Why you should always carry a pocket knife!

Story on CNN about a customer who came to the aid of an attendant who's scarf got snagged in a car-wash and nearly choked her to death.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/02/11/tanner.car.wash.rescue.WSHM-LP

Not pictured: subsequent arrest and tazering.

That's a great story.

Thanks for the link!

The guy is a hero, even more so for not jumping into the limelight of the story. My faith in humanity went up a notch.

Thanks for posting this.

I had something similar happen to me a few years ago. I was in my watering hole chatting to a good mate (who happened to be the door man) and eyeballing a rather good looking young lady. A tall natural red head no less. Who happen to have a thing about wearing silk scarves. There was a fashion for wearing them wrapped around the throat and trailing down the back. Not a good idea, but........

Anyway, there was a certain gentleman who had inhibed a little too much of the good stuff. He decides, in the way of the sozzled, that her scarf is absolutely fascinating. So he decides grab hold of both ends of her scarf and starts pulling.

I take one look. Conclude that there is an excellent chance that this young lady is in imminent danger of a most untimely death. Either from strangulation due to a crushed larynx or from a broken neck.

So I severed the scarf. Right in front of his knuckles.

I've had a knife in my pocket or in a sheath on my side be useful at many times when having it there saved what was a potentially hazardous situation. I had a bosun on a ship who seemed to not be a big fan of me, until the one time we were next to each other and a line got jammed. While he asked for a knife, I was cutting before he could finish his sentence. He shortly thereafter bought a Mora to carry.

A knife is a tool that can be used as a weapon, not a weapon that can be used as a tool. Knives are some of the original tools made by early man, and woman.

Great to read of this guy taking action, loved that it seems to have happened in NY, and it's so much better that he is not seeking attention.

"So I severed the scarf. Right in front of his knuckles."

LOVE IT!

Sue

A real man would have severed the knuckles.

I always carry a Smith & Wesson Homeland Security titanium folder in my right front pocket, clip outside the pocket. Everyone I know, knows I carry it, so they always come to me when they need to borrow a knife. And it never fails, everyone who uses it always says it's the sharpest knife they've ever seen.

I also carry a Leatherman in a pouch on the back of my belt. Years ago, I watched a Navy Lieutenant get his tie caught in an industrial monster-sized paper shredder. A quick slice saved his bacon. Then the bonehead got mad about his tie being cut off.

I'll take ruined tie over dragged into a shredder any day.

"Never trust the Navy, in any way, shape, or form!" Coasties and Marines know this!!!

"Then the bonehead got mad about his tie being cut off."

Did you buy him a new one?

Our fearless leader Chris once said something about using his fixed blade to cut horses loose when they get stuck - or something like that.

I really wish fixed blades were more - ah - socially acceptable. Even my mini Rittergrip gets comments all too often. I don't worry about it too much, but I KNOW that wearing a fixed blade to my typical engineering/office cube-packed work place would quickly lead to a call from HR.

This morning, on Fox News, they said they are having survivor week. They had a story of a mom who slid her van/SUV into a pond with two kids in the back. She said her first thought was not to hit sideways and flip - they she'd rather go in upright. The photo they showed had the water up to the roofline.

Next she said that she focused on getting the power windows open. She got the gids out (one a baby & the other maybe 4 years old), - carrying both of them - swam to the shore (she'd worked as a life guard), climbed out on the muddy bank, and walked about 1/10 mile to a nearby home.

Whew!

A friend who goes offroading with us has a USMC Ka-bar mounted to his roll cage within easy reach. I asked him about it one day and he said he had trouble getting his seat belt off once when he had a small engine fire in his rig. He said he was making sure that never happened again.

I haven't had to try it, but I know my folder should have zero problems slicing through a seatbelt.