Do any multi's have good corkscrews?

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Jun 4, 2009
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I've tried using the corkscrews of various Victorinox and Wegner knives over the years and never found one that really worked. In another thread I posted about my new (to me) Leatherman Juice CS4. One of the reasons I got the CS4 instead of the S2 was because of the corkscrew. I thought having the assist from the can/bottle opener would make all the difference and I'd finally have a multi-tool I could take with me that had a functional corkscrew.

Alas, such is not the case. This being New Year's eve I decided to open a bottle of wine for dinner and decided to try out the corkscrew on the CS4. As you can see in the pictures below, the can/bottle opener actually chipped the glass of the bottle's mouth. That's generally not a good thing as most people don't like shards of glass in their wine. Ultimately I ended up using a regular waiter's style corkscrew.

Is there a multi-tool or sak that has a corkscrew that actually works?

Juice_corkscrew_1.jpg


Juice_corkscrew_2.jpg
 
good? your asking a multi-purpose tool too be as good as a dedicated tool, usually not gonna happen.

people like SAKs for a good "enough" corkscrew and as long as your careful and not overly aggressive they seem to work ok.

the Leatherman Flair has a corkscrew but I've never tried it.
 
I've had success with the Vic corkscrew. Insert the corkscrew into the cork and use the body of the tool against the lip of the bottle as a lever. Once the cork is far enough out you just have to give it a pull.
 
SAK works for me in a bid in the past. Not the easy way to do it but if you want the drink I say earn it a bit ;)
 
the SAK corkscrew is for last resort only; if a cork is in there tight, fageaboutit...its true purpose is to hold that tiny screwdriver...

there is one that is worse; the one on a tool logic card, and that "multi tool" was "designed" for wine and cheese...a task it does poorly at best...
 
I've had success with the Vic corkscrew. Insert the corkscrew into the cork and use the body of the tool against the lip of the bottle as a lever. Once the cork is far enough out you just have to give it a pull.

Because it has only one thin metal edge to act as fulcrum, the CS4 "assist" is worthless and can either damage the bottle lip or the tool itself. When I tried using it the Juice got sprung and had to go back to Leatherman for repair (fast, no charge.) However, the SAK technique described here works equally well for the Juice. Try it with either corkscrew and you may be pleasantly surprised at how much easier the cork comes out.
 
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The additional corkscrew for my Spirit seems pretty good although it is a seperate piece.
 
I've never encountered problems removing corks from wine bottles with Vic corkscrews.I twist the corkscrew in the middle of the cork,then position the bottle between my legs,with my left hand while standing.then with my right hand,keeping arm straight,pull straight up.It works for me 100% of the time.
 
I've never encountered problems removing corks from wine bottles with Vic corkscrews.I twist the corkscrew in the middle of the cork,then position the bottle between my legs,with my left hand while standing.then with my right hand,keeping arm straight,pull straight up.It works for me 100% of the time.

That's a better, more secure method than what I've been doing. Just trying to hold the bottle with my left hand and pulling w/ my right. Always afraid I'll make a big mess. I'll try your way.:)


I like that, thanks for the link. The leverage method may be the best option.
 
Using the body of a Swiss army knife to push against the lip of the bottle works rather well. I have a Juice CS4 and encountered the same problem as you with occasionally chipping the lip of the bottle. The Leatherman Flair has an assist which works very well. Sadly, it is no longer in production. The Victorinox multitools have corkscrews which can be affixed to the tool. They do not work very well since the corkscrew is stuck in the tool at a 90 degree angle and there is no easy manner of leveraging the tool.
 
SAKs work for me too, on both natural and synthetic corks.

although I do have to put the bottle under an arm or between my legs to get leverage on the handle, it still works every time.
 
?

I've never had the SAK corkscrew not work. I twist it in, grip the bottle in one arm, the SAK in the other, and pull them apart. Sometimes I spill a drop or two of wine, but it always works. I've never used the SAK to lever against the bottle, seems like it's just asking to get glass shards everywhere.

Have you tried that method?
 
thats one of those plastic "corks"- i find them a bit dodgy.
haven't had too much trouble with SAK corkscrews over the years.
easy does it.
 
Thanks for everyone's comments and suggestions. I do have a couple waiter's corkscrews similar to the one L. Richard shows and they work very well. Haven't tried the leverage method or holding the bottle between my legs method yet w/ a sak. Those might work. Of course, like Vivi says, there's the risk of glass shards just like I got w/ the CS4.

I've never hard any problem with the corkscrew pulling out so I don't think my problem is not getting deep enough. What I've found using a Spartan is that when I grab the bottle w/ my left hand and pull w/ my right nothing happens except I hurt my fingers. I kinda feel like I'm exerting so much pressure that as soon as the cork lets loose that I'm going to make a big mess.

I'll practice some more. Thanks for the help.
 
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