Hi. After reading some stuff from Professor Popsicle (thanks Andrew_S, very interesting):

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2008/02/07/giesbrecht-cars.html

Where do you find a keychain size center punch / seatbelt cutter like this? Have you ever tried them?

Thanks
Frankie

Okay, I managed to read the text on the picture. It's a ResQMe tool:



Thanks anyway. Have you ever tried it?

http://www.resqme.com/

I have not personally tried them, so I cannot give a review.

It's called a Res-Q-Me I have one in my truck and one in the suv. I tried the seat belt cutter and it works as advertised, I also tried the window punch and it too worked as advertised. You can purchase them on EBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Res-Q-Me-Firefighter...p3286.m20.l1116

I have one of these:
SwissTech 5-in-1 Rescue Tool

I haven't used it to escape, or rescue anyone, but I have used it to put stars in a plastic CD case; looks like it would shatter auto glass. I haven't messed with the cutter because I don't want to dull it. I have the split ring attached to my sun visor. It is pretty secure, but comes off (freeing the seatbelt blade) with a good tug.

I think it was $15 or 20 at BJs. I have seen them in Walmart and Target as well.

Would it work in the water?

My wife & I each carry one on our vehicle keychains. I've been thinking about putting on on my tractor keychain - just in case it flips and I want to "undo" my seatbelt while hanging.

I would think it will work in water just fine, though the spring and release mechanism of the punch might corrode if immersed in water (I would think it's enclosed components wouldn't dry once wet).

Ken

I tried the resqme on some scrap cars during training at the firedepartment. The center-punch works well, but don't be too gentle on it. The first time we tried it, we gentle put it on the glass and slowly pushed it against the glass. The punch was activated, but nothing happend. The other attemts whith a short swinging motion turned the glasses in to pieces, easily.

Seatbelt cutter works well to, but do not use it on a 90 degree angle. In a 90 degree angle it refuced to cut the seatbelt. The way the webbing is made, makes it really hard to cut at that angle. It did work like a charm on a 45 degree.

I wear mine on mine belt, on the d ring of mine flashlight holster. Easier to access and mine keychain was already kind of full. I do recommend a lifehammer installed in cars, since they are bigger, has no springs system to fail, easier to spot and harder to loose. I can easily imagine the resqme to be lost/dropped, due to it's small size. The resqme is handy when you don't own a car, like me. Can't put a lifehammer in every car i borrow or rent...

Your post hit a nerve for me...I'll leave it that, however I will relay a bit of an incident that I was involved in that is eerily similar to your post.

The very last call I went on when I was a firefighter was this exact scenario. A farmer flipped his tractor over the side of a dirt path on his property.. The ROPS on the tractor initially saved his life but he was not able to get the seatbelt undone and was left hanging upside down. His daughter found him about almost 2 hours later and we were dispatched, however it was too late to save him despite our best attempts. We noted there was a lot of blood and cuts and torn nails on his fingers and shirt, our chief told us that these were caused by the man clawing at the seatbelt in an attempt to free himself...

I recall that in our discussions afterwards, the same mention of having a seatbelt cutter available to him could of possibly saved the man's life.

I have never seen one with the window punch.
I have seen people, usually equipment operators, with snip-its on key chains or stuck by the magnet to something where they can reach it easily.

These are snip-its
http://www.tangiblesltd.com/snippit.htm

these are super snip-its
http://www.tangiblesltd.com/supsnippit.htm

Quite a few of the knife makers are including window punches on the end of knife handles now too.

The Gerber Hinderer Rescue is another option. Glass breaker, one-handed opener, seatbelt tool swings away, O2 wrench, and the tip of the blade is a prybar.

equipped.org review here:

http://www.equipped.org/hinderer_rescue.htm

pics here:

http://www.equipped.org/pp/pic1676.htm

BTW, the knife's profile is so flat, I can even carry this when wearing a suit.

I like the RESQME tool, I carry one on my steering column, held in place by a velcro strap. My local PD carries them on the car keys.

The wife carries a ResQme on her keychain. One of the only preparedness items she has ever asked for on her own. She also wants a life hammer for the vehicles, so as soon as we have the money I'm gonna buy a pair and install them.

-Bill Liptak

I keep the strap cutter from my LMF2 strapped to my seat belt. I couldn't come up with a better place than that where I was sure I could reach it trapped upside down.

I was sitting in my truck the other day, waiting on someone for almost an hour, contemplating where I could attach my Smith & Wesson Rescue Knife so that it would be within reach if needed. I hadn't considered placing it on the seatbelt but I will now. Thanks for the idea.

I also keep a ResQMe in one of the truck's cubby holes.

"I also keep a ResQMe in one of the truck's cubby holes."

Consider where it will end up if there is an accident. If it's not in someplace with a cover, you may never be able to locate it after a wreck -- especially a roll-over.

I don't see why it wouldn't work just as well under water as above, same principal right? Next chance I get I'll run my truck into a lake and try it, if I don't get back to ya, go ahead and figure it didn't work.....lol sorry had to say that. I don't think you go wrong with one.

Yeah, it's in a covered compartment but I am not confident that the cover will stay closed in a crash. That's why I am looking at attachment options for the larger tool.

I don't consider 'clipped to the visor' to be a very good place for emergency gear. Several years ago I have a garage door opener that was very tightly clipped to the visor and when we got rear ended in an accident, it flew off with enough force to cut the rear seat passenger across the head requiring over a dozen stitches.

It's possible the water would soften the blow just enough to make it ineffective. I'd like to know if it would or wouldn't though.

Here's a YouTube video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMHHYl4kyaY

Pretty much answers the question....will it work under water.

Brigade Quartermasters sells the ResQme tool for 10.99+ shipping


http://www.brigadeqm.com/cgi-bin/tame.ex...ore/level3c.tam

If you cut and paste this link it takes you to their website and the tool

According to the video on the ResQMe site, they work under water.

In my case the split ring is sround the metal support arm for the visor; I don't think it's going anyplace. I may have to dodge the garage door opener that's up there, tho'.

My work rig doesn't have a ResQMe tool, it has another kind, in the shape of an orange two-headed hammer. The head is weighted, and there are heavy pointed pieces of metal on each end of the head. There is a seatbelt cutter in the handle. They recently moved it from the dash to the ceiling in the middle of the SUV, so anyone in the front or center seat can reach it, and from the back seat by reaching forward.

But this kind requires a swinging motion, and I wonder how it would work under water. The advantage that see in the ResQMe design is the forward-thrust motion, which would seem to take less room. Has anyone ever tried one of these under water?

Sue

I bought one for my son for his Fire Academy graduation after I read the ETS review. He has had an opportunity to use the punch and the web cutter. He said both worked flawlessly.

You might consider mounting the ResQMe to your seat frame up front, under your legs. A nice big carabiner can attach to the seat, and a metal cable with loops on both ends, then a smaller carabiner with the ResQMe on it. Should stay put in most crashes, and you can just reach down and retrieve it.

Or up to reach it.
So long as it does not get trapped under the seat.

[/quote]We noted there was a lot of blood and cuts and torn nails on his fingers and shirt, our chief told us that these were caused by the man clawing at the seatbelt in an attempt to free himself...

I recall that in our discussions afterwards, the same mention of having a seatbelt cutter available to him could of possibly saved the man's life. [/quote]

Wow, that's rough. I honestly don't know how you guys do that sort of work without going mad.

It's unusual that a farmer wouldn't have a knife in his pocket. Even if he did, he might not have been able to get to it, or might have been too incapacitated by the rollover to think clearly.

FWIW, if this farmer was like most farmers I know, he'd rather go with his boots on than in a hospital with tubes everywhere.

Just a few points to consider:

Note that it is not always easy to reach the floor if you are belted in.
Your harness cutter needs to be reachable with either hand while in harness upside right or upside down.

This is one of the problems with knives.
Knives are usually in a pocket and often they are unreachable if a person is stuck in a harness or injured on one side. Being upside down makes it even worse.

This is also a problem with hanging tools on a keyring.
If the keys are in the ignition of a normal car or truck they are pretty much only in reach of your right hand.
If you are upside down and half resting against the roof they might be out of reach of your right hand too.
and nothing guarantees your right hand is working.

If You want to know where to locate a harness cutter for You then get into Your car, belt up and see where you can reach easy with both hands.
Then try to imagine being upside down and where you can still reach.
Some people get a more than one and put them more than one location.