resqme
Keychain car escape tools, seatbelt cutters and emergency whistles made in the United States since 1998
⚙️ American Manufacturing
Our assessment
Company details
Where resqme products are made
Made in the USA — the original tool
resqme states plainly on the product page for its original escape tool: “The original resqme® tool is made in the USA and is a registered trademark of resqme, Inc.” The same page warns buyers about counterfeit copies sold under the resqme name.
Whistles For Life
The 120-decibel, three-chamber emergency whistle resqme acquired from search-and-rescue veteran Bob Cameron in 2023 is described by the company as made in the USA of ABS plastic, and is used by search and rescue and law enforcement programs nationwide.
Santa Barbara, California
resqme, Inc. operates from 718 East Mason Street in Santa Barbara. A separate arm, resqme Europe, was set up in Nantes, France in 2017 to handle distribution outside the United States.
resqme publishes a Made in the USA claim on two distinct product families — the original keychain escape tool and the Whistles For Life emergency whistle. It does not publish an origin statement for every line: the newer electronic products, including the DefendMe personal safety alarm and the AlertMe drowsy-driver device, carry no country-of-manufacture claim on the company’s own site. Because part of the catalog is documented and part is not, we label resqme American Manufacturing rather than Made in USA. The escape tool itself — the product the company is known for — is the one the company states is domestically made.
The story
resqme, Inc. was founded in 1998 by Laurent Colasse, and it did not start with the tool it is now known for. The company began as NOV8 Distributions, distributing the conventional safety hammer sold to break a car window in an emergency.
The hammer worked. The problem, as the company tells it, was where people put it: in a glovebox, under a seat, in a trunk — out of reach at exactly the moment it was needed. A tool that is not on you is not a safety tool.
That observation produced the resqme keychain: a spring-loaded window punch and a recessed seatbelt cutter small enough to live on a key ring, developed with input from fire and first-responder safety specialist Bob Steingass. By the mid-2000s firefighters and EMTs across the US were carrying it as standard kit.
The company has since grown past the single product. It opened resqme Europe in Nantes, France in 2017, and in 2023 acquired Whistles For Life from Bob Cameron, a search and rescuer with more than fifty years in the field. It reports over 15 million tools sold across roughly 50 countries.
Why they matter
Vehicle-escape tools are a category where counterfeits are a genuine safety problem, not just a commercial one. A window punch that does not fire, or a cutter that will not part a loaded belt, fails in the one situation it exists for — and resqme’s own product page warns buyers about fraudulent copies trading on its name.
A stated domestic manufacturing origin matters more here than in most categories, because it is one of the few things a buyer can verify before the emergency rather than during it.
It is also a reminder that a good safety product is usually a design insight, not a materials breakthrough. The resqme tool is not stronger than a hammer. It is simply always within reach, which is the whole argument.
Shop resqme products
Browse resqme car escape tools, seatbelt cutters and emergency whistles available now in the Buy American store.
Frequently asked questions
Is the resqme tool made in the USA?
Yes — resqme states on its own product page that the original resqme tool is made in the USA. Its Whistles For Life whistle carries the same claim. Its newer electronic products do not carry a published origin statement.
When was resqme founded?
1998. The company began as NOV8 Distributions distributing safety hammers, then developed the compact keychain escape tool that carries the resqme name.
What does the resqme tool actually do?
Two things: a recessed blade cuts a jammed or loaded seatbelt, and a spring-loaded steel punch shatters a tempered side window. It is designed to live on a key ring so it is within reach from the driver’s seat.
Where is resqme located?
resqme, Inc. is at 718 East Mason Street, Santa Barbara, California. A separate entity, resqme Europe, has been headquartered in Nantes, France since 2017.