Warning: The black car hammer to the right of this guide is not suitable for double glazing!

If your life had to depend on a single piece of emergency equipment which one would you choose?

Emergency hammers to break vehicle glass have been around for several years and thousands (maybe millions) have been sold, yet how many of those hammers have actually been used in a life threatening situation?.. probably very few, so it is no surprise little is known about just how effective they really are. We decided to put them to the test and see just how capable they are and if they actually can do what the manufacturers (or eBayers) claim.

We looked at the hammers currently on eBay and other safety sites, to include some very well known makes, and compared them side by side to determine their quality, the weight, the strike tip, the head that holds the strike tip (pointy bit), the angle of the strike tip relative to the handle of the hammer, and lastly the seat belt blade.

First the quality: All of the hammers looked quite good in the packaging however, when removed, the way in which they were manufactured left a lot to be desired. Remember the old days when the local shop used to sell "Lucky bags"? Three of them should have been in them. Total rubbish!.. The remaining ones seems to look the part but felt very flimsy. Only one could in all honesty give me any confidence in using it in an emergency situation.

So we move on to the weight: Ever been to that well known toffee maker and bought some of that amazing sticky toffee (shops in most towns), well they also do a toffee hammer. Now, not one to be beat about the bush, I reckon whoever designed these emergency hammers must have been in some way related to the man who designed the toffee hammer. Cheap and cheerful and as light as possible...Enough said!

A bit about the strike tip: Of the several we looked at the two cheapest ones had blunt strike tips so they were discounted as being useless (the tip has to be sharp to break the glass). Of the remaining ones 3 were found to have fairly sharp strike tips but the material they were made from was so soft the strike tip became blunt on the first strike of the glass... (they didnt break it by the way), so that left one worth looking at. The remaining hammer (a well known make) did actually break the glass but completely fell apart during use!... The screws keeping it together just broke away from the plastic!

And the angle of the strike tip relative to the handle? Ever hit a nail with a hammer only to find the nail bends? Here's why... Lets imagine you have a sheet of glass in front of you and a hammer in your hand and your going to break it. You will notice the strike tip (the pointy bit used to break the glass) is at 90 degrees to the handle. When you swing the hammer you create an arc, the strike point (or flat point of the hammer) alters its angle relative to the thing you want to hit, in this case the glass. So you end up with a glancing blow rather than a direct hit (thus the nails bends). As its a glancing blow the glass never actually comes into direct contact with the strike tip so the glass doesn't break! Now imagine hitting the glass (or nail) head on... Bingo! The glass breaks (or the nail goes in), but hang on a mo, if the glass breaks when your hitting it head on surely your hand will hit the glass too as it follows through... Yep, it does and the result is your hand and knuckles gets badly cut! All of the hammers had this problem.

So what about the claims about how good they are? Frankly, I am amazed... Not only are they useless on vehicle glass several eBayers are selling them saying you can use them on double glazing!.. Can you imagine hitting an extremely tough sealed window with one and the subsequent damage it will do to your hand (going straight through the glass)? not to mention what would happen if a child try to use it.. They should be ashamed of themselves!

And lastly, the seat belt blade: Only one of the hammers came any where near close to being able to cut a seat belt.. All of the others either didn't cut into the fabric at all or the blade was pushed back into the plastic handle. So much for giving confidence to you in an upturned vehicle, possibly in a river!

So where does that leave us?

Thousands (probably millions) have been sold, yet none survived the even the most basic testing which is a real worry. If you have one in your car, at home or at work the best thing you can do is bin it!

So whats the answer? well, after several years of design, testing and looking at all known emergency hammers the Lifeaxe was specifically engineered to overcome the problem with arcing and point contact. As you will see from the images on the Lifeaxe.com web site there are several individual strike tips, each playing a part in maintaining direct impact when connecting with the glass. As an added safety feature the Lifeaxe also incorporates a knuckle guard to help protect against accidental contact with the glass. And thats not all, the head is weighted in exactly the right place to use every drop of kinetic energy so that the glass breaks with as little effort as possible. Anything else? yep there is... The Lifeaxe is up to five times heavier than other emergency hammers, has incredible torque strength, is impervious to oil and chemicals and comes with it own holder to mount to walls and bulkheads. Is that it?.. No actually, there are two versions, one for domestic and one for industrial and commercial use.. and more importantly, the Lifeaxe is the only emergency hammer designed and engineered for use on double glazing!

So who uses them and where are they fitted? The Fire Brigade, the Police, hotels, hospitals, care homes, high rise buildings, marine and off-shore contractors, farmers, flats owners, houses, offices, heavy goods vehicle operators, bus companies, car owners, light aircraft users, gliders.. and the list goes on.

OK, you've convinced me, where can I get one? Go to the Lifeaxe.com web site and you can buy one online using PayPal or you can watch out for them on eBay as a special promotion (you may be lucky and pick up a bargain!).

Do they sell any other products? Yep they sure do, they also sell an approved heavy duty vehicle hammer for PSV vehicles, buses, coaches etc, and they also stock a new heavy duty hammer for vehicles that has a seat belt cutting tool incorporated that really does cut through seat belts...(available on eBay soon)

Brilliant, at least I can put it to the back of my mind knowing both my family and myself will be safe from now on, shame I didn't know about the Lifeaxe before I wasted my money on the cheap one though...

Be safe and happy bidding

If you found this guide helpful I would realy appreciate your vote... thank you.

P.s. If you look to the right of this guide you may see a black vehicle hammer being sold for double glazing... This is exactly the hammer should should avoid (the eBayer selling this item should know better!).