When I was a boy my Gran had a very clever can opener that worked very well,…this was in the late 50's and she told me it was the first thing she had when she married in 1910, so it was 'knocking on' even then…..

My best, oldest, easiest, neatest, most efficient can opener is the one on my Swiss Army knife which has been in my pocket for 34 years and works well every time with no moving parts other than my hand……..

Bob,

Was that a can opener on the end with a cork screw folded into the handle? Worked perfectly but left jagged edges – no problem for people in those days.

The kenwood chef attachment worked well, but it was more trouble to keep fitting it to the machine! We have the cheapy one which my wife uses for the dog food wcans without ring pull, and I have to open other cans with the decent tool (because every time she puts it through a dish washer cycle, it needs a little lubrication!)

Brabantia, made Holland years ago, a little stiffer than the cheapies but works on all but the poorest of cans.

Almost everything was 'right-handed' a century ago. People were not allowed to be lefties! Perhaps it was the left and right hand drive automobiles that ushered in the steady change?

When I was a digger the Australian Army gave me plenty of these **LINK** although my versions have a small spoon on the flat end.

I have one in all of my fishing/hunting kits for when the 'ring-pull' rips away from the can without removing the lid.

Another way to remove the lid of a tin of baked beans is to sit the can on the exhaust manifold of a Series 2a Landrover and drive about 50 km until the bang and the smell of baked beans reminds one that dinner is ready. Scrape it off the inside of the bonnet! This actually happened to me many years ago.

* Danny M *

I use something similar, must be at least 20 years old and still going, although I don't open cans every day of the week.

Andrew

Three Men In A Boat by J K Jerome. Trying to open a tin of corned beef without a tin opener. Very funny indeed!

Dave

You can't beat one of these. Made with good steel, at least 20 years old and will probably outlast me unless the wooden handle fails.

Unfortunately, my grand daughter can't use a "stabby" tin opener and prefers a "windey" one. I've tried them in the past but they are generally so badly made that they only last a few weeks.

Alternatively, you can buy tins like this and you don't need an opener at all.

I still have attached to my key ring the army issued tin opener, same as Danny M2Z's, from the early 70's. In the house though we have worked our way through a multitude of different ones, from powered to the current hand turned one.

If you are really desperate then pop over to **LINK**

But mind your fingers.

I remember about 50 years ago my boss telling us a story about one meal time during his apprenticeship. He usually made the evening meal, but he was late this particular evening, so his flat mate decided to do it, can't be too hard to heat a can of spaghetti, so put the tin in a pot, put pot on stove, go into the next room, sometime later "BOOM", it opened the can, it split the aluminium pot flat, Spaghetti in places you wouldn't think, like inside the three pin plugs among other things.

ps You should put some water in the pot if your going to use that method.

Ian S C

If you have no clean pans then boil your tin of beans un-opened. Should be OK because the tins are sealed at boiling point ? A standard Scottish sweety is made by boiling a sealed tin of condensed milk for a long time. Note- do not blame me if it goes wrong.