ResQMe knockoff

fenofedd · **on:** March 26, 2014, 02:15:28 PM

In my line of work as a professional firefighter and rescue instructor I have tested and used many different pro glass breakers and seatbelt cutters. The ResQMe is also a great tool for the job. So when I came across a knockoff I had to have it tested. I bought this tool for about 5$. It had a glass breaker, seatbelt cutter and a whistle

The whistle worked. The seatbelt cutter needed a fair amount of effort to do its job and after 2 or 3 cuts it got even harder. The glass breaker was pretty much useless. Although I did manage to break one glass with it somehow, i pressed the tool against the glass 4-5 times before it shattered. Afterwards the tip of the pin got flattened. I guess the steel that it was made of was soft. After I took the tool apart to inspect it, I found out that the pin was very soft and could easily be bent.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #1 on:** March 26, 2014, 04:14:56 PM

Wow.

With the ResQMe tool being available for $10 in most places I would wonder why anyone would bother trying to knock it off.

I have a real issue with cheap smurf tools, especially emergency and military tools. While any tool could theoretically be needed in a life or death situation, ones marketed at first responders of any type, for military use or for personal emergency use should be held to the highest standards, and the companies that produce them should be held liable for anyone injured or killed due to tool failure. If I was trapped inside a burning car and couldn't get out because the pin was too soft (fundamental flaw with the tool) I think I would make sure to devote the rest of my life (if I survived) to making the idiots that manufactured, distributed and sold that tool pay.

It's one thing to have the wrong tool- it's another to have the wrong tool pretending to be the right tool and failing at a critical time.

Def

Gareth · **Reply #2 on:** March 26, 2014, 05:12:53 PM

That really is poor.

RT1969 · **Reply #3 on:** March 26, 2014, 07:30:48 PM

fenofedd:
Thanky ou for writing your experiences/warnings here!

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on March 26, 2014, 04:14:56 PM

It's one thing to have the wrong tool- it's another to have the wrong tool pretending to be the right tool and failing at a critical time.

This!

So much this!

Makes you want to go all

on someone pushing such smurf.
If you talk prices in units of life, only quality counts. It does not have to be expensive (see: original ResQMe!) but it has to deliver when needed!

enki_ck · **Reply #4 on:** March 26, 2014, 09:03:11 PM

Thanks for testing it out for us.

I saw a couple of such tools advertised on a few sites but for the money the real ResQme is sold for and that mine or someone else's life could depend on it working flawlessly, I would never go with a knock off of it.

jzmtl · **Reply #5 on:** March 26, 2014, 09:34:43 PM

They (knockoff) were available at dollar store a while ago, I picked one up to punch divots on random stuff, and after a couple of days playing it literally fell apart.