Knifes for firefighting? Kershaw?

J

Jerb

Joined
Jul 14, 2006
Messages
12
Both me and my father are firefighters. due to our location we Get many MVA's. and ever since I got my kershaw leek I got to thinking "A good firefighting knife would be very handy"

now what5 seems to be the "perfect" knife for this task is the Blur rescue series:

it has a blunted tip (this is one of the most important feature!) si we wont nick the patients

it has a glass breaking stud (very handy!)

it looks big (so it can be used in gloves?)

asissted opening (not needed but handy)

serrated edge!!!! (needed to cut rope, weatherstipping, and seatbelts)

440A steel (while not the best for keeping the edge its not going to rust on me)


the only con of this (and its a big one) is that its a liner lock :grumpy: . this knife needs to stay open once opened until i want it to close, I CANT have the knife fail in the field, it could result in the death of the patient or even worse, the blade cutting me and exposing me to the blood on scene.


kershaw knife seems to be suited perfectly for this task except for the liner lock. do they (or any other company) offer a suitable alternative without the linerlock?
 
I have no clue here as most Fire Departments & EMT's are only allowed to carry what is issued to them..better check the Reg's first!
 
pogo said:
I have no clue here as most Fire Departments & EMT's are only allowed to carry what is issued to them..better check the Reg's first!
Click to expand...
Almost all of the fire/EMT folks around here carry what they want. Whether that's against regs or not, I don't know...


Oh, and I've never seen a liner lock fail. I know that some people here have done extreme tests to make that happen, but I wouldn't consider a liner lock to be unreliable.
 
The only ones I'm familiar with are the Spyderco Assist knives.

Purpose designed for such tasks.

No assisted opening, though.
 
Spyderco Remote Release clipped to turnout coat. Spyderco Assist II in bunker pants. Spyderco Salt I clipped to station wear pants. That's all I'll ever need. Anything bigger would require a set of irons.

Another knife you may consider is the Gerber Hinderer Rescue. Well thought out and alot of tools packed in a small tight package.
 
personally I use a Kershaw Et clipped to my turnouts and Blur in my pants...

i also sometimes use a benchmade auto,,,
 
Spyderco assist with the carbide tip glass break (even has a whistle :)). VG-10 is pretty corrosion resistant.

http://newgraham.com/detail.aspx?ID=3850

Assist_2.jpg
 
I have no clue here as most Fire Departments & EMT's are only allowed to carry what is issued to them..better check the Reg's first!
Click to expand...

We're a voulenteer dept, we're pretty much allowed to carry any flashlight, knife, etc. I've never heard of such reg's but I can see where a large paid dept might have one.

also, timjmayer. what do you think of the Blur, is it easy to open with gloves? is it thik enough for you?

Oh, and I've never seen a liner lock fail. I know that some people here have done extreme tests to make that happen, but I wouldn't consider a liner lock to be unreliable.
Click to expand...

is that accurrate? there seems to be a very strong dislike for linerlocks here on the forums, I always assumed they were sub-par



also I'm going to be looking at the spyderco knifes as an alternative to the kershaw.

thanks everyone
 
over the years i've carried a buck 110, a spyderco endura PE, and a gerber multi-plier, all have given exc service. as far as cutting anything close to a patient get yourself a pair of crash shears{you know the ones you see in the er, plastick handles and they looked like they are stamped out of steel} these are cheap and work really well. good luck, ahgar
 
I agree with ahgar, keep a good pair of cheap trauma shears on you if you want the best thing for patient care activities. I worked as a paramedic for 8 years in a busy EMS system and I can say from experience that 99.736% of cutting needs around a live person are better accomplished with the shears. Don't get me wrong, I loved whipping out my kershaw avalanche or my benchmade griptilian and making short work of a pair of jeans...but the sheeple always get antsy with such activity. Even with blunt tipped knives, people just wig out. It got to the point that I almost never used my knife for anything around patients. I still used it on the job, just not for things done proximal to the patient. So...get you some shears and a good general purpose folder and you should be able to handle about anything thrown at you( maybe literally ;) )

Good luck and stay safe
 
I look at FF knives differant then many. My number one reason I have a knife in my goods (along with wire cutters) is to cut my self free from entanglements. Number two is SD. both dogs and badguys.

I love knives, but just don't get using them around PT's. I don't want anyone using a knife near a pt. or my men in a crammped car full of guys all trying to work on the pt.

We got a rig full of seatbelt cutters (seldom needed) ems shears etc.

I like Rick Hinderer and his knives. But i think that knife is for EMS based and vol.fire dept. use what with o2 wrench,clothes cutter, glass breaker etc. If you run mainly ems and show up in your car fine. If that fits you then that could be a good choice. Luckly I don't run that much ems and we don't transport. I use mine more at fire scenes then ems. That makes me way happy.
 
I was planning on getting my cousin (firefighter) the Gerber Hinderer rescue folder for Xmas, you can see specs ETC in this months tactical knives, i have to say it looks pretty sweet.
 
I agree with Capt. Carl about the use of the spyderco assist II. I have one and like it very much but don't use it near my patients. It is useful for heavy cutting at the scenes and smashing a window if necessary. When I am cutting near a patient I use my benchmade rescue hook. It is probably 100 times (no exageration) faster than trauma shears and safer and much less tiring than the shears. It slices through seatbelts, jeans and other clothing like butter. My version also has a O2 valve wrench built into it.

Get one. You wont regret it. I like the model 5 the best and that is what I own.


Benchmade rescue hook

Another place to get it.


KR
 
that benchmade hook is pretty sweet. there are some smaller holes, do they function as an O2 wrench?

as far as calls we run mainly EMS, usually car crashes. We (almost) always respond in our own vehical and usually in my bunkers I keep a heavy pair of wirecutters, a pair of trama sheers (they are handy), and an O2 wrench.

dad's fallen in love with the Kershaw rescue but im leaning more towads the spyderco.
 
Yeah, the middle hole that isn't for your finger is actually not a hole on mine. It is where the O2 wrench slot is. It also has a bottle opener on it which apparently was a requirement of the army for whatever reason. The smaller slots with the small holes on the end I still haven't figured out what they do.

Better Picture


For the money, it is excellant. I work in a Fire deparment as an EMT so I extricate as well as treat and there is nothing as safe that is as fast for working around patients to strip them of clothing and cut them out of fibrous material. IMHO.

I love my spyderco assist II but it is too dangerous around the patient even with the blunt blade. That blade is razor sharp and too many people are hovering over the patient working fast trying to extricate or latter in the ambulance for me to expose the patient and my friends to that kind of danger.

KR
 
as a fireifighter/emt-p,I have used kershaw knives, even cut a battery cable in a mva(motor vehicle accident) to diactivate an airbag,it ruined the serrated edge but it had to be done stat.As far as rescue knives go,In my opinion theyre a waste of time,fireman should always used the right tool 4 the job when able.when not able try the plain edge native and all serrated police model from spyderco,they both have locks that have never failed me ,unlike every other type of locking mechanism which have in the past
 
Hey guys, Thanks for all the kind comments regarding my design with gerber on the Hinderer Rescue..I appreciate it!

One comment I would like to add from a FF/EMT's point of view is this...a factor that alot of people dont realize is that when your on a MVA scene,or for that matter ANY scene it is actualy more important to be able to CLOSE your folder than open it. And be able to do this with turnout gloves on...after deploying the blade and completing your task if you cant close the blade in the heat of battle you will be more inclined to set it aside (with blade open) and finish your asignment such as pt extrication or whatnot..leaving your knife to cut someone...that is why i designed mine so that it is just as easy to close the knife as it is to open it...and doing it with the heavist of turnout gloves.( I know we now have thinner extrication gloves, but not everyone can afford them)...something to keep in mind...

Rick Hinderer
 
I carried a Benchmade AFO on my belt for many years, and it did many tasks with patient extrication, EMS stuff, firefighting stuff, ect. ect.

The major advantage of that knife was the auto opening, and the ability to do that and close the knife with my gloves on.

I beat the daylights out of that knife for many years, and it still was going strong when I retired.

One of these days, I'll dig it out and post pics of it. Not pretty, but still functional, and its lockup was still tight as the day I got it new.
 
It won't be available again in North America until at least later this month but you might want to check out the Victorinox Rescue Tool. Except that it is a liner lock it has all the features you are looking for plus the glass break stud and disc saw are replaceable. Obviously its promotional material but, given Victorinox's reputation, I found the demonstration video on their website to be pretty impresive. http://www.victorinox.ch/index.cfm?site=victorinox.ch&page=491&lang=E
 
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