Hi, all. I just bought a few Res-Q-Me seat belt cutter/window breakers for my various bags. While paging through the catalog, I also saw other tools that might make a good addition to your gear bags. One was a 'Res-Q-Rench' and the other was a 'Biel Tool.' Does anyone have one of these tools and, if so, what do you think of them? The Res-Q-Rench was only $20, and it has a spanner wrench, a gas shutoff slot, glass break point, seatbelt cutter, and a pry tool. The Biel Tool was $114, but it certainly looks sturdy! A mini ax with attitude. Do ya'all think they'd be worthwhile?? - Dave

Both are handy tools - the Biel tool is quite good.

For $150.00, the Biel is expensive, too.

-- Craig

Dude, a big halligan bar is $300.
The biel is cheap.

Though I like the Biel Tool (It looks like it could come in handy), I'm holding out for the 'Jessica Biel' model. I'll bet it'll be a real cutie too!! <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

See!, I started thinking/dreaming/etc. about the other Biel and forgot what I wanted to post! <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />
Anyway, I like the Biel Tool, but have to think of it's cost and weight (6.6 lbs.) The Res-Q-Rench is made of "High-Strengh Nylon" and weighs only 5 ounces. It has a gas shutoff slot, window breaker, seat belt cutter and prybar, and all for $20. That sounds pretty cool.

Not after paying my school taxes, it isn't. <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

-- Craig

I like the good old 20-36" crow bar, a pair of work gloves and safety goggles. Simple, inexpensive and quite effective.

TRO

I'm sure they are better tools out there, but the Res-Q-Rench would at least be there if and when you need it, being a whole lot easier to carry in your briefcase than a 3' crowbar.

Don't forget the Titanium Claw Bar... It's only 8 oz. :-)

-john

Remember -- basic tools are cheap and plentiful before the disaster event and afterward, nearly impossible to find.

A minimum tool kit with an emphasis on rescue and short-term repair is a good investment. Plus you can use it around the house!

I keep a 30" Halligan bar with the metal ripping end in the trunk of my car. Get a lot of heat for it. A bit extreme, but a heck of a tool.
HEAVY TOO!!!

I've got one too, and when my truck was broken into, it was too heavy for them to take.

If you paid as much for yours as I did for mine, you saved some money by having them leave it behind.

I like these tools. My primary focus is here is making safe after a motor vehicle accident. Spilled fuel, car horn blaring, I want to access the vehicle battery fast to disconnect the terminals. I need to pry the hood as it is jammed, out of shape. Is the titanium claw bar strong enough ? Will the titanium conduct electricity if I accidentally touch both contacts?

I figure with both the Res-Q-Me & the Claw Bar I have a good/very portable kit.

I am a firefighter who owns a Res-Q-Rench. It is a fair tool that is primarily a collapsable spanner wrench,for use with firehose, at which it does an acceptabe job. It does NOT fit all sizes of gas meter shut off valves(personal experience on the fireground). Trama sheers or a good kinfe will cut any webbing. If you use the glass break point, wear leather gloves as the force required to break tempered glass will cause your hand to follow the tool through the opening you just made and be cut by glass particles(personal experience) Do NOT use it on plate glass, as it shatters in spear like shards that can cause severe lacerations. I prefer a spring loaded center punch for tempered glass and a fire ax for plate glass. If you break plate glass use the tool at the top of the glass with the handle above the head, otherwise the glass shards will slide down the handle and give you a nasty laceration(s) on the fingures and hand/arm.

The Biel Tool, aka Pry-Ax, is a good personal tool that some firefighters carry all the time. It is very versitle. I learned to use it in vehicle extrication training in the 80's. It is not a bad tool to have around.

Go for the Biel Tool and leave the Res-Q-Rench, unless you are a firefighter.

If I can only have one tool on the fireground, the Halogan tool is the one I want. It is very versitle and I carry it along with a flat head ax in my vehicle at all time.

In general, titanium is very strong for it's weight. It does conduct electricity.

-john

Thanks for the advice on breaking different kinds of glass windows, trooper366. Good stuff to keep in mind.

Reminds me of an episode of MythBusters on the Discovery Channel where they tested the myth of someone jumping through a plate glass window to make a quick escape unharmed.

They threw their trusty crash test dummy through the thicker plate glass typically used in store fronts (as opposed to the thinner glass found in household windows) and they determined that the dummy suffered life threating lacerations from the glass fragments. The worst one was through the carotid or jugular in the neck, if I remember correctly. Ouch! <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" />

In the movies, sometimes you see the guy throwing the chair through the window first and then jumping out the window. Seems like a better way to escape. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Now, if I could only make some time in my schedule to practice jumping off an overpass and onto the top of a passing truck... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Thats a good one

You have to get the timing right. Otherwise you land in front of the truck and become a greasy spot.

Yup, timing. That's why, in that UPS TV commercial, the girl checks her watch before blindly falling backwards off the building and onto the top of the passing UPS truck--right on schedule. Oh, wait...I think I hear the UPS truck coming down the street. Gotta go, I have a roof to catch! <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

If you land behind, you become a speedbump. <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Jim

Well, I did some research on the Biel tool and found there was a bit more room in the trunk of my car, so I added it.
Appears to be a VERY solid device. The idea of the extended handle being used to help in a prying situation made it a "must have" for me.

A few years back at an accident scene on the 405, the FD's pry bar was too thick to get into a door seam, so I pulled a 30" crow bar from the trunk of my car and it did the job. It then took me about 10 minutes to convince a fireman that it was mine and did not belong to the FD. I guess I should put my name on the Biel tool and Haligan bar.

I'm trying to imagine doing this. The top of my window is over my head, and it's a non-opening plate glass with some sun-blocking film. I have a Biehl tool, so I hit the window at the top, but I hold the tool so that the handle is above the head? I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get a good enough swing to break through. Am I confused on the directions?

I assume I hit at the top of the window to minimize the cascade of broken glass? And I just keep working my way down till the glass is gone all the way down, while minimizing the amount that falls on me?

"It then took me about 10 minutes to convince a fireman that it was mine and did not belong to the FD."

After my friend's husband died, she had a quart of bright pink paint mixed up. Then she dipped the handles of all the tools in it.

Does any man who borrows a tool think it's his? Noooooo....! <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Sue

Uh, thanks.
But I will pass on that one.........