# Venting about packaging — can be difficult to open!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [November 9, 2024, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988 "2024-11-09T16:56:44Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 4
### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2024, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/61 "2024-11-12T17:43:28Z")
Actually, sometimes, yes I do. I hate generating extra trash (landfill, environment, and all that).
The bag I showed in my OP is being reused for that charging cable. Another similar bag is being used for my phone holder’s rubber tips.
They can be handy, and those ziplock shipping bags are over-engineered and much stronger than they need to be.
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2024, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/62 "2024-11-12T17:44:08Z")
Some have mentioned blister packs. Those are brutal! They can slice open your arm right down to the brachial artery.
BRUTAL.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/63 "2024-11-12T17:56:06Z")
I hear that. Took me 10 minutes to cut my new shower head loose of all the clamshell. Not only was there an outer shell of thick, hard-to-cut plastic, but the head itself was sealed in an inner shell to keep it from rattling against the wand and hose I guess. Had to cut completely around the package to get anything free. Ended up with 2 new gashes in my arm as well. Thanks loads, Water-Pik!
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/64 "2024-11-12T22:04:47Z")
All the clamshells are for one reason only: reducing shoplifting.
Don’t thank Water-Pik. Thank the thieving asshats.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [November 12, 2024, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/65 "2024-11-12T23:16:13Z")
The zipper is sub-par at best.
They are not meant to be reused. They’re meant to make a packer able to get an item in the box faster.
Often they have vent holes.
I’m like you, I don’t like waste. I reuse, remake and make-do as often as I can.
You got to draw the line somewhere. If it’s not useful, it’s time to un-ass.
IMHO
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/66 "2024-11-13T00:05:31Z")
I bought a set of these shears earlier this year and they are fantastic. No clam shell or cardboard has survived an encounter.
[Shears](https://a.co/d/bgAzcAr)
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### Author:  [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/67 "2024-11-13T00:40:15Z")
I carry a strong knife, and also foldable utility scissors, on my belt. No blister pack will defeat those. The scissors are Leatherman Raptor and they’re pretty strong.
> **[Raptor Shears Collection | Leatherman](https://www.leatherman.com/raptor-family.html)**
>
> The Raptor series of multi-tools combine trauma shears with additional features so you’re always prepared. From emergency response to the everyday, the Raptor Family are your go-to multipurpose shears.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/68 "2024-11-13T00:48:02Z")
Can I nominate the plastic wrapping on bags of dry pasta - heat-sealed shut at the top, and very often, a little self-adhesive sticker is provided, for the fictional purpose of resealing the folded-down top of the bag after opening.
Fictional because, on opening the top of the bag, no matter how carefully, the plastic invariably splits and tears into ribbons, making it suddenly and completely useless as a container for loose pasta.
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/69 "2024-11-13T01:29:45Z")
> [@Bullitt](#):
>
> They can be handy, and those ziplock shipping bags are over-engineered and much stronger than they need to be.
Those get tossed in the pile of used dry ziplock bags that are used when I scoop litter boxes. They work as good as the food grade bags for that chore.
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### Author:  [@MagicEyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MagicEyes)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/70 "2024-11-13T03:35:08Z")
> [@commasense](#):
>
> Forget all these zip-loc bags and hard plastic packages. Have you noticed that ordinary sealed bags, like you’d get chips or cereal in, are now practically impossible to open without scissors?
Plastic is an amazing material. We have plastic bags that can’t be pulled open, but they will rip down the side after you cut them open. Just another one of life’s little mysteries!
I hate snack bags that have to be cut open. You don’t always have scissors when you want a snack. Some of the Halloween candy I got this year can’t be opened without scissors. ☹ I’ve also seen blister packs for pills where you can’t push the pill through the foil on the back (and no, it didn’t have another layer that you need to remove before you get to the foil).
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### Author:  [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/71 "2024-11-13T03:50:20Z")
They all piss me off.
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/72 "2024-11-13T05:03:26Z")
> [@Bullitt](#):
>
> Leatherman Raptor and they’re pretty strong
I have a set in my aid kit. Much better than what was provided.
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### Author:  [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/73 "2024-11-13T07:09:05Z")
You all go get that cheapo Xacto. Keep it in a special place. Always return it after use(ok, I know people find this hard to do). You can but, try.
I swear you will thank me. One day.
Harbor Freight has them.
While you’re there get the slider bag, heavy duty small parts bags. Lots of sizes. And maybe some good tape.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/74 "2024-11-13T12:03:30Z")
> [@MagicEyes](#):
>
> Plastic is an amazing material. We have plastic bags that can’t be pulled open, but they will rip down the side after you cut them open. Just another one of life’s little mysteries!
It is trivial to manufacture plastic sheet that is very strong one way and relatively weak the other. For a packaging line you want plastic that is very strong in tension along the long axis as the strip comes off the roll. That way the strip doesn’t break as it’s hurtling through the machinery that first heat seals it into a tube, then seals a bottom onto what will become a bag, then dumps the goods in, then heat seals the top to close the bag around the goods. Which top is also the bottom of the next proto-bag about to be filled.
A side effect of this is the bags tear easily along the lengthwise seam or even a lengthwise crease.
it’s all about carefully optimizing the design for cheap manufacturing with no concern for how well the bag works once opened. Once they have your money they do not care whether the bag works well.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/75 "2024-11-13T12:15:45Z")
> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> Can I nominate the plastic wrapping on bags of dry pasta - heat-sealed shut at the top, and very often, a little self-adhesive sticker is provided, for the fictional purpose of resealing the folded-down top of the bag after opening.
Yes! I usually use the entire bag, not because I want to but because it’s easier.
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/76 "2024-11-13T12:20:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> it’s all about carefully optimizing the design for cheap manufacturing with no concern for how well the bag works once opened. Once they have your money they do not care whether the bag works well.
Indeed, it could be argued that, if you spill your pasta all over the floor, you’re coming back sooner to buy a new bag (and the bag experience won’t deter you from buying the same brand, because they are all bad)
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2024, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/77 "2024-11-13T12:41:15Z")
Agree completely that it’s frustrating as hell to apply force to tear the bag crosswise that’s just barely enough to maybe get the plastic tearing a bit, then suddenly the tear turns along the weak axis and now that same force is 10x the force needed to tear the bag lengthwise down its entire length. Gaah!!
I’ve learned to use scissors and do so carefully for any bag I intend to only partially use. And the others I open directly over whatever pot, box, etc., the goods are going into. Be they food or hardware or office supplies or …
Or at least that’s what I do when I’m paying attention. More often I’m not paying attention and get to clean up the resulting scatter of stuff. Arrgh!
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/78 "2024-11-14T13:18:28Z")
Oh, you bawl babies. Consider Napolean’s troops, who had to open tin cans before the can opener was invented 🙂
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/79 "2024-11-14T13:22:47Z")
Ever notice some things come in resealable bags that don’t need to be? Like men’s briefs come in a zipper bag. Why?!
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### Author:  [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [November 14, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/venting-about-packaging-can-be-difficult-to-open/1009988/80 "2024-11-14T14:05:15Z")
So you can wear them and return!
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