Some time ago, I heard about a tool that could cut your seat belt and break your car window in an emergency situation, allowing you to quickly escape the vehicle. I thought it was a great idea—especially since I have a bridge phobia and Florida is surrounded on three sides by water and there are thousands of bodies of water in land! Not to mention the hundreds of miles of ditches that run alongside the roads in the more rural areas. Throughout the years, I’ve heard several stories of people drowning in their cars at the bottom of these ditches only because they couldn’t break loose from their seat belt and safely get out of their car in time! Those ditches can fill up pretty fast during the rainy season.
Just recently I found one of these tools. It’s called the BodyGuard 5-In-1 Tool. It’s a keychain equipped with five tools—seatbelt cutter, window breaker, flashlight, siren, and flasher. The seatbelt cutter has a blade that is secured by a plastic housing which glows in the dark. The housing is a snug fit, but still permits the blade to be easily accessible in an emergency situation.
The siren is okay—it’s not loud enough to break any windows (that’s what the window breaker is there for.) And you have to be careful not to place your hand over the speaker, otherwise, you’ll muffle the sound. To turn the siren off, you hold down the button for three seconds. The sound is probably loud enough to startle an attacker, but I wouldn’t count on anyone hearing it from the bottom of a ditch.
At the other end of the device is the flash light that also doubles as a flasher. Guess that could come in handy if you don’t have electric door locks or the battery in your remote is dead. Other uses might be reading a map in a dimly lit area or locating the toilet paper roll in a dark and dingy roadside restroom. Just remember, you can never have enough flashlights-especially in Florida where we are always losing power!
Lastly, there’s the piece on the end that is suppose to break your window so you can escape the ditch before the alligator finds you (kidding-alligators really don’t like human flesh—there are better things to munch on than us.) I’m curious to know how well it works, but I’m not about to test it—so for now, I’ll take their word for it and hope I never have that need! For those who really want to know, here’s a helpful tip I read—place and press it into the corner of the window (side window, not windshield) for best results. I also read that a hammer works just as well. Okay, hold up your hands—how many of you have a hammer in your car right now?
To wrap this up, why did I really buy this cute little gadget? I bought it for the car—seatbelt and window—and for times while I’m out walking or shopping. It’s getting to be a really scary world out there. I like the flasher and siren—I probably can’t hurt myself as badly as I could with mace. Seriously, depending on the situation, I think the siren and flasher might act as a good distraction or call to attention in the course of an attack or serious fall.
Before I end, I want to mention that when I purchased one for myself I also bought one for my mother. My father was so impressed with it, that the next week I bought him one too (can you guess what my sisters are getting for Christmas!) I also went to the army surplus store and bought us each a metal whistle which I attached to each keychain. I think the BodyGuard 5-In-1 and whistle combination provides a level of safety and security that is essential today. There are no guarantees, but while walking through a store parking lot with my BodyGuard in my hand, I do feel better prepared should an incident arise.
There is more to fear with “snakes”, than gators. Be safe everyone!
