Used my HEST to pry open the car door after an accident

Great story. If you had a Busse you could have cut a nice exit hole instead :)
 
Good thing you had a HEST instead of a Busse. The HEST was in your pocket - not wrapped in a towel at home, as most Busse's are (Seriously... how many Busse's ever get a sheath?).
Good story - thanks for sharing!

Stainz
 
Nice job coach, I carry a HEST 2.0 as a back up to a BM Barrage. I EDC both and that IS one heck of a thick blade indeed.

Did you think about using the glass breaker? Or did you remove it and put in the round plug?

In any event, great post, and great job!
 
threefeathers - way to go man! Love reading about positive stories like this.

imbryan715 - thanks for the tip. Sharing info like this may help save a like one day.
 
You da man! If I had money right now, I'd PayPal you enough for a high end 6 pack.
 
Stainz said:
(Seriously... how many Busse's ever get a sheath?).

Stainz
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Lots, so do yourself a favor and ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,:D
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Hi guys I examined the knife today and there is only the slight view of a line across the blade about an inch and a half from the tip which is where I pried the door open. This is one strong knife with a great coating. Yes i kept the glass breaker on because this is the kind of a scenario that we all may need at some time.
HESTafterrescue.jpg
 
imbryan715 said:
if anybody else is ever in this situation and you have a glass breaker,
1. tell the driver what you are going to do
2. pop out a back door window.
3. unlock the back door
4. climb in and un lock his door

there is no need to break a knife over such a minor accident. that is what we do at the fire department.
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Hi, I would have done this but the engine was running and smoke was starting to come out, I wanted him out of the car asap. So I just did something fast, I don't even remember conscilusly thinking about it. I probably did.
 
I'm really surprised that no one has asked for specific details. I would think that people would want to know exactly what that knife is capable of. I have a few questions.-

Was the latch of the door stuck or was the door just wedge in the door jamb?

Did you pry the latch open or just pry the stuck door loose?

Where exactly did you insert the knife in the door jamb to pry it open?

How far did you insert the blade into the door jamb to get the most effective result?

How much, if any, did the blade, handle, overall knife flex or bend during prying?

Did the knifes lock ever become loose or disengage during prying?

Did the act of prying loosen the pivot?
 
Good on you for helping. The knife really isn't the important thing here. Awesome thing you did.
 
trey999 said:
Good on you for helping. The knife really isn't the important thing here. Awesome thing you did.
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But this IS a knife forum isn't it?

Considering how much discussion there is around here regarding which steel is better, what lock type is stronger, what the best "hard use" folder is, what knife is better for battoning firewood, etc,etc, I would think that if a guy used a knife, and a folder no less, to PRY OPEN A CAR DOOR, that the specific details of that knifes performance and it's condition afterwards would be of great interest.

I'm certainly a little curious.
 
killgar said:
I'm certainly a little curious.
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I must admit, I'm more than a bit curious myself. It's an extraordinary claim, that you were able to pry open a car door with this folder (with nary a scratch!).

If you could give a more details (like the ones killgar is asking for), then I (and a bunch of other people) am gonna run off and buy that knife asap!
 
Excellent.

Great job with the collision and the extraction of the person inside.

I love my HEST fixed blade, but hated the folder.

Great job, brother.

Moose
 
Moosez45 said:
I love my HEST fixed blade, but hated the folder.
Moose
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Just out of curiosity, what did you hate about the folder?

I'm just trying to get a handle on this knife (all personalities aside).

You hated it, threefeathers says its better than the jaws of life. :confused:
 
marcinek said:
Just out of curiosity, what did you hate about the folder?

I'm just trying to get a handle on this knife (all personalities aside).

You hated it, threefeathers says its better than the jaws of life. :confused:
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Mine would close as if it were a slipjoint, you didn't have to spine whack it to get it to shut, just fold the blade down. The D2 chipped out on pliable material, such as cardboard, delrin cutting boards, and pine. The clip broke 3 times and had to be replaced, the first time, it was pretty quick, second time, took about a month for me to get, the third time, I got tired of waiting and just got one at the booth at Blade show.

The rotary lock would not engage solid enough to keep the blade from "wiggling" significantly when shook.

Overall, for the money, I think there are knives just as tough or tougher.

Remember, that was V1.0, since then, I have not had any issues with the v2.0 but fail to see the benefit of that knife, over any other in the price range.

It could be that I got a lemon, that happens sometimes, but of the 4 that I had, there wasn't a single one that didn't have some issue in performance that I didn't like.

Haze and Phil Gibbs both got to examine my HEST at Blade last year, and the rambunctious lot of folks in the Pitt did as well. None were impressed with the knife's performance at the price of $150.

I've since moved on to ZT and never looked back. My 303 is one of the toughest folders I've ever seen, much less owned.

All that said, I am happy that threefeather's knife was able to assist him in a non knife related duty, and it worked, and came out in good shape. I would sacrifce a 100 knives to save a human life, and I am thrilled his blade made it through unscathed.

Moose

ETA, all those issues were with one knife, my other 3 exhibited the same symptoms, in some manner, just not all in the same knife
 
K
Moosez45 said:
I have not had any issues with the v2.0 but fail to see the benefit of that knife, over any other in the price range...

It could be that I got a lemon, that happens sometimes, but of the 4 that I had, there wasn't a single one that didn't have some issue in performance that I didn't like.

I've since moved on to ZT and never looked back. My 303 is one of the toughest folders I've ever seen, much less owned.

All that said, I am happy that threefeather's knife was able to assist him in a non knife related duty, and it worked, and came out in good shape. I would sacrifce a 100 knives to save a human life, and I am thrilled his blade made it through unscathed.

Moose

ETA, all those issues were with one knife, my other 3 exhibited the same symptoms, in some manner, just not all in the same knife
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When I first saw this thread I have to admit that's was sceptical, but having read the detail I think what you did threefeathers was terrific - bloody well done!

That said, I'm with Moose re. the HEST folder. Mine has lock issues which I've tried to redress but now the blade centering sucks. I also reground the blade by hand so that it would actually cut stuff half-decently (read 'slice' if you love you HEST).

I'm not trying to challenge anyone who loves theirs, if you do I'm genuinely happy for you. I bought mine because I thought its size would be more pocketable than the ZT0550 that I was considering. I went with the ZT0550 subsequently and couldn't be happier. For me it does what I hoped the HEST would in a higher quality way...

Either way it is great to hear of a knife (and Coach) doing great things!

Ben
 
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