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Glass Breaker and seatbelt cutter mount

9K views 29 replies 6 participants last post by  TSiWRX 
#1 ·
Thought I’d share this mount location for the Resqme glass breaker for second row passenger access.

(Watch out for fakes on eBay and Amazon)

https://resqme.com/product/resqme/


Can stay hidden (headrest lowered on it) or left out hanging, but readily accessible with a quick pull.

Have a pair on the back and one in the front for me.
 

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#2 ·
Thought I’d share this mount location for the Resqme glass breaker for second row passenger access.

(Watch out for fakes on eBay and Amazon)

https://resqme.com/product/resqme/


Can stay hidden (headrest lowered on it) or left out hanging, but readily accessible with a quick pull.

Have a pair on the back and one in the front for me.

I keep mine in the cup holder - in a cup, so that it doesn't rattle around.
 
#5 ·
I carry a resqme, too (it's been on my keychain since it came out and was tested favorably), but you'll want to remember that the Ascent's front and second row door glass are laminated. This means that the resqme will have very limited, if not little-to-no, effect on this glass.

IIRC the pano moonroof is also laminated, but the standard moonroof has tempered glass (not that this will do any good if the vehicle is inverted in a roll-over). The final option is through the glass in the third row, which is tempered.

If you live in a wet area (river, lake, etc.) in-particular, be sure you have a backup plan.



Also, note that you'll really want to have this item securely mounted - kathythn, the cupholder is a great place for this tool, as it keeps it very handy, but in a collision, the cup that you've place the tool in may itself displace. Be sure that the tool is not only handy and easily retrievable by its intended users, but also that it will remain at its station/staged access point even in the chaos of a collision or other event.



Finally, for anything that is spring loaded, consider also a manual backup. With the resqme specifically, there have been folks who report of either its complete or partial failure during testing - with either a complete failure of the spring mechanism to properly actuate or a failure of the initial or a following strike, with only furhter subsequent deployments being successful.



-----

And I know that this is a bit off-topic, but if you carry one of these devices, please take the time to actually get in a bit of practice with it (and this extends to your loved ones as well). The seat-belt cutters work easiest at a certain angle, and this is not something that you'd want to be playing with when under-duress. Similarly, even for vehicles with tempered side windows, users of these devices need to understand how the punch - even ones like the resqme, which do not take much/any strength to deploy - may still cause the user's hand to "push through" the window, and how this may cause some cuts, as well as realize that even when the tempered glass shatters, often there will be sections that will hold together and may need to be cleared out of the way prior to a safe/efficient exit.



These items are not totems or amulets - just having them doesn't mean that you'll be safe. Be sure you know how to use them properly, before the need arises.



Finally, remember that in a roll-over scenario (whether the vehicle is completely inverted or on its side), your weight will be shifted differently versus what you'd normally expect. Before cutting yourself loose from your seat-belts, take a moment to brace-up against something substantial so that you won't "flop" out of your belted position, which may cause [further] injury.
 
#10 ·
To the extent that laminated glass is used, this product may be useful http://glasmaster.com/movie_glassmaster.mgi.


My only concern is that it pulls the glass towards the user, presumably to benefit a rescue versus an escape. I will be interested in what is learned from Subaru. The laminated glass is beneficial in keeping the passengers from falling out of the vehicle and contact with broken glass as well as adding noise reduction.
 
#11 ·
To the extent that laminated glass is used, this product may be useful http://glasmaster.com/movie_glassmaster.mgi.

My only concern is that it pulls the glass towards the user, presumably to benefit a rescue versus an escape. I will be interested in what is learned from Subaru. The laminated glass is beneficial in keeping the passengers from falling out of the vehicle and contact with broken glass as well as adding noise reduction.

^ Yup, and I bet that ejection is a much worse problem, statistically, than the need for self-extrication.

Certainly, there's the NVH considerations, but I think that the overall safety trade-off is likely much more positive than it is negative. I bet that this is like our focus on airline mishaps: that the perceived need for us to be able to self-extricate is totally overshadowed by the actual statistics of this unlikely scenario.



That Glassmaster tool does look interesting, but I have the same reservations as you do - and furthermore, it looks like it will take considerable leverage to employ, which would mean that self-extrication from compromised body positioning would likely be much more difficult.

It looks to be a sizeable tool as well.........
 
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#12 · (Edited)
To add:


The concurrently running thread in the Subaru Ascent FB Group contains some great posts by member "Pamela Sara," a former EMT, cautioning folks against self-extrication.


This cannot be over-emphasized.

As I noted in that thread, virtually every first-responder I've spoken with mirrored her words that more folks are injured by trying to exit the vehicle rather than awaiting rescue.

The likelihood of dropping your vehicle into water sufficiently deep to cause drowning or otherwise TRULY needing to exit your vehicle after a catastrophic event is of remote likelihood.

Take a moment to clear your head after the event to -ASSESS- whether if you are in more danger by staying put versus attempting egress.

And remember, just because your loved-ones (including pets) are hurt, it won't do ANYONE any good if by trying to reach them you also become a casualty, yourself.


Just because you know how to do something and can execute the techniques doesn't mean that it's necessarily always going to be the right thing to do!
 
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#15 · (Edited)
^ Not that I know of - and this answer is more out of ignorance, sadly, than knowledge, I'm afraid. :dunno::eek:

I'd be glad to know more about that, myself, and that goes for the "hobby" glass-cutters, too. That's another great idea you brought up.

The problem in the case of a window-cutter - based on my layman's understanding and never having tried such an extrication device myself - is that it's still predicated on there being a start-point. Should that start-point exist from the collision event, even a brute-force attack would work, as the side glass, in-particular, should "fold" on itself from that break-point with sufficient force applied. [ EDIT - I am WRONG, here: the glass-cutting tools should literally be able to cut into the glass....so I'm now really intrigued....should we just mount a glass-scribe (this is what you're talking about, @kathytn , right?) somewhere reachable? ]



With a glass-breaker (spring loaded or manual/static), the problem of laminated glass is that its more than likely to not be able to achieve that initial breach. :plain:
 
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#16 ·
General thread update:


The actual sliding/venting (moving) portion of the Ascent's panoramic moonroof assembly is also made of LAMINATED glass.
 
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#21 ·
General thread update:

The actual sliding/venting (moving) portion of the Ascent's panoramic moonroof assembly is also made of LAMINATED glass.

So, I don't know if this has to do with the fact that my wife's current '16 WRX still has tempered glass in its door windows....


The mooroof in her vehicle - "standard" in size (i.e. not a panoramic or part of a moving/stationary panoramic) is tempered glass, not laminated.



I'll be having a look on the '19 WRX in a few more days, as we prep for her '16's lease-end.
 
#17 ·
To go off of my RED text update to post #15, above ( https://www.ascentforums.com/forum/77135-post15.html ) - @kathytn, Youtube videos of folks using glass-scribes to cut into and then break panes of laminated glass (typically glass salvage or other glass-works) literally has them using the scribe to score the glass, and then folding/breaking the glass at the scribe line.

Can we scribe/score the glass surface, and then brute-force from that scribe-line?
 
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#20 ·
Please fill us in on any details. And thank you in advance for taking this up with your local first responders! :smile:



And please remind them when you are talking to them that you're looking for EXIT strategies on your own, when trapped inside the vehicle, not how they will effect window breakage/removal to come save you and your passengers! :eek:
 
#25 ·
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-safety/laminated-glass-reduce-risk-exploding-sunroofs/
"Subaru: The company uses laminated glass for panoramic sunroofs in its Forester and Ascent models, and said that in vehicles with large sunroofs, “the laminated glass can help minimize chances of occupant ejection.” Other models currently use tempered glass."

^ Ah! Thank you! :thumbsup:


----



The only thing that has a "Tempered" glass labeled on it in the Touring are the two tiny triangular type windows by the side view mirrors (they don't open) but do say Tempered

Lemmie tell ya, I can fit through those, so no worries! :smile_big:
 
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#27 · (Edited)
^ Dude, what happened to that guy?!!! He, like, aged 20 years in 2!!!!!



My wife said that I might be like Jackie Chan and Jet Li ---->







Carded until I was 25..............

Then age all my years at once! :dunno::eek::smile_big:
 
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#30 ·
BTW, for those who take a punch to the junkyard to play......


Be sure that you've got other copies for actual emergency use. Using the punch in practice - much as using a tourniquet in practice will place strains upon its material (and windlass mechanism) - will dull its tip, and can render the punch less effective or completely ineffective.
 
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