Best can opener?

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wasabell

Inactive
I am looking for a new can opener.

Manual, not electric. I would like one where the blades dont rust, easy to clean, and is easy to "turn".

The small P-38 type is not suitable, as it hurts my hands. I currently have an opener with a padded handle, pretty much a standard household can opener. The blades rust, and its getting hard to operate.

What kind of can opener do you recommend?
 
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FreeYourMind

Membership Revoked
OXO. It has a huge turning handle. Easy to hold onto. It's sharp and never rusts if it's only hand washed. I've had mine for years.
 
MaxTheKnife

MaxTheKnife

Membership Revoked
I wish I could find some of the large p-38 military type can openers. I'd like to buy about a dozen of them. It pains me to think of all the ones I've had access to over the years while I was in the military. And here I sit with nary a one to my name. Heh.

I've been on a quest for the best manual can opener too, wasabell. I really prefer the type that cuts the can lid off without leaving any sharp edges, but those don't seem to last very long. I think the best one to have would be one of those old commercial kitchen type that mounts to the edge of a work table. They will open up any can and have a big handle with a simple pointed blade that pierces the top of the lid and then turns the can till its open. It's hard to find those in good working order thouth. In fact I can't ever remember seeing one at a garage sale or flea market. I'd have snapped it up if I had. So the search continues.
 
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ceeblue

Veteran Member
Sore hands in the morning and have to open a coffee can--ooh, that hurts so.

I can recommend the Swing Away can opener, the one grandma had mounted to the wall. I finally found one in a thrift store, without a wall mount bracket. And I'd been looking for it for five years.

It takes me about a half hour to open a can of coffee in the evening with my little P38. Mornings are impossible. The cheap electric can opener won't do a coffee can anymore. The cheap manual can opener flies across the kitchen.

Swing Away. Good, strong, steady, and American made.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000505IZ/102-7759603-4726513?v=glance&n=284507

http://www.epinions.com/hmgd-Small_Appliances-All-Swing_Away_Wall_Can_Opener_/display_~reviews

the one I found:
http://products.consumerguide.com/reviews/product.epub?productId=29981
 
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Onebyone

Inactive
We had two here that got to where they just would not even turn on the can. They punch through but then they spin but don't cut.

I bought a new one at Wally world. It worked a few weeks then started doing the same thing. Daughter bought a new one then a few days later it stopped cutting too. I got so irritated that yesterday I got my old can opener out of my bug out bag as I was tired of losing canned goods cut open but can not get the food out. The one from my BOB is called a Swingaway. If I recall correctly it cost about 8 bucks many years ago but it is worth it.
 
Hansa44

Hansa44

Justine Case
I have a manual can opener called "Swing away". Had it for a long time. Does not rust. Has a thick easy to grip handle. It's a very solid opener and makes opening large cans quite easy.

May I suggest that at night you always check to make sure you don't need to open any can in the AM. There are few manual can openers that will make opening a coffee an easy.

I have a wall mounted electric opener for large cans and I love it.


Product Description
Amazon.com Review
Don't mess with a classic: the Swing-A-Way can opener not only boasts a Good Housekeeping award, but was also the first can opener in outer space. Thanks to a patented gear-driven cutting wheel, the opener requires less elbow grease to turn the crank, and the rubberized handles cushion your hands from what little work they're doing. Simple, classic, and well designed, the can opener includes a small built-in bottle opener, as well as a five-year limited warranty. --Ariel Meadow Stallings

Product Description:
If this can opener looks familiar, your grandmother probably had one like it with avocado green handles. This original Swing-Away can opener is designed to open cans smoothly and with very little hand strength. It's easy to use and extremely durable. White handles. Lifetime warranty.
 
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bluefire

bluefire

Senior Member
Another vote for the Swing-Away. I've been using mine for years and it's still going strong. Takes less arm strength than any other manual opener I've tried. I guess the blade will get dull eventually...Anyone one know how to go about sharpening it? Or should one have a few Swing-Aways tucked away?
 
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CopperTopMom

Contributing Member
The OXO "Good Grips" gets my vote. They are solid, have nice big rubber handles that don't hurt your hands and have a lifetime warranty. I have the peeler and when one side got dull and wouldn't peel I went to get another one. Being a chatty type person I told the clerk why I was looking for another one and the company replaced the peeler for me!
 
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Ozarkian

Veteran Member
We've had a Swing Away for about six years now and it still works like new. Easiest to use hand held can opener I've ever used. :ld:
 
@pQlrppl

@pQlrppl

w8nNw8n. Popcom read[y]
Kuhn Rikon- made in Switzerland & the best I have ever found. Extremely EZ to use and very sturdy. Turns the lid into a smooth cap (safety)

I always hated manuals cuz they were too hard for me to use. Not this one.

Got mine at TJ Maxx but a search on eBay ( Kuhn Rikon) found a few.

Take a look

http://cgi.ebay.com/KUHN-RIKON-Slim...ryZ43420QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

That one is buy it now @ $10. Seems like mine was about $8 at TJ Mx

Looks like there are other models with split handles, etc. The one I am recommending has one solid handle piece like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Kuhn-RIKON-Safe...ryZ20670QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



There's a different model too that has an added bottle opener on the end and costs double.

Looks like mine sells for up to $25 though..... so TJ Maxx or eBay is a good deal. Actually it would be worth $25...... it IS that good........ but why pay that if u don't have to.
 
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ofuzzy1

Just Visiting
I'll vote for the OXO 'Good Grips' [be sure it says good-grips**] and the Swing-A-Way.
The OXO has a latch that can be cumbersome for little hands and oldster hands.

Both the OXO and Swing-A-Way are brutes on stubborn cans.
Be sure to get the bigger S-A-W one for home.
They are warrantied for 5 years, the number is stamped on the side.
They make a smaller one, that is the car/bob unit.

Make sure you wash and dry them both promptly and they will last a really long time. I spray a bit of olive oil on the S-A-W after cleaning it.

To get more life out of your OXO veggie peeler, gently bend the 'bow' open until the blade falls out and put it in the other way, mark it with something - even a veggie crumb. You use one side of the blade, so intall the other side in the 'used' direction.
 
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dirtdigger

Inactive
I have a new Swing-Away can opener and not because the old one was worn out...they don't wear out. It is the cadillac of can openers and can be purchased at Wall Mart for under $10. The quality is superb. I too highly recommend this one. :ld:
 
Phil Ca

Phil Ca

Inactive
I vote for OXO and Swing-Away! I have always kept a GI P-38 handy and on a key ring until the fes went crazy and started confiscating them on planes. I have one i got in a box of C-rations on a plane enroute to Germany in 1956. That has worked for me for over 40 plus years!

My wife and I went to NYC two years ago and the two Coghlan large P-38 with built in spoon was carried in our hand carried bag. I left it in the bubble pack with the cardboard. They both made the trip intact to JFK. Upon the return the nice Jamaican lady TSA person said to me. Now look here, what is that you are carrying? Her superviser confiscated it but missed the one in my wife's bag. It was just a .69 cent item though.
 
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ceeblue

Veteran Member
Hansa44 said:
May I suggest that at night you always check to make sure you don't need to open any can in the AM. There are few manual can openers that will make opening a coffee an easy.
Click to expand...
:lol: Now that's a prep!

But sooner or later morning comes with sore paws and I can't get in the damn can. I've used a hammer and chisel before finding the Swing-A-Way for 50 cents.
 
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CopperTopMom

Contributing Member
Fuzzy1,

my problem with the peeler is that I peel both ways! I peel toward me for potatoes and away for carrots. It may have something to do with being a nearly ambidextrous lefty :groucho: . I also alternate hands when I'm cutting things with a knife (depends what I'm cutting and how as to which hand I use)
 
tosca

tosca

Inactive
Choosing Folger's Coffee

you have just a pull tab and replaceable plastic lid....really makes opening the coffee easy! Mari Susan
 
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