Spyderco Assist, Victorinox RT, Mikov Rescue, S&W911 review.

[RNL]

Hello everybody. It's my first thread here, and I would like to share with you, in my opinion quite interesting, test of 4 folding rescue knives. Test was performed by the members of Polish knives- enthusiasts' forum knives.pl. I am the guy in red you will know. Unfortunatelly the comments are in Polish, but pictures and movies are speaking for themselves I guess, so put your stereo headphones set on, mute my comments, and watch

I decided to divide the test in two parts- first part- rescuing the patient from the car, second, comparison of the cutting efficacy and ergonomy of each knife in the conditions typical for the work in the ambulance.


Instead of introduction few words how ambulances' staffs are organized in Poland (which is important for the understanding of the tests). There are three groups:

1. family doctor team- driver+doctor- only for minor cases usually from 6PM to 6AM
2. basic EMT team- 2-3 EMTs, 16hrs and 24hrs duties
3. specialized team- 1 doctor, 2 EMTs, 1 driver- 16 and 24 hrs duties (complicated cases, transports between hospitals, accidents)
4. Helicopters- like specialized team, but pilot instead of a driver, 1 EMT i 1 doctor.

I work as a doctor in the specialized ambulance.



from the right Spyderco Assist, Victorinox Rescue Tool, S&W 911, Mikov Rescue

Testers:

albercik (crashtest dummy, the most dangerous role)






kroko (expert)

Ypoznan (cameraman and photographer)

[/URL][/IMG]


RNL (knife-donor, medical backup )






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZap6ibJW_E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64Ihg8B5ec4

Windscreen and surprise- the fireman says, that Victorinox made the best rescue tool he had ever worked with

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5Wrr5q7KAk
How to remove patient from the car if you have no equipment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b_F4-RPq1c

As you may see below, none of the knives, despite of the S7W911 finished the test uninjured:






that's how the lanyard must have been affected







Assist was badly wounded during the breaking of the windscreen, the glassbreaker doesn't slip into the handle anymore...fortunately it is easy to replace it:

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPj4XAmn8mg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RA3cwRc4ifs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIdiI68SKVQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOnG2-o7TCs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpjIjCSThoU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_UZRGkoyUk

My conclusions:

The winner for the proffesionals is Spyderco Assist, thanks to its lighweight though robust construction, good steel, one-hand scissors mode, very effective glassbreaker.

Victorinox RT is the rescue knife of choice for the non proffesional rescuer, something you may carry in your car, using it as a regular pocket knife, but in case of emergency it is quite effective- it's a pity, that the seatbelts blade is not locked anyhow.

S&W911 is rather glassbreaker with attached, ineffective blade (at least in the tested version of the knife).

Mikov Rescue- interesting for being an automatic knife, and that's all. Heavy, not allowed in many coutries, ineffective GB, steel not as agressive as it should be, place this knife in my opinion somwhere on the collectioner's shelf, not the rescuer's pocket.

 

[citizensoldierny]

Being a knife nut I have to say this is a great way to get you first post in. Too bad you didn't have a Gerber CLS or Hinderer though. As I've been contemplating one for a bit but my inner knife snob just won't let me do it and I need something to push me over the edge. Thanks for awesome reviews though.

 

[RNL]

Well, I decided to make a review of the most commonly used rescue knives in Poland (Victorinox RT- most often used by ambulance crews- if any at all, and Mikov, issued to the firefighters in my city) with addition of two more, which I belive, would be better choices- Spyderco Assist and S&W911.