I had a right one today. One of the trucks in the warehouse decided to catch fire. The Senior Supervisor decided to try and put it out with a CO2 extinguisher. With the rest of the shift looking on. So far, so good. Problem: The pin is held in place by a "breakable" plastic security cable tidy. No it ain't. Poor sod is trying to get this thing out. No chance. He simply cannot get enough purchase on this thing to break it. I took one look at this situation. Looked at him and said one word. "Fingers!" as get them out of the way or loose them. Drew my lock knife. Cut through the cable. Grabbed the extinguisher off him. 10 seconds later the fire is out. Moral of the story is: I carry a knife for a reason....

Great example! As a Minimum Housing Inspector I find that the breakable seals are sometimes replaced with nylon cable ties, by the tenants! ! It's almost funny to see the looks on their faces when I ask them to pull the pin and they are unable to do so. Sad really.

"Fingers!' LOL You gave him fair warning <img src="/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Instead of pulling the safety pin straight out, twist it 'till the seal breaks. Works every time, even with electrical ty-wraps... but it may take 2-3 full lap turns to break those.

In highly corrosive atmospheres,(beach, Marine use, clorine storage, acid bath) pins need to be replaced constantly.
Even using stainless steel pins does't solve the problem,since the pull pin slot in aluminum valve heads also corrode.

The joke is that they keep on demanding that I use a craft knife at work. The blade on a C.N. would have snapped. They keep on saying use this..., I keep on saying " what part of NO do you not understand?" Think my point has just been taken.

Our new boss hasn't said a word about knives. His first day on the job, the shop Manager & I were using throwing knives to play darts... <img src="/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> "I 'll come back later"

The shop manager grew up in the Bronx, never leaves the house with less than 3 knives. He MAKES us carry knives!

We had a 19-year old kid we hired, didn't even own a knife.
"My Mom won't let me have one"
"It's for work, you have to have one"
"I'll have to ask my Mom"...calls her up.." My Mom want's to talk to you"
"No M'am, it's just a small one, he'll be fine...no, we won't let him play with it"
"OK kid, you got permission for a knife"
"YES! FINALLY ..WOHOOO!" ,he says.
"What were you going to do if you ever got held up,without a knife? How were going to fight back?"
"My Mom says just give them everything, don't resist.."

How's that for dumb & helpless?

How does that go now, the one about bringing a knife to a gun fight?
Right, whip out your pocket knife and then open it during a hold-up. I'm sure the gentleman holding the gun will even give you first swipe to prove he fights fair.

"There is nothing so frightening as ignorance in action."

Depends on the guy behind it. I had three gentlemen of the Indian/Pakistani persuasion try conclusions with me outside the Quickfit Centre in Slough. On of them shoved a gun in my face. Look on his face when I went for his throat was worth seeing. Not sure what had pissed me off the most. His crap choice of victim or the fact that I was being threatened by an amateur. Wound up with me chaising them down the street. It's amazing how fast those buggers can run....

"My Mom says just give them everything, don't resist.."

And then after you have given them everything and they know you won't resist they will cut you anyway to show they mean business when they say "don't tell the police"

The "don't resist" crowd is why crime is so high

Ah, you noticed that little detail did you? The way I see these sort of situation is that if you think your going to be killed or cut anyway, an all out attack is probably your only real option. You never know, you might succeeded in taking one or more of the bastards with you. As it happen, I was in part thinking about the fact that if I ran away & was gunned down, you can guarentee that some [censored] is going to walk up to my parents and taunt them about their son's "cowardance". Hell will freeze over first. I for one would rather die fighting and wind up drinking mead in Odin's hall (Valhalla) than spend the rest of eternity in Nifeheim with the cowards.

Just out of interest, did it have to be sharp? Would a small pry-bar or a PryBaby have been enough to break the cable?