Miss Cellania
The Houdini Escape Tool
by Miss Cellania - November 24, 2008 - 7:15 AM
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I have a relative who is afraid of everything, no matter how remote the odds. She barricades herself in every night thinking that someone might break in her house and hurt her, although the odds are much greater that she will suffer a heart attack and no one will be able to get in to help her. If you’re going to be afraid of what might happen, go with the odds. Overall, the most likely disaster you will deal with is a traffic accident. That’s why we wear seat belts all the time. If you should have a wreck, that seat belt is the most important thing to have. But it’s not the only thing that might come in handy.

250houdini.jpgHoudini makes escape tools. Not for magicians, but for everyday folks who may someday need to escape from a wrecked or submerged car. The Houdini Emergency Rescue Tool is small enough to hang on a keychain, but has a window breaker, a seatbelt cutter, a safety whistle, and an LED flashlight all in one gadget. It runs on lithium batteries and yes, includes a keychain ring, all for $24.95. The Houdini Pro Emergency Rescue Tool is somewhat larger and geared toward use by police and fire fighters. It lacks a safety whistle, but has heavy-duty versions of the other tools. Available in either yellow or black for $39.95.

These tools could help in quite a few scenarios besides being trapped in a car. You never go wrong by attaching a flashlight to your keys. Yeah, some would say investing in a tool like this would brand you as a paranoid, but it’s a small gadget that will give you peace of mind even if you never use it. And it would make a great Christmas gift for Mom, or anyone whose safety you care about.

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Comments (10)

  1. When I was growing up, my mother and her boyfriend refused to wear seatbelts because they were afraid they’d get into a car accident and be caught in the belt and unable to escape the flaming wreckage. I accepted this unquestionably until I got old enough to read that, while this has happened, a seatbelt is WAY more likely to save your life than trap you. (My mother has since gotten a new boyfriend who’s a firefighter and who convinced her that seatbelt-wearing is a good idea.)

    posted by Tina on 11-24-2008 at 7:59 am

  2. I know alot of people that have these just remember that it has to be within reach and that it should be in a compartment or strapped down. It would not be fun to get knocked out by your flying rescue tool in an accident. Also really all you need is a small flashlight and pocket knife and stick them in a small first aid kit and your ready for you or someone else in an accident.

    posted by Brian on 11-24-2008 at 8:14 am

  3. My mother and myself are both alive today because of seat belts. When I was 15, we were in a head-on crash, us in a Ford Escort (no airbags), the other car was a Lincoln Town Car. The police officers and EMTs who arrived on scene told my father that if it hadn’t been for the seatbelts, my mother and I would both have been ejected from the car and likely not survived. The police officer said he’d seen accidents like ours where the occupants were wearing seatbelts and didn’t make it. For the record, my mother had a large gash on her forehead from hitting the steering wheel, and I escaped with a mild concussion and bruises from the seatbelt. That was the extent of our injuries.

    posted by Amy D on 11-24-2008 at 8:19 am

  4. I was in a wreck once with the baby in the back seat. The other car hit us at an extremely low speed and no one was hurt (the car was badly damaged), but if the baby had not been strapped into a car seat, she would’ve been flung out the side window. I’m a big fan of seat belts and proper child restraints!

    posted by Miss Cellania on 11-24-2008 at 8:25 am

  5. I second Brian’s comment about having the device secure, but still within reach. I can’t tell you how many people I know who have amazing emergency devices but think the best place for them is in the trunk. Um, no.

    posted by Chelsea on 11-24-2008 at 10:48 am

  6. Miss C – This seems more like an advertisement than a normal floss-type thought provoking article …

    posted by JohnC on 11-24-2008 at 10:53 am

  7. I always thought this gadget looked more like a handy way to break into cars than a useful tool to get out of the wreckage.

    posted by Amy on 11-24-2008 at 3:05 pm

  8. my sister fell asleep at the wheel a few years back, hit a curb and flipped her car. she woke up on impact, and found herself dangling upside down in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. nobody even woke up. she ended up fumbling around on the roof of her car for her purse, managed to find her lighter and burned her way out of her seatbelt. she certainly could’ve used one of those gadgets. if her car had caught fire she would most likely not have made it out on time.

    posted by tami on 11-24-2008 at 3:41 pm

  9. Thanks for the post about this gadget! I don’t have a car anymore, but I have lots of family members who do. :)

    posted by Dawn on 11-24-2008 at 8:07 pm

  10. JohnC, sometimes it’s hard for me to find a gadget I can make fun of.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 11-24-2008 at 9:39 pm

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