best rescue knife?

inzane · #1

hey guys this has probably bin posted around here somewhere and i didn't find it but... i just joined the junior corp. of the volunteer fire dept. in my town and now i am looking for a suitable knife for when i go on calls... I have always been a spyderco fan because of there great quality and unique style so i have been looking at three different spyderco models... the assist 2 with the sheepsfoot blade and rescue whistle, the fully serrated spyderco rescue 93mm, and the Atlantic salt because of the tough rust resistance. So which do you guys think is best. Any help is greatly appreciated! :spyder:

LOOKABIRD · #2

Regrettably I own none of the above, but with the information that I happen to have, I would have to suggest to Assist. The handle is great and fits very well, and it was made for your actual situation, assisting! The glass breaker is really nifty and the blade can get through anything. The new orange would make sure that it was found if you were to drop it. It may be a little more expensive but it has many more features than the other two on your list.

Tom

Jay_Ev · #3

LOOKABIRD wrote:Regrettably I own none of the above, but with the information that I happen to have, I would have to suggest to Assist. The handle is great and fits very well, and it was made for your actual situation, assisting! The glass breaker is really nifty and the blade can get through anything. The new orange would make sure that it was found if you were to drop it. It may be a little more expensive but it has many more features than the other two on your list.

Tom

+1
If your duties ever find you wearing thick gloves, the Assist will be easier to open as it has the Cobra Hood.

Jay

PSU · #4

All three have excellent ergonomics and superb steels. IMO it mainly comes down to the handle style that you prefer. As an EDC I prefer a knife to be relatively slim and light. The handle of Assist is probably twice as thick as that of the Atlantic Salt & Rescue. It feels great in the hand but I found it way too bulky in the pocket. On the other hand (no pun intended), the Rescue and Atlantic are barely noticeable. Additionally, they probably weigh about 30% less than the Assist. I’m not sure if these issues are important to you but keep them in mind when deciding.

I would strongly recommend either the Rescue or Atlantic Salt. The only decision you have to make is: yellow, orange, black, or blue… :D

Blackhair · #5

I, unfortunately, do not have any of these knives either; but based purely on my knowledge of the models, I would recommend the Assist.

It has the most features (including that sweet glass-breaker), and really the only thing that it's not better at is the fact that the Atlantic is rust-proof; but that's not that huge of a deal. :)

Spyderwings · #6

I believe inzane is talking about the Assist II - the one without the glass breaker. It also has a modified wharncliff blade so it has a tip as opposed to the blunt tip of the Assist.
I personally have no experience with the assist, but I do have a 93mm Rescue that I love. Being linerless it is extremely light weight, while still having the strength of FRN. As Jay mentioned though, the Assist might be better due to the cobra hood making it easier to open with big gloves on. That being said, I have no problems opening my Rescue with winter gloves on.

The Deacon · #7

The Assist II is very easy to open with heavily gloved hands and it does have that neat whistle. It is also considerably thicker and heavier than the Atlantic or 93mm Rescue and, since it's been discontinued for a while, may not be very easy to find. The "safety tip" on the Assist I, while great for certain tasks makes it next to useless for others.

The waved version of the 93mm Rescue is also very easy to open. But, like all waved knives, it does require proper placement thus limiting carry options.

The Atlantic is totally rust proof. The tradeoff for that is is that it requires slightly more frequent sharpening.

inzane · #8

thank you guys for your help and opinions i think later in the day i will be placing my order for the spiderco assist 1 :D considering i will mostly only be using it on calls im not really worried about huge size and the ease of opening the blade and extra features like the whistle and window breaker sold it for me :spyder: im excited and will post pics when i get my new assist :cool:

tonydahose · #9

one question you need to answer is will you be using this with your bunkers on or just the regular uniform. i keep one knife hooked onto my coat and another in my pants pocket. just something you need to think about. the assist is a nice knife, i keep one in my car for emergencies. on my coat i carry a tasman salt se (i had a snap but it started rusting badly after one fire) my pocket carry varies but i think you would love a waved rescue. gl and stay safe.

bladese97 · #10

:spyder: :spyder: :cool: :spyder: :spyder: I would say...HANDS DOWN, The Assist :eek: :eek: :eek: It's my favorite, and I was using, and then cleaning mine the other day, and noticed, on the Pommel/buttend(where Carbide tip is), Sal's Sig' :confused: So, Sal was, once again, THE MAN who designed the Assist......Right? :D

tap · #11

inzane wrote: i just joined the junior corp. of the volunteer fire dept. in my town and now i am looking for a suitable knife for when i go on calls... :

As tonydahose pointed out, if this will be kept on/in a turnout/bunker coat then rust could be a problem. And finding a way to easily secure it can be an issue. A dedicated rescue or Salt 1 would be good. As a volunteer you don't have a station uniform or time to go and get a specfic knife when a call comes in. So if it won't be kept in/on the turnout gear, then something that you would/could normally carry is the best choice. I do have a FRN Meadowlark CE clipped in the radio pocket on my bunker coat.

malice4you · #12

I own an Assist 1 w/ glassbreaker, 2x Rescue 93 (orange full SE, old style in ats55, and blue "CE" new style), a Rescue 79mm (blue full SE), and a somewhat related Tasman Salt SE....I'm not a firefighter and hope I never have to rely on these tools for their intended uses...but if I had to...I would likely pick the Assist (1)

Assist 1 - The handle is thick, fits your hand very well, opens easilly with gloves on. I personally wanted the glassbreaker. I keep the Assist in my car, clipped to the visor.

Rescue 93 blue - I carry this as one of my EDC knives and it's a great general purpose knife, with the most saw-like SE edge I've ever seen on a Spyderco (though, I'd imagine a Spydersaw would be a tad more saw-like

) It's really thin, has a great plain edged tip which I personally like.

Steel on either is great, shapens up very well, and holds an edge.

I only own one H1 blade, but I've had issues with getting it as sharp as I'd like compared to other SE blades with VG10 and CPMS30V. I'm not sure how long/how much use it takes to get the blade work hardened, but since it's a hard use knife I want to use as a heavy use blade, I don't mind quite as much. If it were my only knife, I don't know that I'd pick H1 over VG10.....(I carry H1, VG10, CPMS30V, and AUS6 blades daily.) A sheepsfoot blade might be easier to get sharper with H1, and I plan to get another H1 blade in the future, so it's not like I'm saying H1 is a bad steel by any means....

hope that helps....

JBE · #13

Let me toss my two pennies in... :p

Go with the Atlantic Salt - you'll be much better served with a rust-proof sheepsfoot blade over the long-haul.

As far as the Assist - it's bulky,you don't need the whistle,and if you're on an engine, there are better tools at your disposal for breaking glass on an auto. It's biggest plus is the hood that allows for easier opening with gloves.