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Lifehammer

Specific discussion about the E89 2009 Z4 (sDrive35is, sDrive35i, sDrive30i, sDrive23i)
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peng
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Lifehammer

Post by peng » Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:15 am

I was thinking of putting a life hammer in my e89 as I live in an area with lots of water, lakes, rivers etc.

I understand the life hammers don't work on specific types of glass (layered glass?) but I am not sure if my z4 actually has that or not.

questions:
1. Do we have this type of glass? will the life hammer work?
2. Do any of you have such a hammer?
3. what would be the best place to put it? (nope, not the trunk...)

Busterboo
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Post by Busterboo » Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:44 am

1. I don't know, but ...
2. I have one, which ...
3. I keep in the hinge-down cubbyhole by the side of the steering column.

Presumably, the only convenient way to find out if it'll work is to go to a scrap yard and try it on a modern car (from the inside, of course). I haven't done that.

Mine also has a seatbelt-cutter and I haven't tried that, either.

Wherever you keep it, it obviously needs to be prevented from flying around the inside of the car in the event of an accident and to be reachable by both driver and passenger.
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Post by flybobbie » Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:21 am

I knew a fellow worker, he drove his car down inside canal lock, in the dark and drown. Think he was drunk on the way back to his narrow boat.
Just best to avoid water, or at least drive near with roof down.

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Deepseaskateboard
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Post by Deepseaskateboard » Wed Mar 03, 2021 11:48 am

Surely it’s better to have one than not if it’s a genuine concern.

If you needed to use it, I am sure you could make it work.

Or just use a regular hammer. That works on most things!

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Post by Busterboo » Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:19 pm

p.s.

I have a 'life hammer' because I was driving an estate car quickly on a two-lane section of the A1 after midnight, when I came across large pieces of lorry tyre debris, which I tried to avoid. In doing so, I hit the kerb by the Armco and the car flipped, rolled across the road and ended upside-down in a big ditch.

Hanging by the seat belt, the first fear was fire, so I switched the ignition off, but the car was diesel and there was no sign of it. Instinctively, I then undid the seat belt and ... fell on my head. Next, I tried the door, of course, but the ditch was so narrow that it couldn't open. Nor could the passenger's, so I crawled into the back, but the doors there were jammed, too.

At this point, I was beginning to worry, but tried one of the rear-door, wind-down, don't-open-all-the-way windows and managed to get my head & shoulders out. Having got all of me out, I rolled over and stuck my head back in to see how the dog was. Sitting calmly on the inside of the roof at the back, he looked at me and said, 'What the f... was that, then?', followed immediately by 'Can we go for a walk now?'

Two days later, I was standing in a recovery yard looking at the wreck when one of the staff came up and said, 'I'll bet he didn't get out alive.' I then realised that it was probably the laminated windscreen that meant he was wrong, because, although it cracked badly and partially collapsed, it still still supported the roof. So, whether a life hammer would have broken it well enough for it to be an escape route, I don't know. And breaking the side windows would have been no use, anyway. But smashing the vertical back window of the estate might well have been a way out. Hence the hammer now.
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Stevo1987
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Post by Stevo1987 » Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:05 pm

Busterboo wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:19 pm p.s.

I have a 'life hammer' because I was driving an estate car quickly on a two-lane section of the A1 after midnight, when I came across large pieces of lorry tyre debris, which I tried to avoid. In doing so, I hit the kerb by the Armco and the car flipped, rolled across the road and ended upside-down in a big ditch.

Hanging by the seat belt, the first fear was fire, so I switched the ignition off, but the car was diesel and there was no sign of it. Instinctively, I then undid the seat belt and ... fell on my head. Next, I tried the door, of course, but the ditch was so narrow that it couldn't open. Nor could the passenger's, so I crawled into the back, but the doors there were jammed, too.

At this point, I was beginning to worry, but tried one of the rear-door, wind-down, don't-open-all-the-way windows and managed to get my head & shoulders out. Having got all of me out, I rolled over and stuck my head back in to see how the dog was. Sitting calmly on the inside of the roof at the back, he looked at me and said, 'What the f... was that, then?', followed immediately by 'Can we go for a walk now?'

Two days later, I was standing in a recovery yard looking at the wreck when one of the staff came up and said, 'I'll bet he didn't get out alive.' I then realised that it was probably the laminated windscreen that meant he was wrong, because, although it cracked badly and partially collapsed, it still still supported the roof. So, whether a life hammer would have broken it well enough for it to be an escape route, I don't know. And breaking the side windows would have been no use, anyway. But smashing the vertical back window of the estate might well have been a way out. Hence the hammer now.
Sounds a complete nightmare. Lucky the ditch wasn't full of water. I think anyone in The Fens should have some tools and an escape plan.
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Lifehammer

Post by EssexZed » Wed Mar 03, 2021 8:25 pm

This reminded me of a Post from a few years ago of an accident where an E89 ended upside down in a field. The driver said the seat belt had to be cut to get him out because it had tightened so much it wouldn’t release by pressing the button. He ordered one of those hammer/seat belt cutters afterwards.

viewtopic.php?f=23&t=102560&hilit=Ended+up+in+field

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Lifehammer

Post by Busterboo » Thu Mar 04, 2021 12:58 am

Yes, I remember that and the 'life hammer' I carry has a seat belt cutter, too.
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peng
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Lifehammer

Post by peng » Thu Mar 04, 2021 6:14 pm

Busterboo wrote: Wed Mar 03, 2021 10:44 am
3. I keep in the hinge-down cubbyhole by the side of the steering column.
Sounds like a good location... I might put mine there too.

Glad to hear no one ever needed one, and the belt cutting will come in handy if needed.

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