Mr Knight from the Isle of Wight
Was a man of ways and means.
He designed a thing for opening tins
So we could eat baked beans.
Not so many years ago, camping books always included sentences
like, "AND DON'T FORGET THE CAN OPENER!" During the 1990's,
however, the canning industry switched over to the ring-pull type so
these days they are only needed for dire emergency. The "baby", or
British Army "compo", can-opener remains the best available but I
wanted to see if there were any better ones on the various pocket
knife designs for weekends away and so on. In short, there aren't,
but the standard Swiss Army knife ones are effective too.
The photographs below show a fairly exhaustive selection of
available types. Two others are described in the text.
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Compo-type folders. Top to bottom, issue compo,
American C-rats, French supermarket and a compo tin opener
peeking coyly out of a little wallet from Wenger. Note the
corned beef tin opener on a piece of string because square
tins defeat most can-openers.
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The Swiss Army collection. From the top; the
standard 1902 pattern Swiss can-opener used by both Wenger
and Victorinox. The lower two are 'standard' Wenger tin
openers.
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Combination bottle and can-openers. Top to
bottom, Sheffield Knives British army clasp knife,
Victorinox (sharpened), Wenger (basics and multi-tools only)
and Lakeland's excellent 'picnic companion'.
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The 'failures'. Sheffield Knives paint tin opener
and a typical French can-opener (here by Coursolle).
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LEFT-HANDED? TOO BAD
I doubt whether a left-handed person can use many of the
can-openers shown here conveniently. Basically, a tin-opener needs
to be as close to the edge of the knife as possible or risk fouling
on the can's rim, so a decision has to be made on which side of a
multi-blade knife it's going to be fitted to. On all but one of
those tested, the decision has gone to right-handers. The compo can
openers are also right-handed. Any 'single deck' Swiss Army knife
should be ambidextrous, however, and the Victorinox and Wenger
combination openers shown here are both available in this format.
THE FOLDERS
There's only one basic design here, the "baby" type that came with
Army issue composite (compo) ration packs. The American (C-rats)
version is smaller and virtually unobtainable since the US military
went over to MRE's in the 1980's. The French supermarket version (2
for 60p), sold elsewhere as the 'Australian' tin opener is larger and
more cheaply built.
In brief, the compo can-opener is "simply the best". It is almost
impossible to do oneself an injury with one of these as the blade
folds down or breaks off before injury occurs. They can wreck pocket
linings, however, so a small sheath or a tiny elastic band to keep
the blade flat is a good idea. The device is almost intuitive to use
and is just the right size for opening tins in a continuous flowing
motion, almost as quickly as a rotary can opener. It affords
excellent control without straining the wrist or thumb muscles. A
miracle of British engineering. Look for them at Cotswolds or Blacks
etc.
The GI version is too small and requires a bit of thumb-strain to
work properly. That's a shame because it's better made and lies flat
without the aid of an elastic band.
The French one is too big and tends to skid off the side of the
can. It requires a bit more wrist effort to control it. It is,
however, very cheap and very easily available in France and
elsewhere. It comes with a bottle opener notch that doesn't really
work since the metal is too thin and tends to split the bottle-top.
This is also true of all my attempts to file a notch into a compo can
opener.
Also included in this section (but not in the photos) is the
handle from the ubiquitous Chinese steel camp cutlery set available
almost anywhere. This is lot better than people give it credit for.
It's relatively safe and opens cans. It is, however, a bit unwieldy
and I've watched otherwise intelligent people being given repeated
lessons on how to use it without any long-term success.
THE POCKET-KNIFE CAN-OPENERS
"SWITZER TOM"
The original 1902 pattern can-opener as found on the issue pocket
knife (see photo) is on both Wenger and Victorinox models. It is
very safe and reasonably intuitive to use. Being a "forward cutter",
it does not collapse the can too badly and is easy to control.
The standard Wenger can-opener is shown (above) on a "Safety"
model and a "Ranger". This is a very efficient "back-cutter", ie;
one pulls it towards one to operate. Although efficient, it tends to
crumple the can a tad more than the forward-cutter. This is no big
deal and I prefer it to the 1902 pattern. The tin-lid and edge are
safe (?) but there is tendency for the rim-hook to skid. This is a
common problem with all flat can-openers however.
The Ranger version looks a bit recessed in the photo although it
opens all the usual cans with ease. I have used the Safety version
with catering sized tins on several occasions and it works just fine.
COMBINATION TOOLS
The third group consists of combined bottle and tin openers. The
type not shown is that used on the Leatherman and similar
multi-tools, as well as the Buck 'Summit' 'American Swiss Army
knife'.
Sheffield Knives incorporates a number of famous firms and the
stainless steel Army clasp knife is an old favourite. This is
especially the case as it now comes in a locking version. Probably
the most workmanlike can-opener on test, its only defect is a
tendency to chip the tops of cheap beer bottles when used as a bottle
opener. Moral - drink more expensive beer! Alternatively, lay this
type of opener over on its side when opening bottles.
The Victorinox combined bottle and tin opener is so subtly
designed that I owned the knife for nearly ten years before realising
it had a tin-opener function. It works, but not very well, so I
sharpened it a bit.
The Wenger "Basic" knives and the "pocket tool sets" have a
combined can/bottle opener and screwdriver blade of a patented
locking design. The can-opener is the only one on test that is not
ground to an edge (well, ie, since I sharpened the Victorinox!) It
seems unaffected by this and works very well indeed. Being a long
back-cutter it puts some strain on the can, however, and it is a good
idea to hold the lid inside the can to help keep everything circular
and minimise the dangers of the rim-hook slipping.
Lakeland Limited's 'picnic companion' is the best 'folding
canteen' that I have seen and the can-opener is a dream to operate.
Due to its dimensions, one can just pull the opener backwards with a
gentle rocking motion to get to perfectly controlled, smooth cut.
There's a sort of roundness to the action that makes it feel as if
one is cutting cake rather than steel. This is my personal choice
for living in hotel rooms when a wide range of cutlery and corkscrews
may be needed for tackling a take-away, or keeping body and soul
together with a corner-shop supper. Other than that, it's a bit
bulky for lightweight camping and I wouldn't risk those plastic
scales over a stove.
ALTERNATIVES
The bexoid-scaled instrument from Sheffield Knives is sold as a
tin opener and I include their instructions for its use:
"The Y-shaped blade is a can opener. Just stab the can and see-saw
round the edge. After being emptied the can can be used as a
weapon".
So now you know. Personally, I find it useless for tins of food
but would wholeheartedly recommend it for opening tins of paint.
The standard French pocket knife tin-opener is savage. To unfold
it, one pushes a ridge of sharpened steel underneath one's
thumb-nail. Once out, it reveals a wicked, sharpened point. Used
intuitively, it throws off a series of small burrs into the food
being opened, collapses the can and then slips off into one's hand.
It is an utterly 'orrible little device and my advice is to avoid
them wherever possible.
The right technique, described here, should prevent actual
bloodshed but does pose a minimal risk of slashing a major artery.
Herewith (for right-handers):
Place the can securely on a firm, flat surface.
Hold the can in your left hand, with as much hand as possible
on the right-hand side of the can, ie, out of the way of the sharp
bit.
Place the point of the can opener on the left-side of the can
rim (9 o'clock position), inside the rim, pointing vertically
downwards, cutting edge towards you, stop button to the left.
Check that no parts of your anatomy (or anybody else's) are in
the immediate danger area.
Push the can opener firmly downwards until the stop button hits
the rim.
Pull up the can opener and rotate the can clockwise with the
left hand until the can opener's point is just resting against uncut
metal.
Push down again (under control) to make another cut.
Keep going like this without going wild and the cut should
resemble a series of short gashes round the inside of the
rim.
Do not cut all the way round; leave a 5mm or so uncut strip to
act as a hinge for the lid.
CONCLUSION
A compo can-opener in its little paper bag remains the best
lightweight option. Lakeland's gizmo is the best heavyweight option.
All the rest (apart from the bexoid-scale knife) work. You pays
your money and your takes your pick :-)).
Marcus Crompton
