SAK's Suck??

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by swede79:

Ok Jimmy, how does your trailmaster open champagne bottles? You've definitely got my curiosity piqued...</font>
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HA HA! I guess it was obvious, I wanted someone to ask!
Well, you buy a decent bottle of bubbly, get a pile of impresionable friends around, and tell them Chef Rene' at "La Ville Gare" taught you this ancient art. Grab onto the bottle on the label, not the neck, take your largest bowie knife with the blade on the neck, edge toward the cork, rub the blade up and down the neck, like you were making a point on the end of a walking stick. This makes it look like you are warming up, then with one last hard stroke, hit the glass lip at the cork end of the neck, and POP!!! Make sure you don't actually chop the bottle, but slide the blade down the neck and hit the lip hard, and it will break right off. No glass bits will get into the bottle, because the cascade of champagne will dump them on the carpet. Do not attempt this in a glass room, because the cork and glass make one he** of a missile. Edges will be sharp, champagne will be good, and you will look cool. Works every time.

Regards

Jet
 
Going foreward was easy enough to learn.
the problem I seem to have is the opener wants to twist,tearing the can more than cutting the opening.I never payed much attention to how deep I was cutting,maybe this has been the problem. I will watch it next time.Thanks <><
 
The P-38 is also known as the GI can opener.
p38.jpg


BTW, the little vertical stripy thingys are some kind of scanner artifact.
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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM

[This message has been edited by Hoodoo (edited 05-21-2001).]
 
If you can't tell from the scanned image, the little beak that cuts into the lid is hinged to fold flat. It is shown with the beak folded flat. They are very cute little gadgets and work amazingly well for such a small and cheap device.
 
My experiences are like most everyone elses on this thread. I carry a P-38 on my keys (and have for 20 years). They work great as long as you buy one of issue type P-38s and not a knockoff (which are often too soft to work well). I have no trouble with my Victorinox can openers, and think that most of the advice here was good.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by frediver:
Why on earth do SAK's have such a poor can opener?? European design is not always better! What am I doing wrong am I the only one to complain about the can opener?<><

[This message has been edited by frediver (edited 05-19-2001).]</font>
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Evolute,
frediver asked "What am I doing wrong" in his initial posts. I think that no one here was trying to treat frediver like a moron, but only attempting to answer the question. frediver didn't seem too insulted by anyones answers either.

Paul
 
OK, I am the "moron" who does not know how to operate a SAK can opener. In fact I tried just yesterday, to see if I could do it. I poked a few nice holes in the top, but that's about it. It was a "beak" shaped opener on a POS SAK. I was trying to pull it towwrds me, since inside the beak is where the "sharp" edge was. Should I be pushing it away, cutting with the outside of the beak? I also have a P38 opener (never used). Is that used in the same fashion?

Call me a moron, but I have never had the need to use one of these. I don't hike/camp, and at home I use the old fashioned clamp-on & turn the key type openers.

Note to all: condescending responses are indeed rude, but implying that if someone can't intuitivekly figure things out they are morons is also rude.
 
Lighten up guys, some of these fellas haven't seen a P-38. Others may only have experience with one style opener as compared to another, etc. This is a learning forum, let's just share the wealth. What may seem obvious to you may not necessarily be obvious to others. geez.

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It's not the pace of life that concerns me, It's the sudden stop at the end.
 
RH:

I don't think you're a moron. I don't expect people to necessarily get it perfect from the first second they try it.

But, I do find it hard to imagine that, if someone was going the wrong way (and thereby having trouble), it wouldn't quickly occur to the person to experiment with the other direction. Someone who fails to eventually come up with the concept that "If it doesn't work one way, perhaps I ought to try the other way", may be missing something upstairs.

Moreover, the SAK can openers I've seen have a narrow, sharp edge, and a wide, flat, unsharp edge. One might try going the wrong way the first time if they don't examine the can opener. However, once somebody has examined the can opener, I do maintain that it seems intuitive and obvious that one is supposed to cut things with the sharpened edge, not the flat, unsharpened edge.

If someone is having trouble, and fails to eventually realize the concept that one is supposed to cut with sharpened edges and not flat ones, and further, tries repeatedly to use the "not working" can opener without ever coming up with the idea to experiment with going the other way, then that person may, indeed, qualify as a moron. But, I do recognize that even the most brilliant people have their occasional moments of idiocy.

"It was a "beak" shaped opener on a POS SAK. I was trying to pull it towwrds me, since inside the beak is where the "sharp" edge was." You're describing a can opener unlike any I've ever seen on a real (i.e., Victorinox or Wenger) SAK. Perhaps if you give the name of the maker and model, someone here will be able to help you.

If you felt like I was saying you're dumb, then I'm sorry.
 
Issue P38's are getting harder to find now that the combat ration is the MRE and doesn't require one. They used to come about six to the case of C-rations. The change to MRE's about halfway through my military career meant I didn't need to carry a P38 on my ID tags anymore. I still have one but I don't intend to use it. I've always had as good a luck with the opener on my various models of Victorinox SAK's.

The problem with the P38 is they were harder to use on small cans than large. #10 cans of fruit were easy to open but the little can of peanut butter was very difficult -- about 2 inches in diameter and about a half inch high! They were too tough to hold on to.

Sometimes I'm a moron when I forget that if something doesn't work properly, it is probably my technique rather than the design, although I have found a few things with faulty design. If you find it doesn't work right they way you are using it, try something different.

Bruce
 
The knife on the left is a Victorinox, on the right a Wenger. Note the one on the right is indeed shaped like a beak with the cutting edge inside. With this opener, you would make cuts toward you, just like a P-38, and with the other, you will cut away from you.
sakopeners.jpg


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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
I've never had any real problem with SAK or P-38 canopeners. They both need some technique and patients. I prefer the Victorinox. If you are catering, faced with hundreds of cans, then the heavy weight bench mounted opener with turning handle is the way to go. If a can doesn't play ball then I just cut the top off (if liquid) or in half (if a solid) with my CR Project. Just ensure you use a spoon to empty them as the tin's edges are devilishly sharp.

Before we were issued boil in the bag, I used to pressure boil/heat the small cans in a grenade can home made pressure cooker. Grenade packaging screw top tin with a whole in the top; an inch of water in the bottom. Either one or two mini tins: bacon burger grill or steak and kidney or baked beans; would fit in the can. Boil most of the water off watching the steam come out of the top. Safety tips were: not to let the can boil dry and food was ready when the cans had distorted a little. Allow to stand for a minute or two and pearce can away from your face. Eat. Much safer than cooking the tins live directly on the heat (sorry sight when they blow). Less messy than cooking in your mess tin or boiling in your mess tin.

I'm sure the above is NOT the was to do it, as some cans are constructed incorrectly to handle this method. It may well ruin the contents.

Don't carry a P-38 in the pocket as it will stab you one.
 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by GREENJACKET:
Before we were issued boil in the bag, I used to pressure boil/heat the small cans in a grenade can home made pressure cooker. Grenade packaging screw top tin with a whole in the top; an inch of water in the bottom.
[/B]</font>
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GREENJACKET, could you translate some of the above into English for me?
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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Hoodoo. oopse.

Boil in the bag: ready made "wet" meals in a polyfoil heat resistant bag. Just boil the bag in water to heat the contents.

Older type rat packs had small tins of grub/rations.

Posphorous grenades were packaged in aluminium tins with a screw lid. They still might be for all I know. The tins were just the right size for our pressure cooker conversions. The ration tins fitted inside with just enough room for the water and steam to boil around them. The hole in the top of the container stopped the pressure building up (without it the screw top would blow off). Very efficient and used very little water.

 
bruce,
The best P-38s that I've gotten recently I oredered from Cheaper Than Dirt with a bunch of other things I ordered from them. They are made by the same company that made the one I've had for years that came out of a case of C-rations.

GREENJACKET,
I've never been poked in the thigh by my P-38 before, but I have poked my finger a couple of times. I wrap a small piece of electricians tape around the can opener to cut down on this (since I only use it when camping, or otherwise without a can opener). The electricians tape usually maintains enough tackiness to reapply. First aid tape works pretty good too.

Paul
 
Hey Jimmy
The champagne bottle trick works best if your big knife is following the seam in the bottle up till impact...just my .02 worth.
 
Greenjacket, having lived in GB for over two years (1970-72, 1979) I am always amazed at the British penchant for eating kidney! Wake up, man! Don't you know what those things did for a living?

I loved steak & onion pie, though, and my favorite breakfast was a slice of toast, melted cheddar cheese, covered by baked beans, and a runny fried egg on top! Delicious.

But having been on the development team for MRE's and Tray Packs, I don't think anyone's combat rations are quite "food."

Bruce

 
<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Paul Davidson:
bruce,
The best P-38s that I've gotten recently I oredered from Cheaper Than Dirt with a bunch of other things I ordered from them. They are made by the same company that made the one I've had for years that came out of a case of C-rations.
Paul</font>
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Paul, the photo I posted of a P-38 is of one that I got from Cheaper Than Dirt. On the flip side it says, US Shelby CO. I've also found you can get them pretty easy at gun & knife shows.

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Hoodoo

I get some pleasure from finding a relentlessly peaceful use for a combative looking knife.
JKM
 
Hoodoo,
Shelby Co. is indeed the company I was referring to. I meant to add that to my post, but that's what happens when I post late at night.

I think the six that I bought should last me a while, but thanks for the gun/knife show tip. I've never noticed any at the shows around here, but that's usually not what I'm looking for.

Paul
 
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