diff --git a/src/clj/com/rpl/specter.clj b/src/clj/com/rpl/specter.clj
index 9c627cd..7dc81a1 100644
--- a/src/clj/com/rpl/specter.clj
+++ b/src/clj/com/rpl/specter.clj
@@ -124,6 +124,8 @@
 
 (def FIRST (->FirstStructurePath))
 
+(def IDENTITY-PATH (->IdentityPath))
+
 (defn srange-dynamic [start-fn end-fn] (->SRangePath start-fn end-fn))
 
 (defn srange [start end] (srange-dynamic (fn [_] start) (fn [_] end)))
@@ -180,3 +182,13 @@
 
 (defn collect-one [& selector]
   (->SelectCollector select-one (comp-paths* selector)))
+
+(defn putval
+  "Adds an external value to the collected vals. Useful when additional arguments 
+  are required to the update function that would otherwise require partial
+  application or a wrapper function.
+
+  e.g., incrementing val at path [:a :b] by 3:
+  (update [:a :b (putval 3)] + some-map)"
+  [val]
+  (->PutValCollector val))
diff --git a/src/clj/com/rpl/specter/impl.clj b/src/clj/com/rpl/specter/impl.clj
index 7e971af..82135f0 100644
--- a/src/clj/com/rpl/specter/impl.clj
+++ b/src/clj/com/rpl/specter/impl.clj
@@ -448,5 +448,21 @@
     (->> structure ((.view-fn this)) next-fn)
     ))
 
+(deftype IdentityPath [])
 
+(extend-protocol StructurePath
+  IdentityPath
+  (select* [this structure next-fn]
+    (next-fn structure))
+  (update* [this structure next-fn]
+    (next-fn structure)
+    ))
+
+(deftype PutValCollector [val])
+
+(extend-protocol Collector
+  PutValCollector
+  (collect-val [^PutValCollector this structure]
+    (.val this)
+    ))
 
diff --git a/test/clj/com/rpl/specter/core_test.clj b/test/clj/com/rpl/specter/core_test.clj
index ad0aaae..2e45c7a 100644
--- a/test/clj/com/rpl/specter/core_test.clj
+++ b/test/clj/com/rpl/specter/core_test.clj
@@ -227,3 +227,21 @@
                  [:a]
                  [[1 3 5] [2] [7 11 4 2] [10 1] []]
                  ))))
+
+(defspec identity-test
+  (for-all+
+    [i gen/int
+     afn (gen/elements [inc dec])]
+    (and (= [i] (select IDENTITY-PATH i))
+         (= (afn i) (update IDENTITY-PATH afn i)))))
+
+(defspec putval-test
+  (for-all+
+    [kw gen/keyword
+     m (max-size 10 (gen-map-with-keys gen/keyword gen/int kw))
+     c gen/int]
+    (= (update [(putval c) kw] + m)
+       (update [kw (putval c)] + m)
+       (assoc m kw (+ c (get m kw)))
+       )))
+