I was watching Fox & Friends on the Fox News Channel this morning (Sunday, June 5, 2016). They were "tickling" an upcoming segment on breaking a car window to rescue a child or dog from a hot car.

In the quick "tickle" two representatives with SafeLite shirts tried to demonstrate breaking the side driver window with a red plastic hammer style window breaker (no mention of the brand). The first man gave the window two whacks with no luck. On the third try the head of the rescue hammer broke apart - it looked like the metal insert just broke off and fell to the ground. So a second man steps up with a second simlar rescue hammer and he tries again. On the first hit it also looked like the metal insert broke off and fell to the ground. The tickle ended with both men smiling sheepishly.

When it came time for the actual segment a woman displayed a key fob style window breaker and said it was a Resqme. She recommended applying it near one of the four corners of the driver window, saying it is the weakest part of the glass. Just one push of the Resqme and the window shattered. After that the host tried it again with the rear driver side window. One push and the window shattered.

I used to carry a hammer style tool in my truck, but a while back I switched to a Resque me fob on my key chain thinking it was easier access in a panic. I also added Resqmes to the key fobs carried by my wife, and both adult children (and have it on my tractor to cut the seat belt in case of rollover).

Those carrying hammer style window breakers may be well off to smack them hard onto a bit of scrap wood a few times - just to make sure that they'll stay together when called to use.

Ken K.

Excellent post. Thanks for the info.

Good idea to test you gear.

Rescue gear is like any gear, buy good quality ones.

The cheap things are like well... cheap.

Failure is not just with hammers, also the sprongloaded ones can fail. I had a resqme where the spring got loose and stopped working.

I test our cars' resqme on newspaper or old magazines twice a year to avoid having it fail at the worst possible time.

And, yes. You get what you pay for. Tempered glass is surprisingly tough.

With those hammers a whack is often a mistake. When the insert hits the window in the right angle, a flick from the wrist is enough to break tempered glass.
I still prefer the Resqme for the smaller package and option to easily carry it.

Both have pro and con's.

- A propper hammer doesn't have moving parts that can break (although the cheap ones with crappy handles do break).
- Big handle is a pro when grabbing and holding it. Especially important when your hands are shaky.
- Easier to see due to size.
- Very hard to swing when under water.

- Centerpunch tools can have spring failure.
- Works way beter underwater, as water resistance is.
- The small ones can be hard to handle under stress.
- Sometimes less obvious on what it is and what to do with it. Both in identifying what it is and how to use it. People have asked me what that things was... I also saw a person hitting the glass with the back side of a resqme...

I go excessive and have 3 different options near the drivers seat...

The keychain sized ones tend to have reliability problems. Probably from plastic guts. But, the hardware store variety are, IME, very reliable. They also hit a lot harder.

The ne'r-do-wells in the UK just use an old spark plug with the earth electrode broken off!

The reason to hit the glass in the corner is that it is better supported and thus more rigid. The middle of the pane is springy and absorbs most of the shock.