Rescue Knife ! Is this a concern for you ?

DocJD

DocJD

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I've seen many different styles marketed as such , some are fairly specialized . I believe that most knives are at least better than nothing for the purpose .

I'm curious as to how much interest members have in this application for your carry knives or maybe one you keep in a vehicle , boat or trouble bag , etc .

For me , it's a real concern and a possible lifesaver . This is primarily from actual experience working with ropes around large animals . I've heard plenty of real life stories from others where their knife meant life .
 
Nah, I just want a GOOD knife. I think the purpose built rescue knives are too goofy and cumbersome to actually be carried Or so specific in use and design that if I did carry it I'd never use it.

A just plain good knife, is useful for everything. Even high speed, rescue Randy stuff.
IMO
 
Well I usually have a slipjoint in my pocket, so I guess it's not a concern of mine.
I've never really thought about it I suppose, and definitely am not going to carry some kind of goofy knife that's not useful to me daily.
 
Certainly if you have a job or hobby that puts you in special situations, like the one you mentioned, then you need tools for any specific types of scenarios you might reasonably expect to encounter.

I think most of us, even knife knuts, probably expect that we can cut seat belts with whatever we're EDC'ing that day, even most traditionals. Not sure about glass breakers, but 1. cut seat belt 2. attempt to break glass with whichever end of knife seems most likely to work sounds like a reasonable plan to me. Hopefully most of us will never be in that situation - or happen upon someone else in that situation.

I think we have to balance having a plan and being prepared with the fact that it isn't practical to plan for and carry tools for every possible event or situation that might arise. Most of us don't have fire extinguishers that we carry in our vehicles or on our person, for example.
 
My kids bought me a Byrd Cara Cara Rescue for my birthday and it is in the glovebox of my truck. If I drive thru a guardrail into a lake and my seatbelt locks? Well, I’m dead as I won’t be able to reach the glovebox. :cool:

If I drive up to a burning car and the folks inside aren’t charred to a crisp and need rescuing, I’m their man. :thumbsup:

I seriously find most rescue knives to be fairly useless. If I was a medic or a LEO, I would likely feel differently.

Good to have and hopefully never use in a real rescue situation IMO.
 
I carried a Triage in my pick up. Fairly straight forward with a seat belt cutter, knife blade and carbide glass breaker.

I've since swapped that for Spyderco Rescue Assist. Serrated blade, glass breaker, rope cutter and whistle. I'll also keep this handy for my kayak trips.
 
I need a resqme for the longest time Iv'e been wanting a few. I'm a avid fisherman in FL, Have all my licenses. I see lots of people put their vehicles in the water at the boat ramps. Sometimes its insurance fraud.
 
For someone without much knife experience, the strap cutter feature might help if they were upside down. A partially serrated edge for that person as well, as they might not sharpen often. All that time we spend taking out and flipping our knives is really practice for the day when we will need it. And for sure that day will come, if it hasn’t already, for some more often than others, when our lives depend on a knife. Just hope that you aren’t flying on a commercial airline when that day comes.
 
It is amazing how hard it is to get the seat belt to release under the wrong conditions (mine was being in the passenger seat and vehicle resting on the driver side door). Now that I carry something on me all the time, hopefully the need will never arise again except for the one day I forget bring it with me. My truck has my TOPS CSAR-T in the center console just in case I come across a wreck in my travels or need it myself. Very strong folder w/ belt cutter and glass breaker. I would imagine first responders may have many situations where it can save crucial seconds. I was surprised by SAK's rescue tool with the glass cutter. The youtube video on that is pretty neat.
 
Lapedog said:
Maybe if you work as a first responder it is a good idea. Otherwise you could keep one in your car, on your boat or in your private jet.
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Yes, I keep 2 in each of my jets for just such an occasion. I once happened upon an accident while flying around. There was a guy stuck, upside down, unable to get out of his seatbelt. Thankfully I had one of the rescue knives handy, in the jet, so I could show him what he should've kept in his car through the windshield as the fire crept into the cabin. Next time he'll know. Peons.


No, I don't carry or consider carrying "rescue knives." Any knife is a rescue knife when used to rescue someone. A dedicated rescue knife is generally pretty useless the rest of the time though.
 
LOL!! Snuck one last April Fool in, right?

T.L.E. Sharp said:
Yes, I keep 2 in each of my jets for just such an occasion. I once happened upon an accident while flying around. There was a guy stuck, upside down, unable to get out of his seatbelt. Thankfully I had one of the rescue knives handy, in the jet, so I could show him what he should've kept in his car through the windshield as the fire crept into the cabin. Next time he'll know. Peons.


No, I don't carry or consider carrying "rescue knives." Any knife is a rescue knife when used to rescue someone. A dedicated rescue knife is generally pretty useless the rest of the time though.
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SharpieB said:
My kids bought me a Byrd Cara Cara Rescue for my birthday and it is in the glovebox of my truck. If I drive thru a guardrail into a lake and my seatbelt locks? Well, I’m dead as I won’t be able to reach the glovebox. :cool:

If I drive up to a burning car and the folks inside aren’t charred to a crisp and need rescuing, I’m their man. :thumbsup:

I seriously find most rescue knives to be fairly useless. If I was a medic or a LEO, I would likely feel differently.

Good to have and hopefully never use in a real rescue situation IMO.
Click to expand...

Ooooh! I have a relevant story about this!

About twelve years ago my buddy was driving us back to his place from a party. We were both pretty drunk off of homemade apple wine and straight shots of Bacardi 151 (we were 22 and STUPID). He ended up taking a corner much too fast in a Toyota Tundra... Hit a bump and left the road at an estimated 85mph, hit a tree on the passenger side (roof) and landed in 9 feet of water. I ended up breaking my neck (compression fracture c3-c6) and was in and out of consciousness. My buddy was in good shape but ended up fracturing his elbow trying to bust the drivers side window out (he ended up having to kick the window out) as the windows stopped working when the truck quit running and the water pressure made it impossible to open the door. In the end he got us out of there and swam us to shore. He later told me he couldn't get my seat belt undone and almost left me while he was panicking (truck was sinking), but he somehow got it undone in the end.

The thing is... He had one of those tools made for breaking windows and cutting seat belts in his glove box. In the adrenaline fueled panic, it just never crossed his mind to look for it.

I don't really place a lot of stock in those emergency tools because you have to have the presence of mind to use them. You're much more likely to reach for the pocket knife you use on a regular basis because of muscle memory when the shit hits the fan, rather than go looking for a tool you've never had to use. If I was a first-responder who was much more likely to use a tool like that on a regular basis (and thus have a reason to have it in my pocket), I think it would make a lot more sense.

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Fixall said:
Ooooh! I have a relevant story about this!

About twelve years ago my buddy was driving us back to his place from a party. We were both pretty drunk off of homemade apple wine and straight shots of Bacardi 151 (we were 22 and STUPID). He ended up taking a corner much to fast in a Toyota Tundra... Hit a bump and left the road at an estimated 85mph. Hit a tree on the passenger side (roof) and landed in 9 feet of water. I ended up breaking my neck (compression fracture c3-c6) and was in and out of consciousness. My buddy was in good shape but ended up fracturing his elbow trying to bust the drivers side window out (he ended up having to kick the window out) as the windows stopped working when the truck quit running and the water pressure made it impossible to open the door. In the end he got us out of there and swam us to shore. He later told me he couldn't get my seat belt undone and almost left me while he was panicking (truck was sinking), but he somehow got it undone in the end.

The thing is... He had one of those tools made for breaking windows and cutting seat belts in his glove box. In the adrenaline fueled panic, it just never crossed his mind to look for it. I don't really place a lot of stock in those emergency tools because you have to have the presence of mind to use them. You're much more likely to reach for the pocket knife you use on a regular basis because of muscle memory when the shit hits the fan, rather than go looking for a tool you've never had to use. If I was a first-responder who was much more likely to use a tool like that on a regular basis (and thus have a reason to have it in my pocket), I think it would make a lot more sense.

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There is a thing where you can clip your res q me to your seatbelt. I would recommend to anyone to clip it there
 
I think first responders they are incredibly useful and used more then you may think ... I do keep a glass breaker in each truck in reach ... but not a specialized seatbelt cutter on me anymore ... but have one in my kit in each vehicle.

But jobs like you described definately a knife could be the difference in serious injury or worse or getting out of a bad situation.
 
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