Opening cans

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Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
As you all know, there are two ways to open a can.
One is where the metal is cut from the side, so the lid has that 'knurly' bit and the can edge is sharp, or opening it from the top, so the lid is sharp and the knurly bit is on the can.

What do you do?

Personally I open my cans from the top, as I often drink or eat from the can, and do not want to cut myself.

It is a tad more difficult to open the can, but what I do is to gently squeeze the can, so a space opens where I can insert something and lever the lid up.
I like to keep the lid affixed to the can, once I am finished eating I squeeze the can oval and poke the lid inside the can.
 

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Here, there are a few meat products which open with a pull ring = smoked oysters and smoked mussels.
There are very few meat products which open with a key such as a tin of Brazilian corned beef.

I use a hand-cranked, geared opener on everything else, the kind which leaves a sharp-edged lid as Janne does.
My best one, the plastic handles broke off. I used pop rivets to make new handles from 1" x 1/8" aluminum strip.

In a situation where we can have an open camp fire, we always burn the cans.
>This oxidizes the can so it will rust rapidly when buried. Or cooled, taken home.
>This cooks off any food smells which are always attractive to bears at 2:30AM.

Another strategy is to cook up a lot of things at home and freeze them all in Tupperware.
What we eat depends upon what thaws out first. Adds a little unexpected novelty.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I love those extremely salty Anchovies, preferably Portugese, rolled around a caper.
Ringpull opening.
I munch on them while watching TV. Beer.

I cut myself from time to time.
More often, the lid flicks the fishy oil all across the kitchen.
Worth it.

It is the only super salty food I like.
 

zornt

Nomad
Apr 6, 2014
273
128
70
Ohio, USA
I keep a US P38 can opener on my key ring. It makes a bunch of sharp edges like a serated knife.
Not the top quarter can be folded over to use as a makeshift cutting instrument.
 
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Jul 24, 2017
1,163
444
somerset
I watch forged in fire to much, and use my knife in a way you just would not opening the can with it, then eat the content cold, cos I ruined the edge and cannot make feather sticks......just kidding! Standard can opener in use, from the top, squeeze and lift then fold an crush like your self, ho and I have found the ring pulls can part from the can without opening on said offending types of tins.
 

Clayze

Tenderfoot
Dec 28, 2018
77
27
West Sussex
My father served in the BAOR during the late fifties and into the very early sixties. One of the pieces of kit he kept was a very small can opener, matt black and very effective. I think it was used for opening rations in the field. Sadly I no longer have it. Considering the size and simplicity of design it was so easy to use.
Not an item that's likely to be replaced I'm afraid.
 

Billy-o

Native
Apr 19, 2018
1,981
975
Canada
Home or away I use one of a number of SAKs ... Erbswurst here pointed out that the Victorinox Compact has a modified flathead screwdriver .. the thing that is usually a bottle opener on a normal SAK. On the Compact, it works as a can opener but with a different action to the standard. Totally transformed my opinion of the knife which, for this reason, I had thought little of but now find completely invaluable. The Compact isn't cheap, but it is brilliant and you should be given one when you first pick up your national insurance number

I like to use the one on the Outrider, because the handle is so much bigger and grabbable

On another point, at some time I learned, when opening a new jar of pickles, jam or whatever, to bang the edge of the lid on something solid. It deforms momentarily and just enough to break the vacuum seal.

Though young at the time, I still remember vividly (because I have the scars) opening a can of beans and leaving the lid attached to serve as a handle before putting them on a fire to cook. When done, I picked up the can by the lid and because of the ouch from the heat had to throw the can to somewhere safe until it cooled. The ragged edge of the can sliced clean through the flesh on my thumb and index finger of my right hand. Patched myself up, and about two hours later did exactly the same thing with my left hand. In the middle of a two week trip in the Beacons :) Very convenient
 
Last edited:

Robson Valley

Full Member
Nov 24, 2014
9,959
2,664
McBride, BC
Haven't you heard me when the tab breaks off the beer can before it opens?

One of my kids gave me an "egg wrench."
A toggle gripper with a handle for opening screw-top jar lids of almost any diameter.
Damn thing really works!!!!! No kidding.
Almost makes me want to repack everything in glass jars from now on.

Corned Beef: Yeah, you gotta focus on the task. NEVER look away, no distractions.
That can is sharp enough to do your own appendectomy.
 
Jan 13, 2018
356
248
67
Rural Lincolnshire
My father served in the BAOR during the late fifties and into the very early sixties. One of the pieces of kit he kept was a very small can opener, matt black and very effective. I think it was used for opening rations in the field. Sadly I no longer have it. Considering the size and simplicity of design it was so easy to use.
Not an item that's likely to be replaced I'm afraid.

Something like this ? (About £1 each at many surplus stores)
s-l500.jpg



https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2X-BCB-T...400246?hash=item519b646a36:g:LhkAAOSwr~lYo~r7
 
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Herman30

Native
Aug 30, 2015
1,351
1,030
57
Finland
This is the standard can opener here in my country, sold practically everywhere.
There are fancier models too of course but this is the most common.
With this I´m saying that I open from the top.

6438096006875.jpg
 

Keith_Beef

Native
Sep 9, 2003
1,366
268
55
Yvelines, north-west of Paris, France.
The only negative is that you need strong hsnds.
Difficult for ladies to use one.

Mum had problems, sis had problems. Wife had problems.
I bought one of those kitchen openers, with a wooden handle.
A happy wife makes a happy life!

https://images.app.goo.gl/XRifGt8HgV7nJ2xs6

Exactly like the one on the link. Ours is in better condition, gently handwashed only.

I remember something similar in my grandmother's house. I remember having to put a point against the top of the can, near the rim, then hitting with the heel of my hand to puncture the can, then working it around in a levering motion almost all the way around. The one in the link looks like it doesn't need punching through the lid, but looks like it works through leverage.

My grandmother didn't use it much, preferring an opener with a pair of handles that pinched the rim, driving the blade through the lid.

I'll see if I can make time to photograph a few can openers this week.
 

Janne

Sent off - Not allowed to play
Feb 10, 2016
12,330
2,293
Grand Cayman, Norway, Sweden
I wonder how the earliest can openers looked like? In the early 1800’?

Not many young people seems to buy canned food these days.
I love anything from a can. Never bought canned potatoes or sourkraut though.
 

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