# 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:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/81 "2018-12-11T04:33:38Z")
I have an electric “Above All” can opener mounted to the bottom of a cabinet in the kitchen. I got it for next to nothing at a yard sale about fourteen years ago. It still works great. I also have a church key with magnet stuck on the frig (hey, there’s no d in refrigerator!). I have several manual ones in various multi-tools and pocket knives. I recently bought a flat credit card size multi-tool (with a can opener) at Dollar Tree. Its display was labeled “Last Minute Gifts!” so I figured I’d better hurry up and get one. Really, I just wanted to see if one could use the thing at all, since two adjacent edges of it are a knife blade and a saw blade. I have concluded that none of the three “wrench” functions on it can be used without lacerating one’s hand. Oh- 50-59 age group. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/82 "2018-12-11T05:07:09Z")
> [@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. [This is the type of device](https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwiF5uimgJffAhUOtIMKHfkCAjUQjhx6BAgBEAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vatera.hu%2Fkonyhai-kezi-konzervnyito-2704523519.html&psig=AOvVaw0SUUP_eW5VknG5jv7lwshI&ust=1544591055861350) I was used to in Hungary. There’s a more basic looking version of that, and I remember being so confused until somebody showed me that I’m not supposed to hold it vertically, but rather horizontally to the can. I don’t know if that cuts into the side of the can or not, but I can’t see how any can opener would open a can without cutting into it. ETA: [This is the kind I used](http://www.globalplaza.hu/termek/perfect-home-konzervnyito-eco-13-5cm-kromozott-fem). Cuts from the top and around the side rather than down and into the lid. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/83 "2018-12-11T13:45:00Z")
I have a nifty tiny can opener that I think works great, but Pepper Mill can’t use it, so she has one that cuts from the side. I like mine better than the smaller kind they used to include with Army ration kits, because it’s much faster. Heck, the Can Opener blade on my Boy Scout knife (which I still have, and still use) is faster. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2018, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/84 "2018-12-11T19:53:30Z")
I own a can opener. It’s kinda weird, you have to place it on top of the can and it cuts through the side. Makes a neater cut. Several times when I could not find a can opener, I have opened cans with a knife. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/85 "2018-12-12T05:43:11Z")
I own one because I needed it before pop-top cans were in use. Nowadays I use it to open the other end of a pop-top can so I can crush it easily for recycling. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2018, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639/86 "2018-12-12T06:04:54Z")
Huh, I use my can opener to open cans of beans, cans of cranberry jelly, cans of tomato sauce… Lots of stuff doesn’t have pull tops. (Although some of the brands of beans do.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-own-a-can-opener/825639.md?page=4)