Can & bottle openers on knives in 2020, purposeless

Purposeless? I actually find a bottle opener to be quite handy. Even if you don't drink, you're bound to be around someone needing one at some point. I can't count how many times that has been the case with me, and I was the only person with one. Plus when you order something bottled at a restaurant/taco truck/take-out stand, it feels good to answer them with "nah, I got it" and pull out your own opener when they ask if you need it opened. Almost every beer I drink and most good (real sugar) sodas have pry off caps. Perhaps the answer is drink better beverages ;)
 
I was helping at an outdoor wedding one time and wouldn't you know it, everyone forgot a can opener. I was really glad to have something purposeless on my Leatherman. There are still a lot of cans that require a can opener, and you can use it for more than just opening cans.
 
I can open a beer with the back of a knife. I find the can opener to be handy when I travel for work or camping though.
 
MarkN86 said:
I was helping at an outdoor wedding one time and wouldn't you know it, everyone forgot a can opener. I was really glad to have something purposeless on my Leatherman. There are still a lot of cans that require a can opener, and you can use it for more than just opening cans.
Click to expand...

Very similar experience. It was my grand niece's wedding. Got sick of improvising cap pops for everyone. That's when I dropped my SAK Classic and ordered a Rambler.
 
Agree on the bottle opener, but I don't drink so I am the wrong market for that one. The can opener I use all the time when we happen to be car camping and actually have cans. The one I think is pointless is the corkscrew. I think I actually started a thread about that recently. A couple of people had actually used them but I bet the percentage of Sak owners who has is tiny.
 
in 2020 (and beyond)
a batangas stabby all-in-one can opener
and cap lifter bali is still relevant.
jlltx4ri9r841.jpg
 
Last edited:
I open a lot of beers with my SAK. I also open cans from time to time...not all cans have the e-z open ring. I don't consider those tools "purposeless". For me, nail file blades are purposeless because I use nail clippers.
 
Stelth said:
I open a lot of beers with my SAK. I also open cans from time to time...not all cans have the e-z open ring. I don't consider those tools "purposeless". For me, nail file blades are purposeless because I use nail clippers.
Click to expand...
But the narrow side of a SAK fingernail file can cut of a protruding nail or screw (done...).
To the OP : the funny thing is : if you think you can do it all with one blade, please go for it. Don't buy any multitool, 6 bladed folder, SAK or others. Although they have been purposely created for those "if ever" moments. And they avoid carrying around a jumble of tools in your pockets or your bag (can opener, cap lifter, pry bar, awl, file... and a one bladed knife). Specifically to the cap lifter : it pops beers very efficiently (yeah, there are still many that come in glass bottles, especially the better ones), it's great for light prying and can act as screwdriver. To the can opener : I like it for cleaning fingernails, mainly. Way safer than doing it with a sharp pointy blade. And no, not all cans have pull tabs. On some knives, the hook of the can opener acts also as cap lifter. So : plenty purposeful, both.
 
Last edited:
I have NEEDED a can opener exactly twice in the last decade or so, and I hate to think of what would have happened if I had not made coffee for the geo-phys guys or fed those children. I've "needed" a knife once in that same time, I mean I had other tools that could have worked, and who needs food to be cut?
Yeah I'm being snarky, but at the same time, some of us like to be ready for average mundane days. Sometimes average mundane days need can openers.
 
Almost all my camp food these days is in a vacuum sealed packet.

The few cans I needed to be opened in the back country I literally cut them open with a fixed blade....easy task & quicker than a can opener.
 
Still use mine in my SA. And it has come in handy openning s bottle that cannot twist off well, like some soda. And the can opener has been used while camping since the not so fancy hand crank plastic handle can openers just rotate and not grip the can to open the lid. I had to practice s few times with the opener but I found a way to make it work.
 
Triton said:
Agree on the bottle opener, but I don't drink so I am the wrong market for that one. The can opener I use all the time when we happen to be car camping and actually have cans. The one I think is pointless is the corkscrew. I think I actually started a thread about that recently. A couple of people had actually used them but I bet the percentage of Sak owners who has is tiny.
Click to expand...

Actually got a SA For the corkscrew, in my wine phase. Seen some use but I do have the cork lifter now.
 
Triton said:
The one I think is pointless is the corkscrew. I think I actually started a thread about that recently. A couple of people had actually used them but I bet the percentage of Sak owners who has is tiny.
Click to expand...
Just shows you don't like wine. And there, it's you in the tiny niche. In some markets.
 
Houlahound said:
Almost all my camp food these days is in a vacuum sealed packet.

The few cans I needed to be opened in the back country I literally cut them open with a fixed blade....easy task & quicker than a can opener.
Click to expand...
And this is just your own, limited experience. It's OK, your opinion is worth as much as everyone's else. But I will always carry a 6 blade knife in my left pocket. Just in case...
 
My favorite sparkling mineral water available locally doesn't have twist-top caps, so the bottle opener on my SAK gets used a lot.

The can opener I've only used once, but I was glad to have it. I frequently travel through large, uninhabited regions of west TX with no cell reception, so I carry emergency rations which will require a can opener. Hopefully I don't ever need them... (I've eaten a few because they were better than the McGarbage available locally though.)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top