Greg Thompson designed the 179 for rescue performance and less-than-lethal self-defense. The tool includes the Benchmade rescue hook design, a carbide glass breaker, 02 wrench and the same finger loop and integral sheath design as the rest of the SOCP family. Made in the USA.
Specifications:
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Blade Thickness: 0.120"
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Blade Material: 440C Stainless Steel (58-60HRC)
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Blade Style: Rescue hook with carbide glass breaker and oxygen wrench
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Handle Material: Grey coated single piece tool with finger ring
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Weight: 1.88 Oz.
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Overall Length: 6.75"
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Sheath: MOLLE compatible sheath with deep-carry dip-coated clip 1.04 Oz.
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Made in USA
Within its Black Series, Benchmade creates products aimed at professionals in law enforcement, public safety, and the military, and at civilians with a need for professional-grade tool and knife designs. For 2016, the Benchmade Black Series incorporates a new product aimed at rescue tasks and only incidentally at self defense. The Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool fits into the rest of the Black Series lineup that features custom design by Greg Thompson, a Close Quarters Battle training specialist with a lengthy background in mixed martial arts.
Benchmade's tradition of pairing the company's excellence in materials and manufacture with the expertise of custom designers produces knives and other tools that offer innovative approaches based on insights into specialized needs. That combination of innovation and expertise comes front and center within the Benchmade collection of knives and tools bearing the name and influence of Greg Thompson.
A hand-to-hand combat instructor, mixed martial arts champion, Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) instructor, author of an MACP techniques manual, holder of numerous patents, and creator of the Special Operations Combatives Program (SOCP), Greg Thompson also holds a master's degree in Industrial Design. That combination of mastery of the techniques and responses of Close Quarters Battle with the academic and practical ability to create and market products leads Mr. Thompson to his role as custom designer of Benchmade's SOCP weapons and tools. SOCP serves as the official combatives program for the U.S. Army's Special Operations Forces, as well as for elite units in other branches of the armed forces, and law enforcement officers at the U.S. federal and state levels. Mr. Thompson's designs for Benchmade reflect his focus on self-defense devices, especially those used in close quarters.
Blade Profile
The Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool extends Benchmade's series of skeletonized tools bearing the Greg Thompson name. These include the 176 SOCP Dagger and 178 SOCP Drop-Point self-defense tools, two types of skeletonized knives. The Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool aims beyond the defensive roles that the other Thompson-designed tools fulfill, addressing the rescue and assistance needs of medics, EMTs, law enforcement, other public safety professionals, the military, and civilians.
As a skeletonized tool, the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool incorporates no attached handle materials or fittings. Its light weight and easy balance in the hand make it a highly maneuverable tool for use in rescue situations.
The Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool's blade profile includes the patented Benchmade rescue hook, similar to a gut hook in profile, with a sharpened "C" shape built into the edge of an otherwise unsharpened blade. Whether you need to cut a seatbelt while you extract an accident victim from a vehicle, or slice through layers of clothing to deliver emergency care in the field, the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool handles these types of urgent objectives without the risk of cutting the victim or yourself.
In a study by four members of the Department of Emergency Medicine within the School of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, published in the journal Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, the authors found that hooked cutting devices yielded 69% faster extrication times than scissors when removing clothing from patients to assess potentially life-threatening illnesses and injuries. This study took place in the Level-1 trauma center of Johns Hopkins' emergency department. The Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool provides an easy-to-use, easy-to-carry device that delivers functionality consistent with the findings of the study.
The blade of the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool thins below a roughly triangular opening placed just above the Benchmade logo, making the portion of the tool that includes the rescue hook run thinner than the rest of the tool. In addition to the rescue hook, the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool includes a glass breaker, oxygen wrench, and finger loop. The glass breaker appears at the tip of the tool. Located just above the tip, the oxygen wrench consists of a laser-cut opening shaped like a rounded rectangle, designed to fit the valve of an oxygen tank. The finger loop at the top of the tool projects just above the opening of the sheath when the tool is not in use. The loop's ribbed jimping grooves boost finger grip when you grasp the tool to extract it from the sheath or use it in the field.
Unlike the Thompson designed 176 SOCP Dagger and 178 SOCP Drop-Point self-defense tools, the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool does not incorporate a sharpened edge other than the interior cutting portion of the rescue hook itself.
Blade Finish
The entire single-piece Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool features a grey coating with laser-etched markings. The coating on the tool does not accept Benchmade's optional lasermarking service to add personalized text or graphics to the blade surface.
Blade Steel
Benchmade crafts the 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool from 440C stainless steel, a high-carbon alloy that balances hardness and corrosion resistance, edge retention and sharpening ease. Although 440C can range from 0.95% to 1.2% carbon, Benchmade uses a version that incorporates 1.0% carbon and measures 58 to 60 HRC on the Rockwell Hardness Scale. Carbon contributes to hardness, which represents a laboratory measurement of the resistance to a heavy force driving a test implement into the material under evaluation. Achieving properties such as hardness in a steel alloy means accentuating one attribute at the expense of another. High hardness accompanies reduced toughness, which measures resistance to chipping, cracking, brittleness, and breakage.
Stainless steels such as 440C derive their corrosion resistance from the inclusion of chromium, the hardest element on the entire periodic table. A corrosion-resistant alloy survives exposure to moisture and salt without oxidizing. Just as hardness and toughness vie for dominance in the characteristics of a stainless steel alloy, so do corrosion resistance and edge retention. Note that even stainless steels will oxidize given sufficient exposure to corrosive substances and environments, and that corrosion resistance represents a continuum from most to least, not most to none at all.
Along with its 440C stainless steel alloy, the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool also includes an integrated tungsten carbide glass-breaking tip. If you're surprised that the small point of the glass breaker can fracture the large surface of a vehicle's windshield or side window, understand that the small dimensions of that carbide point form one of two attributes that actually contribute to the effectiveness and ease with which good glass breakers work.
Given the proper tempering, glass can demonstrate greater degrees of hardness than stainless steel. The tempered glass used in modern vehicle windshields consists of a laminate sandwich that places a layer of vinyl between two layers of glass. The result can survive a gunshot without fracturing or otherwise disintegrating. Vehicles' side and rear windows typically use tempered glass, heat treated to produce as much as 400% of the strength of regular glass.
Vehicle manufacturers design their products with strengthened glass that's able to contribute to occupant safety in the event of impact or collision. As a result, standard law enforcement gear including batons and flashlights offers unreliable performance in breaking vehicle glass to provide entry. To breach a window in time to save a victim from fire or prevent a suspect from injuring an officer, you need a proven, dependable tool especially designed for the purpose.
Glass breaking tools concentrate their entire force on the smallest point possible. With pressure applied in one tiny spot, the glass breaks at the point of tool impact and develops spiderweb-like fractures that cause it to fall apart. The portion of a glass breaking tool that provides that small initial pressure point must exhibit greater hardness than glass, and be made of a material that offers the durability to withstand prolonged use.
The tungsten carbide glass breaker on the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool features a pointed tip, not the blunted-ended impact point you'll find on some tools designed for use in self defense, rescue, and extraction. This pointed tip gives the tool its ability to function as a self-defense tool in non-lethal situations.
Handle Materials
Because the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool features a skeletonized design, its handle and blade form an integrated, single-piece shape without handle fittings or attachments. The tool's finger loop forms its handle.
Handle Design
The Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool uses an integrated finger ring with ridges at the top of the tool that form a thumbrest for added grip. The handle is designed so you can extract the tool from its sheath with one finger. Like the other Greg Thompson SOCP designs for Benchmade, the 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool is easy to carry in a position of concealment. Most of the finger ring disappears into the sheath when you stow the tool, making it difficult to identify what you're carrying, although that consideration may be less significant with the Rescue Tool than with the 176 SOCP Dagger and 178 SOCP Drop-Point self-defense tools.
Pocket Clip
Although the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool doesn't incorporate a pocket clip on the tool itself, its sheath provides a deep-carry dip-coated black steel clip, attached with two Torx screws just below the rounded top front edge. Where the end of the clip touches the sheath, molded ridges help keep the sheath in place as you carry it and when you pull out the Rescue Tool for use.
Sheath Materials
Unlike Benchmade's more traditional knife products, the 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool includes its own sheath as a standard feature because of the unique shape and functionality of the tool. Made of injection molded plastic, the sheath comes in two colors: Sand and black. To indicate your color choice, select model 179GRY for black or model 179GRYSN for sand.
Sheath Configuration
The Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool shares its injection molded sheath design with Benchmade's two similarly sized Greg Thompson skeletonized knives, the 176 SOCP Dagger and 178 SOCP Drop-Point. Integrated ribs across the body of the sheath and under the tip of the pocket clip help hold the sheath in place. A pair of curved slots flanks the ribbing under the pocket clip. The design places pairs of lanyard holes on small flanges that project at the top and bottom corners. The finger loop tool handle projects only partway past the half-moon curved opening of the sheath itself.
If you carry body armor, backpacks, or other load-bearing gear that uses the MOLLE system and PALS webbing, you can incorporate the Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool with the rest of your equipment thanks to its compatibility with MOLLE attachment. The term MOLLE, which stands for Modular Lightweight Load-Carrying Equipment, originally applied only to equipment developed and manufactured for various NATO armed forces, including the U.S. Army, and equivalent items available to law enforcement officers. MOLLE compatible gear incorporates horizontal rows of one-inch PALS (Pouch Attachment Ladder System) webbing stitched on at one-inch intervals. Pouches, hydration bladders, sheaths, and other items attach to the webbing with straps or clips. Imagine the fabric equivalent of a pegboard wall, and you understand the goals of MOLLE and PALS.
Options
Benchmade offers the 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool in two basic product configurations. Models 179GRY and 179GRYSN differ only in the color of the sheath they each include, with black for the former and sand for the latter. Models 179GRY-COMBO and 179GRYSN-COMBO also include the Trainer that's available for the Greg Thompson designed 176 SOCP Dagger and 178 SOCP Drop-Point self-defense tools. Because of the unique profiles of skeletonized tools and the differences between a finger loop handle and that of a conventional knife or tool, the Trainer gives you an opportunity to accustom yourself to unsheathing the tool, maneuvering it, and incorporating it among the rest of your gear.
The Trainer features a red finish on the same 440C stainless steel used in the Rescue Tool and the rest of Benchmade's SOCP product lineup. The Trainer runs similar in shape to profile of the Rescue Tool, although it lacks a rescue hook and incorporates no sharpened edges whatsoever. The jimping grooves on the Trainer also appear in slightly different spacings and locations than the equivalent features on the Rescue Tool. The Trainer runs slightly longer, thicker, and heavier than the Rescue Tool.
Overall, Benchmade offers the SOCP Rescue Tool in the following configurations:
179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool: Includes black sheath
179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool: Includes sand sheath
179GRY-COMBO SOCP Rescue Tool: Includes black sheath and Trainer
179GRYSN-COMBO SOCP Rescue Tool: Includes sand sheath and Trainer
Tool Dimensions and Weight
The Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool weighs 1.88 ounces and measures 6.75 inches long overall. At the finger-ring handle, the tool runs 0.18 inches thick, tapering to 0.12 inches above the rescue hook. The sheath weighs 1.04 ounces. The Trainer that forms part of the combo version of the Rescue Tool product measures 6.81 inches long and 0.175 inches thick, and weighs 2.31 ounces.
Other Considerations
If you already own either the Benchmade 176 SOCP Dagger or the 178 SOCP Drop-Point, the 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool makes a coordinated, highly useful addition to Benchmade's suite of products offered with the tactical hallmarks of Greg Thompson's designs. You'll find other rescue tools on the market with oxygen wrenches, but none with Benchmade's unique, patented rescue hook and a configuration derived in conjunction with Mr. Thompson's years of specialized expertise.
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Benchmade 179GRY SOCP Rescue Tool
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Weight |
1.88 oz. |
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Overall length |
6.75" |
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Closed length |
N/A |
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Blade length |
2.5" |
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Thickness |
0.18" down to 0.12" |
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Handle length |
N/A |
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Handle material |
N/A |
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Color |
Gray |
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Blade material |
440C stainless steel |
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Blade hardness |
58-60 HRC |
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Blade style |
Fixed with rescue hook |
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Blade grind |
Flat |
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Blade finish |
Gray coated |
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Blade edge type |
Rescue hook |
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Pocket clip |
Sheath-mounted deep-carry dip-coated black steel clip |
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Lock mechanism |
N/A |
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Opener |
N/A |
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Sheath material |
Injection-molded plastic in black or sand |
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Benchmade product class |
Black Series |
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User |
N/A |
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Best use |
Rescue, tactical |
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Manufacturer's suggested retail prices |
179GRY and 179GRYSN: $90 179GRY-COMBO and 179GRYSN-COMBO: $130 |