Sometimes the changing of seasons or a variation in routine can nudge us toward a new everyday carry gear. But there can also be specific moments in life that force us to rethink our EDC, whether it be our flashlight, handgun, ammo, blade or multi-tool. Sometimes a serious event can lead to the realization you’ve been overlooking something important.

A Bad Day Can Change Your EDC

Though we try to prepare for worst-case scenarios by reading about real incidents (either on this blog or in Concealed Carry Magazine), a bad experience is often the most powerful change agent. Let me explain.

While on my way to the range back in July, I was involved in a traffic accident. The airbags deployed, my new vehicle was totaled, and even after 40 years of law enforcement patrol work, I’d never experienced an impact like that.

I was shaken and bruised, but I was able to walk away without a hospital trip. And, thankfully, my son hadn’t been with me. Looking over the damage, I realized how much worse things could have been.

I already keep a Blackhawk Hawk-Hook folding rescue tool (now produced by Bear and Son’s) in my center console tray. Its serrated edge is designed for emergency cutting — seatbelts and other obstructions — and it includes a prying tip as well as a window-breaker tip once the tool is opened and locked. It’s an essential tool that I regularly carried while on SWAT and on patrol.

But it does have limitations. Any time I carry it, I still need a second knife for normal cutting chores. I don’t like to have multiple tools rattling around in my pocket, which is why the Hawk-Hook lived in my center console tray … until my accident.

How to Break a Car Side Window Safely

Because my vehicle had done a 180, much of the console area contents had scattered across the floor, including the Hawk-Hook. Had my son been with me and the door had jammed, finding a rescue tool inside a wrecked, spinning vehicle would have taken precious time.

Vehicle side windows are made of tempered safety glass — heat-treated and curved to increase their strength. Try as you might in an emergency, steel, wood or polycarbonate batons won’t break the glass. But these windows aren’t shatter-proof. In an emergency, you need a safety glass-breaking tool on your person, not buried somewhere in the car.

Bear Edge Sideliner Details

Unlike the Blackhawk Hawk Hook Tool, which must be swung into the lower corner of a window, the Sideliner folding knife has a glass breaker tip built into the butt end of the handle. And this matters: it’s designed to be used with the knife closed. Using a glass breaker with the blade locked open is just asking for trouble.

How to Use the Glass Breaker Tool

To use the glass breaker tip on the Sideliner knife, get a firm grip on the closed knife, then lightly tap into one of the lower corners of a side window. If someone is trapped in the car, your entry point should be away from where he or she is. While the tip itself won’t spray glass everywhere, pushing the shattered window out to open the door can.

This doesn’t take a power swing; just a reasonably firm tap. And, to be clear, this will only work on automobile side windows, not the windshield or rear window.

The Bear Edge 4 ½-inch Black Aluminum Sideliner w/ Reverse Tanto Blade and Glass Breaker I’m reviewing is built in the USA and marked as such on the right side of the blade, along with the pattern number #127.

The blade is 440 stainless steel, a higher-grade cutlery steel that can offer good edge retention when heat-treated properly, and it keeps costs reasonable.

Bear & Son Bear Edge Sideliner Specifications

Open length: 8 1/8 inches
Closed length: 4 ½ inches
Blade length: 3 3/8 inches
Weight: 4.4 ounces
Pocket clip carry: Clip positions glass breaker tip point-up
Origin: Blade built in America with some foreign components
Special features: Ball bearing washers, Sideliner lock, metal pocket clip, reverse tanto blade for greater penetration, glass breaker, finger flipper opening, lanyard spacer
Price: $60.99

Carrying the Bear Edge Sideliner

Overall, the Bear Edge Sideliner is a conventional design. Reverse tanto blades, aluminum grips and a glass breaker aren’t “earthshattering,” but a quality conventional build helps keep cost down while still giving you the features you need.

For $60.99, you get a locking-blade folding knife with the most critical component — the blade — made in the U.S. Some other components are made outside the U.S., but everything is assembled together here.

The Sideliner carries well and feels comfortable in-hand. It comes packaged very sharp and ready to go. The knife’s clip is designed for tip-up carry, so the glass breaker tip is unlikely to dig holes in your trousers, though you may have to be careful when you run your hand into your pocket.

I don’t personally like pocket clip carry with any folding knife, and don’t use that method with any knife that has a pocket clip. For testing the Sideliner, I slipped it into an inexpensive nylon sheath with a buckle latch and put it in my pocket. It rode comfortably and stayed within easy reach. The sheath I used can also be worn on a belt, but I don’t trust a Velcro belt loop to secure valuable property.

Bear Edge Sideliner Review: A Value-Priced USA-Built Rescue Knife

Not long before I retired, I responded to a call where a mother had locked the keys in her car with her baby by accident. While the other responding officers were able to get the door open with their lockout tools, it is also good to have a glass breaker as an emergency option.

The Bear Edge 4 ½-inch Black Aluminum Handle Sideliner is value-priced (for a USA-built knife) at $60.99. It’s worth purchasing for peace of mind for any number of reasons. Don’t leave home without it.

Bear & Son: BearAndSonCutlery.com