It's easy to convince EDC people to buy EDC things. But how do you convince non-EDC folks to buy your product?

Simple: Fear.

The global "car escape tool market," according to market research firm Data Insights Market, is valued at $500 million this year, projected to grow 7% a year and hit $900 million in 2033. The trend is being driven by "heightened safety concerns among consumers."

A big seller in this category is the automotive window breaker and seat belt cutter. The fantasy being peddled by the toolmakers is: You will crash, remain conscious, find that your car has burst into flame or is slowly sinking in water, find that you cannot undo your seatbelt, yet are still able to reach for this specialty tool, slice through your seatbelt, then smash the window open and climb free to safety.

This image sure looks real to us!

Accidents that involve fire or water are less than half of one percent of all accidents, according to the NHTSA. And the amount of accidents where the above scenario actually occurred, and that tool saved lives, is not recorded as a statistic. Similarly, seat belt jamming is so rare that neither the NHTSA nor the AAA track it as a statistic.

As for the glassbreakers, here's the big thing that most people don't realize: They're designed to break tempered glass, which is what most cars used to have for the side windows. However, modern safety regulations—specifically, the "Ejection Mitigation Rule" in the 2013 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 226 (FMVSS 226), mean that most manufacturers have transitioned to laminated glass for the side windows.

Laminated glass (which is what the windshields were already made of) is tougher to break, and is now used to prevent occupants from being ejected through the side glass.

An AAA research report tested six commonly-available glassbreakers. Not a single one of them was capable of breaking through laminated glass—and two of the tools couldn't even break through tempered glass, but instead broke themselves. On the glass.

It's true that not all automakers have switched over to laminated glass for the side windows; the FMVSS 226 law stipulates that you can get around it if you install elaborate side airbags that also prevent ejection.

The automakers that are using laminated side glass are only: Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Dodge, Ford, Genesis, GMC, Honda, Hyundai, Infiniti, Jaguar, Jeep, Kia, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Porsche, Ram, Subaru, Toyota, Volkswagen and Volvo. Some of them, like Chevy and BMW, have been using laminated glass since the '70s and '80s. Glassbreakers might only be useful if you're driving around in a classic car and believe you'll become submerged.

That said, seatbelt cutters are of supreme use to firefighters, EMTs and other first responders who may not be able to reach an unconscious accident victim's seatbelt release. So there might be a case for them if you see yourself in a situation where you need to free an unconscious person, and have the training to safely extricate them.