Steve W. wrote:
Michael Koblic wrote:
I saw an interesting event on Jay Jeno last night: Memebrs of the five armed
services were trying to open a can of cranberry sauce using a Swiss army
knife. It was horrible. None of them seemed to have a clear idea how to use
the can opener attachment, in fact I am pretty sure some of them used the
wrong attachment. Four of them managed eventually at a cost of some injuries
and the cans were mangled. One failed to empty the can in the alloted time.

I wondered about the implications: Is this a reflection on general
population's unfamiliarity with a can opener? Is this a reflection on basic
training? Is it because the knife was *Swiss*? It cannot be because the
knife was *Army* as I believe it was the Army guy who failed. I hesitate to
cite stress affecting the performance of members of fighitng forces.

Would members of the Special Forces have done better? One of the guys made a
creditable effort to rip the can open with his bare hands but with a minimum
result. How would the US Armed forces stack up against, say, the Brits or
the Russians?

Is this something to be concerned about? Do I have too much time on my
hands?


Well I decided to try it myself. Grabbed a standard can of tuna (no C
sauce left), laid my Mechanics model Victorinox knife down and started
the clock.

48 seconds to open the can.

Disgraceful.

The trick with them is that you go forwards and rock the knife to keep
it cutting. If you try going backwards you leave small slivers of lid
behind.

I use my Victorinox "Tinkerer", it's the only can opener I have.
I lost a U.S. Coast Guard can opener somewhere. It's tiny, folds, fits
on a keychain. Takes easy twist-o'-the-wrist action, without bending the
wrist or jacking the elbow up and down. It cuts like the Swiss Army
tool, except it travels backward, clockwise around the can. It's
perfect, far better than the Swiss Army opener.