Rescue Knife

[jnichols2]

I have been giving some thought to keeping a knife in my car dedicated to seatbelt cutting.

In a thread on hawkills I saw several reccommendations for a Harpy. Totally out of the question. If I'm in a dazed or confused condition after an accident it would be stupid to be fumbling around with something having a Harpy's sharp tip.

I thought the choice was between a Rescue and an Assist, but I saw a Byrd Cara Cara Rescue on Amazon for $22.

Would the Byrd be a good subsitute for the Spydercos? It would be kept in the car for a dedicated purpose.

[kbuzbee]

Seems like a reasonable alternative to me.

Ken

[tonydahose]

i would go with the assist because it has the window break. if you G-d forbid need to use it, remember to try to hit the lower corner of the window, it will break easier that way.

edit: also, you might want to tie a lanyard to lets say your seat post of the car just in case during the accident your knife gets thrown from from its regular spot.

[tr4022]

What Tony said. It's more money for a knife you'll hopefully never use, but if you do need it, I think the Assist would be the better choice, and you don't wanna be effin' around with an inferior knife under those conditions.

Tod

[spyderedge]

I agree with tr4022. You may be trusting your life on a knife. Make sure it's a good one and will not fail.

[MachSchnell]

Lately I've actually been regularly carrying my Benchmade triage 915... Sheepsfoot, Dedicated 440C Cutter, and Carbide glass breaker. It is however, a little on the heavy side. Thought about leaving it in the car but I occasionally leave the windows down and would hate to see it get stolen.

[Holland]

ResQMe!!!!!!!!

[jnichols2]

Guess you guys talked me into the Assist.

However; I do have a Civilian. Bet it cuts seatbelts.

[JNewell]

Guess you guys talked me into the Assist.

However; I do have a Civilian. Bet it cuts seatbelts.

Probably not as safely, and it's likely not as easy to open when your world has turned upside down and gone to spit. I have a pair of them - not exactly EDC but a great knife for the purpose. Tony's advice about securing it is a very good suggestion (thanks, Tony). :spyder:

[Water Bug]

i would go with the assist because it has the window break. if you G-d forbid need to use it, remember to try to hit the lower corner of the window, it will break easier that way.

edit: also, you might want to tie a lanyard to lets say your seat post of the car just in case during the accident your knife gets thrown from from its regular spot.

+1

To me, the Spyderco Assist has many important features in case of an unfortunate situation in a vehicle. And, if the knife is carried exclusively in the vehicle, Tony's suggestion of a lanyard is sound.

The Assist is my VEDC (Vehicle EDC). If I'm going to drive, it gets clipped in my pocket.

[phillipsted]

+1

To me, the Spyderco Assist has many important features in case of an unfortunate situation in a vehicle. And, if the knife is carried exclusively in the vehicle, Tony's suggestion of a lanyard is sound.

The Assist is my VEDC (Vehicle EDC). If I'm going to drive, it gets clipped in my pocket.

The Assist is my VEDC (cool acronym!) as well, WaterBug. It sits in the console between the front seats.

TedP

[Stuart Ackerman]

A used spark plug lanyarded to the folder will break the window in a flash, and the folder can be used to cut belts, clothing, etc...

[tr4022]

I think you'll be happy with your decision, jnochols2. I understand the Assist goes through seat belts like nobody's business. I have a Vic rescue tool myself. Kinda want the assist myself.

Tod

[JNewell]

It sits in the console between the front seats.

TedP

This is where Tony's point about putting a dummycord on the knife seems so valuable. In most cases where you'd need it, the vehicle has probably experienced sudden and violent deceleration and may have turned, tipped or rolled, and that's likely to leave things in places where you can't find them in time to make best use of them.

[golddot370]

ResQMe!!!!!!!!

+1 check out the ResQMe I have one on my keys its a great tool.

[JD Spydo]

Like the title says "get the ASSIST">> because that's just what that blade is designed for. I've kept mine on my sun visor for years now and I wouldn't be without it.

But I'm sure glad you launched this thread because it's given me an idea for a new knife design. Yes we need a "Rescue Hawkbill" for sure.

But you can't go wrong with the ASSIST because it has a built in carbide glassbreaker, a whistle for signaling and a great VG-10 sheepsfoot blade for doing just about everything you need to do in times of trouble.

Now for some reason you just don't like the ASSIST I might suggest the Jason Breeden RESCUE that Spyderco offers. Being the big fan of the Captain model I'm seriously wanting the BReeden RESCUE model my own self. But you have the final say on it so let us know which one you decided to go with.

[tr4022]

Regarding the ResQMe tool, I thought I remembered some negative reviews of this over at TWLOR. This is one:

"After reading other posts of the ResQMe not working I decided to test the two that I had. Only ONE worked; the other did absolutely nothing! Wanting to give the manufacturer an opportunity to remedy the issue I contacted them and asked to have the defective item exchanged (nothing else was asked). I was told to send it back to Amazon. When I let them know I tested as a result of reading other posts of the device not working I was told "About the review, this comment is not objective and is not very relevant.". Not "objective" and/or "relevant"? One of the Amazon reviews clearly stated two of six did not work correctly (33% failure rate) and only one of my two worked (50% failure rate). That seems pretty clear, concise and objective.

I want you to think about something for a minute. How would you feel if you were ever trapped in a submerged vehicle, go to use this device and it failed to function? If you have a child, factor in the fear of not being able to get them out of the vehicle because this device failed.

I would suggest NOT buying this item or purchasing any product from the manufacturer as they do not stand behind their product."


Anyway, I just thought I would share this. I have absolutely no experience with this tool and I have no dog in this fight, I'm just passing on one of a couple negative reviews about the tool's reliability. If it worked as advertised, it would be great because it's small enough to put on your keychain, but the negative reviews would make me reluctant to depend on it in an emergency situation. YMMV, of course.

Tod

[Drkknight614]

Yea I'll have to agree on the rescueMe like tool, but dont get the rescueMe like others have said. Like you said, in a dazed and confused situation, also one where your adrenaline may be skyrocketing, you don't want to put yourself in more danger. So my recommendation is the Benchmade Houdini Keychain tool (sorry about mentioning the competition lol). I have one on my keychain and have tested it on many windows...works every time. The seatbelt cutter works fine too. They have that keychain model that you just rip off (also its always in the same place and most likely will still be in arms reach in any accident). They also have a larger tool that has a rescue hook with the window punch. The 30100 is the keychain model and the 30200 is the larger one.

Ps when breaking window glass you want to target the corners, not the middle.

[jtoler_9]

The wife and I have a Triage in our cars. We feel confident with them in the car. It's a good thing to have and hopefully never need, which is much better than the alternative.

[JD Spydo]

I have been giving some thought to keeping a knife in my car dedicated to seatbelt cutting.

In a thread on hawkills I saw several reccommendations for a Harpy. Totally out of the question. If I'm in a dazed or confused condition after an accident it would be stupid to be fumbling around with something having a Harpy's sharp tip.

I thought the choice was between a Rescue and an Assist, but I saw a Byrd Cara Cara Rescue on Amazon for $22.

Would the Byrd be a good subsitute for the Spydercos? It would be kept in the car for a dedicated purpose.

Again I can't say enough about the ASSIST model for emergency type situations. The folder has a lot going for it in that you have a glassbreaker, Whistle for signaling in times of trouble and a very ridgid sheepsfoot blade. The grip factor is great on the handle of the ASSIST and with that Cobra Hood it can be deployed very rapidly.

Also that cobra hood gives you quicker access to the blade which I believe adds up to better overall control. Your point about the Harpy having a super sharp point is well taken>> which is why I suggested to Spyderco about looking into the possibility of a "Rescue type Hawkbill" which would have a rounded off tip for safer operation. I do believe that a fully serrated Hawkbill with a safety tip would get through a seatbelt at least twice as fast as a conventional blade would, Because to me a fully serrated Hawkbill has a lot more leverage for cutting because with the curvature of the blade it's always in a cutting mode. And that's something to consider in a hurried/emergency situation.

But until something like that hits the market I couldn't recommend a better emergency knife than Spyderco's ASSIST. Going out of Spyderco's product line the only other production folder I'm sort of impressed with is Timberline's Rescue folder.

Now if you did go the conventional folder route I would highly recommend one of the older stainless Mariner models, or the Stainless RESCUE model C-14 ( if you can find one) or Jason Breeden's new Spyderco RESCUE model.