Resqme car safety tool review.

CheckYourLights

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So I had been meaning to write up about this before. Awhile back a show called The Doctors showed this tool called the Resqme. They demonstrated it on the show. They had a car door set up, and showed how it worked. Half of me wanted one in case I would ever need it, and the other half went that can't really work that well.

A few days before Christmas a two pack went on sale on Amazon. It is a little cheaper then what I paid at the time. You can find it on Amazon here. I bought a two pack and gave one to my brother. He was able to dig out an old window he had taken out of his car and replaced with another, and we could not resist seeing if this thing really works so for the sake of our safety and because breaking things is always fun we decided to test it.

As you can see in the video the tool really does work, and while we have not cut any seat belts yet my brother has used it to open clam shell packages with no issue. I keep mine on my key ring all the time and hope I never need it. I would defiantly recommend that everyone gets one at 12 dollars a pair it is worth it for sure.
 
That definitely works!

Nice night video you have there too :)
 
That thing really seems like it could save lives but the cynical part of me imagines some creeps will find it useful as the perfect smash and grab car burglary tool. :(

My hiking group had to find alternative parking at shopping center rather than use the parking area at a popular but secluded trail head where hikers were always coming back from a days climb up the mountain to find their cars broken into and their windows smashed.
 
These tools have been around for years, the thieves have been onto it for a long time, years ago they'd just use a spark plug
 
These tools have been around for years, the thieves have been onto it for a long time, years ago they'd just use a spark plug

Yeah, they usually just use a rock at the hiking site from what I hear. Window break tools just make it easier I guess. One of my hiking buddies even has a flashlight with an emergency window breaking point on one end.
 
yeah I've seen lots of gadgets that include one of these over the years, every few years you find someone promoting a new version and they seem to fizzle out again
 
The cynical part of me imagines some Chinese manufacturer introducing a dash cam with a built in emergency window break point on it. Might be just the thing to have in your car so you know you're always prepared when you drive off the road into a lake and can then post the whole harrowing experience on YouTube and Facebook for lots of views and likes. :D
 
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Has anybody ever needed to use one, or know anyone that has ever needed to use one, other than to break into a car?

Normally, if you are inside a car and want to get out then you can open a door, and if that is not possible then open a different door, and if that is not possible open a window, the only window that doesn't open is the laminated one that this will not work on!

As for cutting seat belts, the seat belts are designed to be releasable without being cut and I can't remember anyone ever being unable to release one...
 
I've seen plenty of cases where seat belts have needed to be cut and windows broken to get someone out of a wreck, very rarely that it's the vehicle owner doing that although it doesn't make it a bad tool to have to assist others
 
I only been at a severe crash once in my life, i was not a part of it but got there as it whent down.

Dident fumbel with seatbelts cuz the guy in the driver seat was pinned down, i was able to get his seat to lean back enuff for me to do CPR on him leaning in thru the rear door.
When i got to work ppl looked wierd at me, found out it was cuz i was covered in his blood.
And BTW the guy survived, so that was pretty nice.
 
I've seen plenty of cases where seat belts have needed to be cut and windows broken to get someone out of a wreck, very rarely that it's the vehicle owner doing that although it doesn't make it a bad tool to have to assist others
If you dont get yourself out of your car after an accident here then they normally chop the roof off and turn the car into a convertible just as a precaution. Unless someone needs to be moved because of fire risk then moving them should be left to either themselves or the experts or you risk doing more damage than you prevent.

After most accidents the doors should open from the outside so breaking windows should not be necessary, the system that sets off airbags and fires the belt pretensions should also unlock the doors.
 
After most accidents the doors should open from the outside so breaking windows should not be necessary, the system that sets off airbags and fires the belt pretensions should also unlock the doors.

a door can be unlocked but still not be able to be opened, depends how big a hit it is, I've been to plenty of big ones
 
Has anybody ever needed to use one, or know anyone that has ever needed to use one, other than to break into a car?

Normally, if you are inside a car and want to get out then you can open a door, and if that is not possible then open a different door, and if that is not possible open a window, the only window that doesn't open is the laminated one that this will not work on!

Not true in many scenarios!

As for cutting seat belts, the seat belts are designed to be releasable without being cut and I can't remember anyone ever being unable to release one...

Also not quite accurate!

I used the example of driving into a lake in my previous post because if a car is submerged in a body of water it is not humanly possible to open the door again until the pressure between the inside and the outside of the car has been equalized. Electrically operated windows would quickly cease to function when a vehicle is under water. This is when having an emergency window breaking device can mean life or death.

As for seat belts, emergency belt cutting devices are used to extract a disabled, injured or disoriented victim from a motor vehicle who is unable to access or operate the seat belt latch themselves or if a badly damaged vehicle prevents easy, fast access to the latch.

http://www.wikihow.com/Escape-from-a-Sinking-Car
 
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As you can see in the video the tool really does work.
But does it work underwater?

Since it's operation depends on impact speed and due to water resistance and the incompressibility of water impact speeds are going to be considerably slower under water, it may be quite hard to use. A 50 calibre machine gun is ineffective at more than 1 meter underwater!
 
But does it work underwater?
Seems to work in the same way as an automatic centre punch, so it may well work underwater.

I think that is the explanation for this:
 
Seems to work in the same way as an automatic centre punch, so it may well work underwater.

I think that is the explanation for this:
Can't find any reports of it being tested while wet, I still think that water inside it will prevent it hitting with enough punch.

It also seems that they are only good for 2 or 3 uses, after which they are too blunt to work, so it is best to never test them!

The most reliable way to break the glass from inside seems to be to bend it beyond it's limit as shown in this video, emergency services divers do the same to get in from outside but using their serated diving knives in place of the headrest, apparently a hammer underwater does not work.

 
The blurb says: "Use the the spring-loaded head to effortlessly smash the vehicle's side windows with a force of only 12 lbs."
I think 12 lbs of spring force acting on a small pin will move it quite effectively through water.
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Seems odd that they can go blunt after just a few uses, but glass is very hard, and maybe it is a very fine point.

That head rest idea is interesting, I would never have imagined you could fit the rods down the side of a window though.
 
The blurb says: "Use the the spring-loaded head to effortlessly smash the vehicle's side windows with a force of only 12 lbs."
I think 12 lbs of spring force acting on a small pin will move it quite effectively through water.

Seems odd that they can go blunt after just a few uses, but glass is very hard, and maybe it is a very fine point.

That head rest idea is interesting, I would never have imagined you could fit the rods down the side of a window though.
It has to be very sharp to concentrate the force enough to break through the hardened glass surface, once there is a tiny hole in the surface the rest of the toughened glass will break up into little cubes without any further force.

When closing the window, when it reaches the top, the bottom of the window moves outward against the outside seal leaving a decent gap on the inside, when it starts opening again it moves back away from the outside seal so that it doesn't get scratched by sand etc in the seal as it slides down. There is always a decent gap on the inside of a closed window.
 
These tools have been around for years, the thieves have been onto it for a long time, years ago they'd just use a spark plug
I used to think you used the whole spark plug as a tool to smash the window.
Seems I was wrong, you smash the spark plug ceramic and throw a piece at the window. Pretty impressive trick. It does seem to be about sharpness focusing the force.

 
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