diff --git a/tests/testutils.py b/tests/testutils.py
index 0a6c4bd..0380ade 100644
--- a/tests/testutils.py
+++ b/tests/testutils.py
@@ -817,3 +817,26 @@
         rv["matched"] += obj.matched_count
 
     return rv
+
+FILTER=''.join([(len(repr(chr(x)))==3) and chr(x) or '.' 
+                for x in range(256)])
+
+def hex_dump_buffer(src, length=16):
+    """
+    Convert src to a hex dump string and return the string
+    @param src The source buffer
+    @param length The number of bytes shown in each line
+    @returns A string showing the hex dump
+    """
+    result = []
+    for i in xrange(0, len(src), length):
+       chars = src[i:i+length]
+       hex = ' '.join(["%02x" % ord(x) for x in chars])
+       printable = ''.join(["%s" % ((ord(x) <= 127 and
+                                     FILTER[ord(x)]) or '.') for x in chars])
+       result.append("%04x  %-*s  %s\n" % (i, length*3, hex, printable))
+    return ''.join(result)
+
+def format_packet(pkt):
+    return "Packet length %d \n%s" % (len(str(pkt)), 
+                                      hex_dump_buffer(str(pkt)))