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The BLINGSTING safety hammer is a car escape tool with a window breaker on one end and a seatbelt cutter on the other, and it lives in my center console now. I’m in the Midwest, it’s been flooding a ton this summer, and my irrational fear of being stuck in a car and needing one of these isn’t so irrational anymore. Everybody should have one in their car. This one happens to be rose gold.
BLINGSTING sent it to me to try. I can’t test the part that matters without breaking my own window, so this is a post about what it is, where to keep it, and why I’m glad it’s in the car.
Quick Verdict
- Buy it if: you don’t have an escape tool in your car, or you’re shopping for someone who just got their first one
- Skip it if: you want something that clips to the door or your keys instead of sitting loose in a console
- My favorite feature: It’s small enough to keep within reach and pretty enough that I’ll actually leave it there
- Would I buy again? Yes, and I’d gift it
Why a rose gold escape hammer isn’t a gimmick
I love the branding. It’s shiny and pretty, this one is the rose gold, and there are other colors to choose from. The idea I keep coming back to is gifting it to a teen with a first car. Let’s make safety pretty and cool looking, because a tool that gets admired stays in the car, and a tool that gets tolerated ends up in a drawer.
They aren’t new at this. The package says they’ve been keeping over 3 million people safe since 2013, and the rest of their line is the same idea: keychain alarms and pepper spray that look like accessories.
BLINGSTING Safety Hammer Emergency Escape Tool
A carbide-tipped window breaker, a recessed steel seatbelt cutter, and an adjustable visor strap, in a rose gold finish that comes in other colors too.
BLINGSTING safety hammer specs
- Window breaker: carbide-tipped steel point, for tempered glass
- Seatbelt cutter: recessed steel blade
- Third end: a flat head for clearing the rest of the glass out of the frame
- Strap: adjustable visor strap, removable
- Weight: 6.4 ounces
- Finish: blush rose pink metallic, other colors available
- Also sold as: a 2-pack
Who should keep a car escape tool
Everybody. That’s not a sales line, it’s what I said in the video before I thought about it. If you drive through low spots, over bridges, or anywhere that’s been flooding, you want one within reach. If someone you love just started driving, it’s the gift they won’t think to buy themselves.
It’s also the easiest kind of car prep. If you’re building a kit, the BDH emergency ration bars I tested are the other thing that lives in my car and never gets touched, which is the point of both.
Where I keep it in my Camry
I was thinking the glove box. Then I thought about needing it, with the belt on and the car at an angle, and the glove box is one more reach than I want. It went in the middle console instead, right next to me, and that’s where it stays.
It also fits in the sunglass holder of a Toyota Camry if you maneuver it a little, but the console is the better spot. It’s a good size. It won’t bother me or take up room, and I don’t have to move it to get to anything else.
The three ends and the strap
- The pointy end: this is the one you bust the window with. It’s sharp, and it’s the end you’d want facing away from you in a console.
- The flat end: once the window’s broken, this clears the rest of the glass out of the way.
- The blade end: you can tell there’s a blade in there, sharp looking, tucked into a slot. That’s for your seatbelt, and any passenger’s.
- The strap: the instructions say to loop it around the visor. I don’t know the rules about looping things around the mirror and/or visor, so I didn’t. It comes off if you’d rather ditch it.
What I liked
- It’s a good size, so it’s not in the way
- Two jobs in one tool, so there’s no second thing to find
- I’m thrilled to have it, and I don’t say that about many things I hope to never touch
What to know before you buy
- I haven’t broken a window with it. I can’t, without breaking my own. What it’s like in your hand I can tell you; what it does to glass is the maker’s claim
- Escape hammers are for tempered glass, which is your side and rear windows. Windshields are laminated and this won’t go through one
- It’s designed for women and it looks it. If that’s a problem for the person you’re buying for, there are plainer tools below
Common questions about the BLINGSTING safety hammer
Can the BLINGSTING safety hammer break a car window?
It’s built to. The pointed end is a carbide-tipped steel point made for tempered side and rear windows. I haven’t broken a window with mine, because the only window I have to test on is my own, so that part is the maker’s claim and not my test.
Does it cut a seatbelt?
Yes. One end has a recessed steel blade you pull the belt through. You can see the blade is sharp without touching it, and it’s meant for your belt and any passenger’s.
Where should you keep a car escape tool?
Within reach of the driver’s seat with your belt on. Mine lives in the center console. The glove box is one more reach than you’d want if the car is in water.
Does the visor strap come off?
Yes. It’s adjustable and it pulls off, so you can keep the tool loose in a console or a bag instead of strapped to the visor.
Is the BLINGSTING safety hammer a good gift for a new driver?
That’s the main reason I’d buy one. It’s rose gold, it comes in other colors, and a teen with a first car is far more likely to keep a pretty one in the car than a plain black one in the glove box.
Other car escape tools to compare
- RESQME Keychain Car Escape Tool: lives on your keys instead of in the console, with a spring-loaded spike that resets after each use.
- Lifehammer Safety Hammer Evolution: a full-size hammer with a ceramic head and a click-in mount for the car door, TÜV certified.
- Gerber Seatbelt Strap Cutter Escape Tool: a hook-style cutter that shields the blade, with a glass breaker and a clip, made in the USA.
My verdict on the BLINGSTING safety hammer
Hope I never need it. That’s the whole review of an escape tool. It’s in the console, it’s not in my way, and I have some peace of mind knowing it’s there. If the flooding keeps up, that’s not nothing.
Where To Buy
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