Good knife/ window breaker combo

needler420

needler420

Joined
Apr 29, 2011
Messages
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Living in FL near the water I have worry of going into water with the car. On accident obviously. I do have a clean driving record.


I also heard a story about someone I work with. Fellow coworkers told me he watched his brother and mom drown only being able to retrieve one his mother who couldn't swim. They flipped a canoe on accident. Fishing line entangled the brother and recovery team had to get him.

Now that I'm talking to my x girlfriend again and her kids I think it's a good tool to have. Not just for me and my loved ones but for anyone in need. If I saw a bystander submerge their car and had this tool I would attempt rescue as I'm a good swimmer.

I can't depend on mechanisms in the car to work right. Not wanting to sit in a car with loved ones waiting for pressure relief to open doors. I need to be in control cut everyone out of seatbelt and bust Windows when I need.

I think a tool like this is good for me to edc.

If the knife is a auto otf it needs to be dependable enough to deploy in water.
 
It's not sexy, but a spring loaded punch with a strap cutter is what I carry for that, a resqme on my key chain. I usually have a small EDC in my coin pocket and a larger blade in the carpenter pocket of my shorts, but the seat belt could trap one and getting a bit wedged would get the other. The resqme is always with my car keys hanging off the ignition, brightly colored and easy to find. If it came to using it, given the effects of adrenaline and injury, I would feel safer waving it around my loved ones than any sort of "rescue" knife.
 
Kershaw Blur with a glass breaker.

Personally I keep a cheap smith and wesson border guard in my truck, just in case...
 
I'd have them separated too, but I've found the aluminum pommel on the Cold Steel AK47 a true demolishing beast

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from concrete to glass

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bending metal, denting wood, crushing plastics and fiberglass/ice

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is hard to beat, really tough, much like the knife itself.

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Strong G10 scales, absurdly reliable lock, thick knife and heavy beast made for hard jobs

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Take a look at the Boker Plus Tech Tool City 1 - a nice single blade slippy with a glass breaker tip. Really nice knife. That series also have several SAK like models, all with glass breaker tips.
Rich
 
Take a look at Microtech ultratechs... slim, has glass breaker (newer version is less pointy and has a ball bearing), multiple blade configurations. They're always floating around on the exchange and can be had for under $200. I carry one daily.
 
a window breaker will be pointless if you are swimming. you'd need a self activating punch, underwater you won't get enough swing to break a window. Equating a car wreck to a canoe when the people involved were not prepared is not an even argument, so I'd put it out of your mind. The reality is, you are better off calling it in, and having a clear view of whats going on. Even as an excellent swimmer, the best you will be able to do is hope they got their seat belts off, and that you can guide them to the surface once you open the door. If you are not a lifeguard, you'll likely just add yourself to the body count.

Not to be terse, but this thread comes up every few months, and the honest truth is there are almost no knives with a worthwhile blade and windowbreaker (spyderco assist is one) I've yet to meet a paramedic or fireman who actually cut a seatbelt or broke a window on scene, apart from punching windows to rescue kids, or dogs from hot cars.

I don't want to harsh your party, but I also don't want anyone to think a tool is going to do what they want it to in this situation.
 
+1 for the Res-Q-Me. Got one tied tight around my stick shift so it will be there in an emergency no matter what.
 
A large size automatic center punch. It requires NO swinging ,which would be hard if you are under water. Don't try the windshield as they are made as structural elements ! Side windows , lower corners only.
 
ThePeacent said:
I'd have them separated too, but I've found the aluminum pommel on the Cold Steel AK47 a true demolishing beast
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I see no sharp corners on that pommel, which would make it nearly impossible to break a window with it while underwater, the tempered glass of car windows can survive direct hits from hammers without breaking so a pommel of a knife won't do much of anything especially confined in a car and potentially underwater.

I have a res-q-me tool that has a spring-loaded carbide glass breaker specifically designed so a swing isn't needed and it is pointy enough to easily break that tempered glass. Anything dull enough to be on the back of a folding knife without harming the carrier while in the pocket is not very likely to be useful for breaking glass. Benchmade's Triage and Contego have tiny sharp glass-breakers on them that *might* work well, but those are also uncomfortable to have in your pocket because your hand gets stabbed a lot if you aren't careful.
 
BitingSarcasm said:
It's not sexy, but a spring loaded punch with a strap cutter is what I carry for that, a resqme on my key chain. I usually have a small EDC in my coin pocket and a larger blade in the carpenter pocket of my shorts, but the seat belt could trap one and getting a bit wedged would get the other. The resqme is always with my car keys hanging off the ignition, brightly colored and easy to find. If it came to using it, given the effects of adrenaline and injury, I would feel safer waving it around my loved ones than any sort of "rescue" knife.
Click to expand...

^--- This right here. Wife and I both have a ResQme on the keychain so you can reach it after a crash. And, if you're badly injured all you have to do is put the ResQme against the window and lean with your weight.
 
I got one of these at a gas station. Simple but effective. Tried it out at a junkyard.

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I strapped it on the back of the sun visor. I tend to agree with what has been said about operating a blade under such a stress as being suddenly seated in my car underwater, maybe upside down and injured. We are all rather good swimmers (besides the little one) but I fear this scenario: my car underwater with all the family on board. Hard to think being able to save everyone. I guess I maybe have a chance with myself and another one but rescue all the five of us… sure I will never give up trying to but likely I will end up drowned too.

Some years ago (I think 2010) two German tourists died drowned while disembarking with their car in Genova, from a ferry-boat, on the way back from Sardinia. It was human error, the propellers started and the ferry moved with the ramp out, while cars were disembarking but when I recall this accident, I am still very uncomfortable, since that is a route we do every summer. Well, really hope this will never be the case.
 
The benchmade 915 Triage is the obvious choice. A purpose built rescue knife. Has a main blade in a variety of configurations (Blunt tip, chisel tip, serrated, non serrated) a glass breaker and a seatbelt cutter.

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gadgetgeek said:
a window breaker will be pointless if you are swimming. you'd need a self activating punch, underwater you won't get enough swing to break a window. Equating a car wreck to a canoe when the people involved were not prepared is not an even argument, so I'd put it out of your mind. The reality is, you are better off calling it in, and having a clear view of whats going on. Even as an excellent swimmer, the best you will be able to do is hope they got their seat belts off, and that you can guide them to the surface once you open the door. If you are not a lifeguard, you'll likely just add yourself to the body count.

Not to be terse, but this thread comes up every few months, and the honest truth is there are almost no knives with a worthwhile blade and windowbreaker (spyderco assist is one) I've yet to meet a paramedic or fireman who actually cut a seatbelt or broke a window on scene, apart from punching windows to rescue kids, or dogs from hot cars.

I don't want to harsh your party, but I also don't want anyone to think a tool is going to do what they want it to in this situation.
Click to expand...

Dont know what you are trying to convey and how it is relevant to what the OP was saying. Are you saying a knife with a glass breaker is equal to none for someone who is trapped in a car deep in the water with all windows closed? The guy should just sit tight and wait for a 911 rescue team coming?
 
I was going to try out for lifeguard in Fort Lauderdale beach and still might. I'm a above average swimmer. I also have pondered the physics of using a glass breaker while submerged in water. This part of the tool is really the most important to me. Any decent blade will cut through seatbelts. It's still needs to be decent enough to cut through multiple effortlessly.

Treading in water I could easily support someone's buoyancy so long as their within a weight range of mine as I'm not fully supporting their weight. Someone who is 300 pounds and no swimming experience to the point they are dead weight in the water can be a problem as they can put you in danger.

I also realize it's a no guarantee situation but at least try. My friend fellow coworker is a very fit agile person. He's like me probably as capable as the official rescue responders. It was hard hearing that about someone you work with everyday.

If I'm out and about driving and see another vehicle go into water I'd like to respond to that not call for someone else to do the job knowingly not doing nothing when you might make a difference. Wouldn't sleep good.
 
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Sorry but the aluminum on the AK47 will mushroom once you hit the glass. You might get lucky and break it but unlikely. I only use carbide, I've seen a ton of "hardened" steel breakers deformed on Windows.
 
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