need some suggestions for a rescue knife

Jarrett Fleming

Jarrett Fleming

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Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
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I want to buy my nephew a rescue knife for his birthday. He is a firefighter so I would like for it to have a seat belt cutter and glass breaker. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thanks!
 
Might want to check out the 915 Triage from Benchmade if you're looking for a folder. Good blade, good hook, proven locking mechanism. The only caveat might be that the glass breaker looks a little puny in my opinion, though in fairness I've not handled the 915 or seen the glass breaker tested.
 
Boker Cop Tool has the seat belt cutter, glass breaker, chisel tip and serrated edge on one side. It's a decent tool/prybar and cost about $30.
It's the cheaper version of one that costs $200+, but I can't remember who made that version.
Smith and Wesson has a rescue knife that has a spring loaded glass breaker, and huge crescent serrations on a folding blade. Also pretty inexpensive, $25 or so I think. http://www.copsplus.com/prodnum979.php
 
Emerson15 said:
I want to buy my nephew a rescue knife for his birthday. He is a firefighter so I would like for it to have a seat belt cutter and glass breaker. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated thanks!
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If you want to buy some thing expensive, I think the benchmade 915 is good
if you wanna buy a rescue knife for a fire fighter with good price, I think the Victorinox rescue tool is perfect.
It has waved edge blade, one handed thumb hole, seat belt cutting blade, glass breaker, glass cutting blade(I think) and the bottle opener LoL, plus, we have the handle that can be seen in the dark ;)
street price is about 70-ish if I'm not mistaken.
 
Consider he may be using it under stressful conditions and get something large enough and easy to deploy. The Victorinox is beautiful but would you want to be fumbling with a SAK's tiny tools with a life on the line? I carry a Spyderco Assist, which is real easy to handle, opening hole AND cobra hood, grooved handle and blade, big guard at the tip.

Rick Hinderer is a firefighter himself and designed a rescue knife for Gerber.

We need Ken C. for this question, though, since that's what he does for living. :)
 
well...I'm not a fire fighter, so...you might need some expert's opinion, who really put their life on the edges :P
BTW I saw this on youtube, and I think it's pretty good tool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zApUSw0xsRY it's the knife of the year 2007.
I have to admit that SAKs are somewhat ard to deploy sometimes tho :P just my opinion
 
Thanks for all of the replies guys! I really like the gerber that was mentioned above and its price isn't bad either. Im gonna look a little more before I make my final decision.
 
I like the ESEE RC-5 or RC-4 for this use. More extraction use for me and the RC-5 (now ESEE-5) is a great choice, as it will get through just about anything. The RC-4 (ESEE-4) is smaller, lighter and better for carry, but still a beast. They are well made and a good value.
 
Dao.Hung_105 said:
well...I'm not a fire fighter, so...you might need some expert's opinion, who really put their life on the edges :P
BTW I saw this on youtube, and I think it's pretty good tool http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zApUSw0xsRY it's the knife of the year 2007.
I have to admit that SAKs are somewhat ard to deploy sometimes tho :P just my opinion
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Notice that the demonstrator had to remove his glove in order to open each tool barehanded? Not practical to have to keep removing your gloves in the middle of a rescue, especially if there's a fire.

An ideal rescue tool needs to be deployable one-handed, with gloves on, if your hands are covered in sweat, grease, blood, etc.
 
CWL said:
An ideal rescue tool needs to be deployable one-handed, with gloves on, if your hands are covered in sweat, grease, blood, etc.
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+1

I'll add that, every Firefighter should carry a multi-tool because they're just damn practical tools. Many firefighters also carry a knife, but in most instances it will never be used in a rescue situation, unless it's a self rescue, in that case it should be one-handed with the oven mitts on.

A nice flashlight is always a good gift too. Just a thought...
 
I have the Gerber Hinderer CLS and carried it everyday for a year or so on the job but it still resides in my EMT kit. I like the oversized thumb studs but I found the line cutter gets used rarely. It is just easier to deploy the blade than to mess with the flip out line cutter. For the price it is a handy tool to have and a good value. If you loose it on the job it's not too expensive to replace. The blade is decent and stays fairly sharp as well. Overall, it is not just a cheap POS but well made for the price point.
 
I own the 915 and have tested it removing bandages and using the glasses breaker as a state worker,IMO its worth the dough and is very well bulit.Another BM win!
 
+1 on the Boker Cop Tool. Mine gets all the nasty jobs I don't want to use a good knife for.
 
Acerazor said:
I own the 915 and have tested it removing bandages and using the glasses breaker as a state worker,IMO its worth the dough and is very well bulit.Another BM win!
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Acerator,
Is the glass breaker a problem scratching or cutting pants, car doors, couches, etc.?
 
CWL said:
Notice that the demonstrator had to remove his glove in order to open each tool barehanded? Not practical to have to keep removing your gloves in the middle of a rescue, especially if there's a fire.

An ideal rescue tool needs to be deployable one-handed, with gloves on, if your hands are covered in sweat, grease, blood, etc.
Click to expand...

Well then I have to agree with ya...good point :P
In that case I think the Ideal rescue knife should be an Auto or an assisted right?
or maybe a fix blade... should have a strap cutter
the Benchmade Triage should be good, but the price is a bit stiff I think...
how about the Buck bravo rescue? the Spyderco assist I rescue?
 
Speaking from experience, I have never used my own knife on scene for anything since I just used the tools I already had available (i.e., the ones I pulled off the apparatus). The only times I ever wished I had a tool on me were the times I got caught up in the metal wires used to support and provide rigidity to air conditioning ducts. In those cases, a pair of one-handed tin snips would have been awesome.

The problem with keeping a knife or tool in your bunker/turnout gear is that you have to keep in mind that it may easily be lost or toasted a bit. On the other hand, I used my Leatherman Surge around the station all the time.
 
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