Emergency Vehicle Escape

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mwalle6

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Apr 11, 2010
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I am looking for an escape tool to keep in my wife's car. Anyone have one they like? I have been considering the Benchmade Houdini and the Lifehammer.
 
The Houdini might work since the punch is spring loaded. I read a test in some auto magazine a few years ago where they went to a auto junk yard to try and break windows in cars.

The little hammer types didn't work at all since you couldn't swing with enough force inside a car. The seat belt cutters didn't really do anything either.

Chad
 
I carry the Benchmade seat belt cutter ,#7 and a large auto center punch. There's a lot more on the market now. The hammer types I don't think are a good idea as some don'tn have the strength to swing or are in a situation where they can't such as under water !
 
I always have to remind people when it comes to tools to keep in the passenger compartment of a car that any object in your car which is not securely bolted down (no Velcro or double-sided tape) will become airborne in an accident. That "Life Hammer" could be your death if it hit you in the head

In an accident, the forces can be quite violent. The glove box, the arm rest, the map pockets, will all come open and spill their contents into the air around you.

I know, you're a good driver so you don't have to worry about this. Well, the majority of drivers who get into accidents are good drivers... and victims of the bad drivers. Your good driving can't protect you from all the bad drivers out there all the time.

So, Gollnick's rule: if you wouldn't want to get hit in the head with it, either bolt it down or put it in the trunk. The Life Hammer (or similar device) won't do you any good in the trunk, so you will have to properly mount your tool so that it is secure but accessible. Just putting it into the center console will not work.
 
A normal spring loaded center punch works well for glass. Much cheaper too. Any shrouded razor knife will cut a seat belt. You can buy multiples of each for what one of the dedicated hammers or cutters cost.
 
Get the ResQMe and attach it to your car keys. As Gollnick says, you don't want a lot of junk lying around loose that you won't be able to find after the crash.
 
Gollnick said:
I always have to remind people when it comes to tools to keep in the passenger compartment of a car that any object in your car which is not securely bolted down (no Velcro or double-sided tape) will become airborne in an accident. That "Life Hammer" could be your death if it hit you in the head

In an accident, the forces can be quite violent. The glove box, the arm rest, the map pockets, will all come open and spill their contents into the air around you.

I know, you're a good driver so you don't have to worry about this. Well, the majority of drivers who get into accidents are good drivers... and victims of the bad drivers. Your good driving can't protect you from all the bad drivers out there all the time.

So, Gollnick's rule: if you wouldn't want to get hit in the head with it, either bolt it down or put it in the trunk. The Life Hammer (or similar device) won't do you any good in the trunk, so you will have to properly mount your tool so that it is secure but accessible. Just putting it into the center console will not work.
Click to expand...

This subject has come up countless times in the past and I was once a believer in keepin' knives and such, placed strategically about the vehicle, then I hit a tree at 45 mph, everthing in the back wound up in the front with me, I was lucky all I got was a broken thumb.

Although a small tool box tha was in the back did wind up in the windshield, luckily it was on the passenger side and I had no passenger.

I have a automatic center punch held in the glove box by heavy duty velcro which is screwed into a steel support in the dash and it's long enough to wrap it around the punch to secure it, it won't come loose unless you unwrap the velcro.

Because of Gollnick and an accident, I'm a convert, listen to him, he's right.
 
ChadHahn said:
The little hammer types didn't work at all since you couldn't swing with enough force inside a car.
Click to expand...

I used a ball peen to bust out a back window of a Dodge Dart after the driver lost control around a curve and we ended up sliding on the roof for about 100 ft and the doors wouldn't open and I smelled petrol.

It can be done, but I wouldn't expect a wee girl to be able to do it with an orange plastic hammer with a point on the end.
 
I like to use a short length of cable with a carabiner on each end. One carabiner goes on one of the seat mounting brackets, the other on my ResQMe. I hope that's sturdy enough in a collision/accident.
 
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