Spyderco "Assist" questions:

[lureman]

I am interested in picking up a "rescue" type tool to keep in my vehicle and have a couple questions.

Does anyone have any comments on the Assist?
Does it come in orange/yellow? If not-why not?
How loud is the whistle?
How robust is the glass breaker?

In underwater rescue can you develop enough momentum to break a window with an impact breaker, or would it be better to have a spring-loaded device?

Thanks for the help.

Dan

 

[Ken C.]

I have carried an Assist II for about a year and though it doesn't have the glass-breaker I can still comment on it.

It is a good solid working knife with a handle that really fills your hand well. I never have felt like I would lose my grip on it. The blade edge holds up well and I have only sharpened it about 5 times (touch ups). The whistle is very loud and can be heard pretty far away (1/2 mile by my tests).

It does not come in yellow or orange and I don't know why.

I chose the non-carbide tipped model because in my line of work a center punch or Halligan tool would work alot better. The carbide-tip in the Assist is not spring loaded so under water I wouldn't rely on it to break windows submerged. Get a spring loaded center punch for that.

 

[shanshui75]

the assist is an anomaly (sp?) to me. why would i want to put my hand through a window as i swing my carbide tipped knife at it? a center punch, hammer, or just about anything else makes more sense to me. then my knife is covered in glass, and probably blood if it's a bad wreck, so i am suppose to put my mouth on it and blow the whistle. no thanks. i keep a whistle with me most of the time and one is tied to my radio harness. still, does not make sense. and finally, rescue knives should be brightly colored. shall i say it again, rescue knives should be brightly colored. ex. it's 0300, you're tired from working a wreck and you walk back to the truck when you realize you have dropped your knife somewhere on scene. what do you have a better chance of finding, orange or black. sorry, but i had to rant about the rescue knives only being offered in black now. maybe if the atlantic salt, basically a rescue 93 with h1, ever comes out you could get a yellow handled one. or, find an old colored rescue. then buy a center punch for the windows (a couple of bucks) and a whistle (a couple of bucks) and there you go.

i should say that i only carry spydercos, but sometimes i just do not understand.

k

 

[JD Spydo]

I have the Assist I with the glassbreaker and I just love it. I must admit I have not used the glassbreaker to actually bust out glass in an emergency situation. I don't really need to because I have that much confidence in Spyderco's products. As solid as that knife is built I have absolutely no doubt about it's ability to what the knife was designed to do. I even plan on getting 1 or 2 more of them. The only thing I would change on it would be the handle. Mr Glesser if you are listening I wish they would make the Assist I with a G-10 handle.