diff --git a/libretroshare/src/util/rsinitedptr.h b/libretroshare/src/util/rsinitedptr.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a1d346ba0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libretroshare/src/util/rsinitedptr.h
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#pragma once
+/**
+helper class to store a pointer
+it is usefull because it initialises itself to NULL
+
+usage:
+replace
+    type* ptr;
+with
+    inited_ptr<type> ptr;
+
+this class can
+- get assigned a pointer
+- be dereferenced
+- be converted back to a pointer
+*/
+namespace RsUtil{
+template<class T> class inited_ptr{
+public:
+    inited_ptr(): _ptr(NULL){}
+    inited_ptr(const inited_ptr<T>& other): _ptr(other._ptr){}
+    inited_ptr<T>& operator= (const inited_ptr<T>& other){ _ptr = other._ptr; return *this;}
+    inited_ptr<T>& operator= (T* ptr){ _ptr = ptr; return *this;}
+    operator T* () const { return _ptr;}
+    T* operator ->() const { return _ptr;}
+    T& operator *() const { return *_ptr;}
+private:
+    T* _ptr;
+};
+}//namespace RsUtil