I used to carry a bottle of water, but I wanted something that could take the heat in my car and I wouldn't have to change it all the time.

I also keep bottled water in the car, covered to keep it cool. And I have emergency pouch water that can handle the heat (I keep it covered also).

I travel in the mountains a lot, so I like to have water up front with me. I have heard too many horror stories of people driving over cliffs and spending days in the car trapped with no food or water, or surviving on very little.

I need to get one of those tools that DR recommends, like the Res-Q-me. But I haven't been able to find them locally. My leatherman might be able to cut a seat belt, but I am not sure. I figure between the tools I do have, I should be able to get it cut!

Joy

I never tired it but I hear EMT shears can cut through a seat belt.

Jeanette Isabelle

On my car , I have a side pocket on the door, I keep a fixed blade knife clipped to that and I have a bag of cashews tucked in there too and 2 bottles of water in my center console. If i'm thirsty enough, I won't mind if its not cold.

And I'll meet you at the border with ice cold Shiner Bock!

Um, unless you enter through the western border. That's over twelve hours away.

-Blast

You got it! Just don't bring any Lone Star, I have had that before, and was less then impressed. Might be a couple of years tho...

"...My leatherman might be able to cut a seat belt, but I am not sure..."

Depends on the model. If it has a serrated blade, it will zip thru a seat belt, but be careful not to cut yourself. If only a straight blade, it will depend on how sharp it is. And again, be careful...

"...I hear EMT shears can cut through a seat belt..."

They will. Not as fast as a good serrated blade, but they will make it thru. Been there, done that...

RE: local sources.

As someone with very few good local sources for stuff... Amazon.com . I load things like the ResQme, heat sheets, mirrors, whistles, etc in my hold shopping cart, and whenever I need something to exceed the $25 free shipping limit, I move something from the hold area to the buy it area.

A problem with the ResQme device, it is about to drive me crazy not being able to test it on something! At least with the hammer-type device in my door pocket, I'm sure I can break a glass.

-Tommy

My husband bought me the Juice Xe6 when he saw that I was interested in having my own Leatherman. It has 2 knife blades, one a straight edge and one serrated. And it has a saw. I hope that between the 3, I should be able to cut through a seat belt. http://www.leatherman.com/products/tools/xe6/default.asp

Tommy, thank you for the great tip! I will look into adding a Res-Q-me to an Amazon list. I think my husband has one. I usually buy my stuff from REI, but they don't carry the Res-Q-me.

As for trying it out, I wonder if you could stop at a wrecked car dealer to buy a cheap used seat belt to experiment on. My ex-husband used to go to these places all the time to get parts for his cars. I would often tag along and wander around. I told this to my current husband and he has since bought a few things from wrecked car lots too. Just a thought. Let me know if it works?

Joy

Thank you OBG, I will try to remember to be careful if I ever have to cut a seat belt! Most likely I will never have to.

Joy