Cards: Playing card size, marked, but only the Major Arcana, plus a few single card gaffs. Small, and clearly designed for younger eyes than mine.

Switch Bag: Cleanly sewn, but basic black cloth.

Billet Switch Box: Simple matte black. Ironically, I prefer this over the more ornate version shown in early videos; understated works, you don't want to draw attention to this box. But again, nothing special.

The overall feeling is that the kit delivers, but not nearly what the price and hype suggested. Many upgraded versions of items teased during the development updates were set aside due to expenses. Pete Turner explained that production costs were far higher than anticipated. I don't think this was a "bait and switch," just a case of ambition meeting reality, but the disappointment remains.

Customer Experience
To Pete's credit, he has always been responsive, kind, and forthcoming whenever I emailed him. His service has consistently been excellent, even throughout production delays and hiccups. I feel he genuinely wanted to provide the "special" experience we were expecting.

Final Thoughts
Like my anniversary dinner, I wanted this to be special. I wanted to love this kit. Instead, I was left with a Meh feeling. I got what I paid for, but the experience was less satisfying than I hoped, and I probably wouldn't purchase it again.

I was going to wait until I received everything I paid for. But that day never seems to come. I paid $400 for the everything package, and have received the basic Psychic Survival Kit, the Cold Reader's Companion, The Grail and The Journey.

I still have not received Beyond The Veil. This is the part of the program I was most looking forward to. Interviews with psychics Peter and Pigcake met with during their 2025 road trip. The week before last, Pigcake said Beyond The Veil was going to be sent that week, if all went well. I guess it did not go well, because it was not sent. At the beginning of this week, Peter posted a video that said Beyond the Veil would be sent out by the end of the week. But nothing.

So I'll go ahead and post my thoughts on the basic kit. I'll start by saying I agree with everything pulpscrypt wrote in his review.

During promotion for the Kickstarter, Peter said this was going to be the very first physical product over which he had total control. That meant he would make all of the product decisions himself. He also said the more backers funding the project meant they may be able to afford better props. The kickstarter raised $127,085 from 524 backers.

After many months of delays, my kit finally arrived. I was really hoping the box would contain something special, with Peter applying his latest thinking with perhaps some very clever devices.

Well, the physical props are nothing special. They are of average quality at best. The pendulum is cheap looking. As are the crystals. The switch bag and major arcana tarot cards are fine. The billet holder is made of imitation leather that looks and feels cheap. It's not gimmicked in any way. Although the instructional videos tell you how you could gimmick it yourself to make an ID if you wanted to. The OM box that everything comes in is decent but it is carboard and looks to be covered with contact paper. It's certainly sturdy enough to last for a while, but like any cardboard box it's probably going to get dented or the edges crushed if you travel with it. One person on the kickstater commented their box arrive damaged.

With this being Peter's first physical product under his total control, I had much higher expectations. I thought we were going to get something really special. Especially when he suggested during the promotional phase that more backers would mean more funding for possible prop upgrades.

The instructional videos for the basic kit may be good for someone new to psychic entertainment. For those more experienced, there's probably not a great deal of value here.

The booklet Cold Reading Companion, is okay, not great. There are much better resources on cold reading available.

I'm mad at myself that I broke my no pre-orders rule. I really wish I had waited for reviews before buying this. In my opinion, The Psychic Survival Kit does not live up to the hype, and I would not buy it again.

I'll save my reviews for The Grail and The Journey for another time, as well as Beyond The Veil when they finally do send that.

P.S. Peter put out a video recently explaining all of the costs that went into developing the Psychic Survival Kit. The airfare to fly to the US, renting an RV for him and Pigcake to travel across the US for a month or so, fuel cost, meals, flying Pigcake over to the UK twice, prototyping costs, shipping fees and duties, Kickstarter fees, a new video camera when his broke, software subscription fees, paying Pigcake his share, and on and on. He went into great detail about the costs. And even said they ran out of kickstarter funds and he had to reach into his own pocket to pay for some of the expenses towards the end. It was a very good video, and I actually started to feel kind of sorry for him. This long list of expenses really adds up. And then at the end, having to reach into his own pocket and all to help pay for things.

But then he mentioned something.

In his list of expenses, Peter mentioned that he ordered 1,500 Psychic Survival Kits. Kickstarter shows there were a total of 524 backers. Who pledged a total of $127,085. This got me wondering, when Peter said they ran out of kickstarter money towards the end, did all of that $127,085 go towards developing the kits for the 524 backers? Or did some of that money also go for the additional 1,000 kits he ordered? I don't know the answer. But if all $127,085 when to developing and manufacturing 524 kits for the original backers, I would think they probably could have afforded nicer, upgraded props. I'm only speculating, but if he spent that $127,085 not on 524 kits - but 1,500 kits so he had an additional 1,000 to sell, well, that is a different situation. Let me be clear here. I'm not accusing Peter or Pigcake of doing anything wrong. This is just my opinion, a theory. If all of the $127,085 raised for the kickstarter went to fund development and manufacturing of 524 kits for the 524 backers, then perhaps they could have afforded to include nicer props. On the other hand, if that $127,085 was spent on developing and funding the kits for the 524 backers - PLUS an additional 1,000 kits for Peter to sell, that might explain why they ran out of kickstarter funds towards the end. I fully acknowledge it is their right to spend the kickstarter funds as they see fit. And it's also my right to share my opinion that I wished I had passed on this project and am pretty disappointed with what I received.

Well fingers crossed the beyond the veil is good then to justify the roadtrip we paid for. I get the feeling it's reaching that point of being a project they'd just like done with. I was hoping they'd send out the digital content to the UK backers while we're waiting for the physical props. But I didn't really buy it for the props as I've got nicer versions of everything included. Like you Stunninger I was interested in the beyond the veil and cold reading companion so trying to stay optimistic that the content on there provides something of worth.

Still waiting for mine here in the UK!

Well we're meant to get ours first before the general sales on ellusionist. But I wonder if we'll now get the custom charges now it's coming from ellusionist.

I managed to set up a deal with Pigcake to cover the shipping costs to Europe myself so I wouldn't have to wait for Ellusionist. Pigcake handled everything brilliantly on his end, so I believe I’m one of the few Europeans who currently owns the kit.
And really props to Pigcake on how he handled this.

As someone new to psychic-style effects, I was really looking forward to diving into the material. However, the overall execution and structure of the set have left me quite confused and a little dissapointed.

First off, the physical kit itself arrived damaged, as someone else in the Kickstarter comments also mentioned, (dents and chipped paint) because it was shipped in a bubble envelope without much protection, which is disappointing for something meant to be a showpiece.
Additionally, the change bag seems poorly constructed—in normal lighting, the velvet divider flap stands out drastically against the bag's lining, making the hidden mechanism obvious. In the videos, they keep referring to a "secret pocket", but it’s really just a (slightly visible) divider.

More importantly, the instructional PDF and video content seem quite disorganized, with several broken links, misnamed files, and seemingly missing routines:

PDF Issues:

- Incorrect Link: "Astro Card Performance 2" links to a "Which Hand Studio Performance" video instead.
- Duplicate Listing: "Futures Past Forces" is listed twice in the PDF.

Missing Explanations / Referenced Content:

- The Bottle: Included in the box and mentioned briefly in the Ashes routine ("like he said earlier"), but there is no dedicated video explaining its use.
- Readings & Barnum Statements: Pete repeatedly references a "Readings section" and Barnum statements explained "earlier in this set" (e.g., card reading meanings), but no such section exists in the PDF.
- Staggered Cross Cut Force: Mentioned during the "Getting to Know You" explanation, but only the standard cross-cut force is taught very briefly.
- Nail Technique: Mentioned during the crib card explanation (dry sharpie segment), but never explained.
- Soulmates Routine: Pete refers to a "Lost and Found" routine and tells the viewer to "watch the performance," but only the Soulmates explanation video is provided. There is no performance video or Lost & Found file.

I have already reached out to Pigcake through Kickstarter to report these points, so fingers crossed it all gets sorted out.

Has anyone else who received the kit encountered these same issues with the PDF links and missing instructional content? Am I not looking properly?

Again, a bit disappointed as I am new to this. So I was hoping by purchasing this kit, I would have all that I need. But browsing Pete's website, he is selling a reading masterclass, so I would have hoped something like that would have been included.

Also, the pendulum section barely contains any content. Pete just explains how the pendulum works, but I am not seeing any effects using it.

I hope this doesn't come across wrong, as that's really not my intent. From the YouTube updates, I got the impression Pete was paying heavily out of pocket to get this project done. Watching the documentary, it looked like an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experience for them.
Which is great, but as a buyer, it leaves me wishing a bit more time and effort had gone into polish and editing and improving the prop quality. It just feels like a lot is missing from the project.

Feels like we should be asking for a refund?

Nah, it's a kickstarter, not a product bought from a store. So there is no reason to ask for refunds. Even getting a product through kickstarter is not always a guarantee. I've backed plenty of projects and never got anything. The fact we got a product delivered is already great. If Pete decided not to pour in a h personal funds and stop the project, there was nothing we could do about it.

There is kind of an off balance feel to the whole project. The kit feels like a beginners how to read minds spin off set and I probably would have been a lot more disappointed with the kit if I knew little to nothing about the tools provided. The pendulum for example could easily be incorporated into any routine provided, but your not shown how to. The billet section gives you several peek techniques with no interesting routines. The Tarot section is full of simple ideas a magician could use to test the waters with readings if they want to move into mental magic, but there is no teaching on giving readings.

It's like it's meant for someone with no knowledge of mentalism starting from basics so there is not much value for the more experienced , yet if your starting from basics you will probably be lost because your thrown a bunch of ideas and not really shown how to use them. I would recommend the serious beginner wondering what to do with this kit look over at mindhaus for some excellent material, Lewis is your guy for moving into this style of performance. The cult of shadows book has several ideas that complement the props in your box.

Its probably not a good idea to go out doing tarot tricks if you can't give a quick entertainment style reading either. You will disappoint a lot of people who get excited about receiving a reading, and pass up the chance to make a few bucks on the fly.

My favorite resource for using the images on tarot cards to give readings is Dusty Whites easiest way to learn tarot book. It has lots of great practice exercises to help you hone the skills you will actually use when giving readings with the cards.

For the keyword method my favorite source is Vincent Pitisci. Vincent unfortunately passed away a couple years ago but his YouTube channel is filled with great content and his books I believe are still available on Amazon. I also love his explanation for how tarot works and it bridges logic and intuition as a frame for what you are doing.

From a psychic entertainers perspective, Ron Martin's Tarot Readers Notebook is all you need. With those three resources you could work full time as a tarot reader for entertainment and the effects taught in the kit can be little coffee shop ice breakers to pass out business cards and show people your readings are fun and not too woo woo spooky. Or you could force the devil card, tell them they are cursed, and charge a few bills to lift it. Whatever floats your boat.

Excellent advice on learning the Tarot, John.

Thanks John - I'll look into those suggestions. I am just slightly sad/disappointed this is needed. As I was expecting this kit to be an all-in-one package containing all that is needed.
I am still holding out hope, as I've said before Pete keeps mentioning a "Reading" section in a few video's, so I just hope some videos are missing...

Peter does mention in the QR video adding a page where all the card meanings and readings are listed out for you to study, but I don't recall seeing it made available. That would be quite useful as I've had very hit and miss luck getting the codes to scan.

The few that did pull up include a paragraph reading. It would be quite feasible to memorize 22 stocks and this would get you by for a while and get you started. If you can get the codes to work this would be great for learning flash card style. There is the crib as well. I've seen quite a few readers who never moved beyond stock meanings and they still get paid. Think about the number of combinations you would get with 22 cards laid out in a 3 card spread, plus the different 3 card layouts you can use. Every reading you give will be unique even with stocks. It's certainly enough if you just want to do the effects. If the Tarot bug bites and you want to learn fluency, I stand by my recommendations above.

A video on how to stitch a reading together from the meanings would be quite helpful and I was surprised not to see one included. If you go to Vincent's YouTube channel I mentioned above he has a lot of videos demonstrating different card spreads that will give you the idea.