# Do you own a can opener? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 5, 2018, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639 "2018-12-05T21:55:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/61 "2018-12-06T15:47:39Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I’ve got one of those newfangled can openers that lifts the whole lid off the can, rather than cutting through the lid just inside the rim. > > Two advantages: (1) the lid has no sharp edges after you lift it off, and (2) if you only use part of a can of something, you can push the lid back into place, no need for foil or plastic wrap. We bought one of those for my mother. It turned out to be a pain in the ass. Some cans it simply wouldn’t open. We couldn’t figure out what was different about those cans but it was consistently the same products that were a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/62 "2018-12-06T19:23:39Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > We bought one of those for my mother. It turned out to be a pain in the ass. Some cans it simply wouldn’t open. We couldn’t figure out what was different about those cans but it was consistently the same products that were a problem. I’d blame the opener. The first side-piercing can opener that I bought snapped the first time I used it; the plastic hand-crank part just cracked and came off the metal shaft it was supposed to be turning. Garbage. The second one I bought, a Good Cook model like [this one](http://www.alpharubicon.com/prepinfo/canopenermamabear.htm), has worked flawlessly for about 15 years now. I love that thing. The only limitation of my favorite manual can opener is, your forearm muscles get tired if you have to open a bunch of cans in a row for a huge pot of chili or something. So my wife keeps an electric can opener around for that, which she pretty much uses exclusively. I hate electric openers, I think they’re a waste of valuable counter space. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/63 "2018-12-06T20:12:08Z")
I literally finished my last bite of tuna then opened this thread. Yes, a superior side-cut can opener. They’re not new though, been around since the 1980s apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/64 "2018-12-06T20:19:43Z")
I actually own several. My favorite is the one that takes off the whole top of the can. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/65 "2018-12-06T20:49:34Z")
> [@Hermitian](#): > > My first thought as well. Our logo needs to be a walker. > > Wait a minute, new headline: Millennial are now killing message boards. Where are the 30 somethings supposed to go nowadays? I feel too young here and too old on Reddit. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/66 "2018-12-06T21:06:00Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Where are the 30 somethings supposed to go nowadays? I feel too young here and too old on Reddit. I think we’re just supposed to not quite fit in anywhere. It’s a millennial thing, really. I’d guess a large part of the reason that younger people are eating less tuna is environmental reasons. If this thread was full of my age and younger (I’m right at the oldest end of millennial by most definitions), unsustainable fishing would probably have popped up in the first 10 posts or so. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/67 "2018-12-06T21:15:52Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Where are the 30 somethings supposed to go nowadays? I feel too young here and too old on Reddit. Bring in more 30-somethings. I share all the best threads to Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/68 "2018-12-06T21:17:57Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Bring in more 30-somethings. > > I share all the best threads to Facebook. No-one’s on Facebook any more _grandpa_. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/69 "2018-12-06T21:22:31Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > No-one’s on Facebook any more _grandpa_. 😛 I’m in the 30-39 bucket. But yeah, I’m not sure how one should integrate something like the SDMB into Snapchat or other platforms like that… ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/70 "2018-12-06T22:00:22Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > I’ve opened cans with an ax, with a pocket knife blade, with a P-38, with a concrete sidewalk, and of course with a can opener. We have two Swing Away brand openers. I’ll bet millennials are killing the pocket knife industry, too. ---
**Author:** ![jkirkman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ac8455/32.png) [@jkirkman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jkirkman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/71 "2018-12-08T00:04:16Z")
[obthreemeninaboatreference] Trying to open a tin of pineapple, are we? [/obthreemeninaboatreference] ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/72 "2018-12-08T15:25:18Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I have opened many cans with a p-38 on camping trips. I have a p-38 in my tackle boxes, camping gear and in several drawers. Not sure why they never get thrown away. As I have pointed out over the years here, I am somewhat of a freakazoid. I have always found that the old reliable P-38 leaves a cleaner edge that I don’t cut myself on (unlike the crank or electric modern openers) and I’ve just used the darn things so long that I am abnormally fast with one. I can open a 3lb coffee can (which isn’t three pounds anymore but that’s another thread somewhere I am sure) in about a minute or less. My wife has several more modern can openers; this one for small cans, that one for large, the other for tough rims. By the time she selects which one she wants I and the P-38 already have it open and done. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/73 "2018-12-08T22:29:34Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#): > > Where are the 30 somethings supposed to go nowadays? I feel too young here and too old on Reddit. Patience. In due time you’ll be an old fart like me. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/74 "2018-12-08T23:22:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I don’t know how newfangled that is. I’ve seen it at least as far back as the 90s, and I assume it goes much farther back than then, as it’s not really some crazy weird technology or anything. It just cuts in from the side rather than from above, assuming we’re talking about the same thing. The smooth edge openers do not cut into the side of the can. They pry the lid off the can. No metal is cut. I’ve never seen an opener that cuts into the side of the can, but several people in this thread have mentioned them so I guess they exist. I have the type that pries the lid off, although I’ll agree with davidm that sometimes it fails to get the whole lid off and I have to resort to a different can opener to finish the job. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/75 "2018-12-08T23:40:26Z")
Of course you need a can opener because what if the pull tab snaps off? Then you’ll be sitting there with a sealed can in your hand murmuring, “That’s not fair.” Like the weedy guy with the broken glasses in the library after the Bomb. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/76 "2018-12-08T23:54:22Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I also own a church key can opener. Zowie. I was starting to think only my mom and me called those things “church keys”. Um. You’re not my mom are you? ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/77 "2018-12-08T23:59:21Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > Zowie. I was starting to think only my mom and me called those things “church keys”. > > Um. > > You’re not my mom are you? No but maybe I am? I always called them that as well AND I have been called a mother more than once as well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2018, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/78 "2018-12-09T01:09:03Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > The smooth edge openers do not cut into the side of the can. They pry the lid off the can. No metal is cut. I’ve never seen an opener that cuts into the side of the can, but several people in this thread have mentioned them so I guess they exist. I have the type that pries the lid off, although I’ll agree with davidm that sometimes it fails to get the whole lid off and I have to resort to a different can opener to finish the job. Yeah, for the one I have it’s not a sharp blade, more like a rough surfaced wheel. The main disadvantages are that it might take an extra rotation to get it off fully, and the top cut ones make draining liquid easier. In every other respect though, they’re superior to those that cut. Edit: well they do slightly cut into the rim, making it easier to separate the lid. But you can’t hurt yourself with it. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/79 "2018-12-10T18:33:23Z")
When the power goes it is quite useful. Luckily doesn’t often. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2018, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/80 "2018-12-10T18:43:26Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I own many can openers. > > Why? > Well, I open a lot of cans, naturally. Do you have many hands to go along with those can openers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639.md?page=5)