Thoughts on bottle openers

[Ron Who]

I learned opening my beer with a BIC lighter.
An alox SAK (93mm) will do as well. No need to open any tools.

My every day SAK is a Bushcrafter mod, it doesn´t have an opener layer.

[Rich_SD]

I completely agree.  I still find bottles without screwcaps (usually Coca Cola, specialty sodas, or premium beer), but I could find other ways to open them without a multitool bottle opener.

I think can openers are even worse.  Other than just a couple experiences when camping, I have never needed a can opener on a multitool.  I can't even image a realistic scenario (again, outside of camping) when I would need a can opener on a multitool.

[PitCarver]

I can't remember the last time I used a bottle opener... I have said though that a can opener is a basic requirement on a camp knife.
Can opener can be used to open a bottle but most bottle openers can't open a can.

[proletenstahl]

I don't know that the bottle openers are really necessary for those of us in the western modern world where most things are twist off or in cans anyway.

I don't mean this to sound harsh, but that term normally means more than just the US and Canada. Like Germany.

It's definitely not a necessity in the US if you aren't into craft beer and it's interesting to hear that twist-offs are also the norm in the UK. Everywhere else I've lived or traveled, a bottle opener has been a necessity for beer.

[Farmer X]

Other than just a couple experiences when camping, I have never needed a can opener on a multitool.

When I'm opening a can that doesn't have a pull tab, I have two choices: hunt for the can opener that should be in the kitchen, or pull an SAK out of my pocket. The SAK is the much more efficient option for me.

[buggs]

I don't mean this to sound harsh, but that term normally means more than just the US and Canada. Like Germany.

It's definitely not a necessity in the US if you aren't into craft beer and it's interesting to hear that twist-offs are also the norm in the UK. Everywhere else I've lived or traveled, a bottle opener has been a necessity for beer.

I was kind of broadly meaning Canada/US, EU, Aus/NZ but clearly didn't make it obvious enough.  Definitely not too harsh at all.  And even with the locations I've listed now, I have no idea on many EU countries and haven't been to the south Pacific (aside from HI) for decades. 

On the can opener thing, the only time I've used them was my Swiss army knife back in 1988 when I was traveling through Australia. 

[Syncop8r]

When I'm opening a can that doesn't have a pull tab, I have two choices: hunt for the can opener that should be in the kitchen, or pull an SAK out of my pocket.

About 50% of the time I use a pull tab it breaks off and I need to use a can opener anyway. 

[Tasky]

I think can openers are even worse.  Other than just a couple experiences when camping, I have never needed a can opener on a multitool.  I can't even image a realistic scenario (again, outside of camping) when I would need a can opener on a multitool.

See, I find the opposite - I accept that the SAK screwdriver has a bottle-opening feature included and it's almost iconic... but I tire of seeing all the unimaginitive wallet/survival 'multi-tool' type conceptions that combine whatever features (spade, wire cutter, fishing kit, mine detector, lightsabre) try to fill an empty corner with the one thing they can think of, which is always a bottle opener... because of course the one thing you always need when in the middle of a firefight, polar exploration, medical emergency, unplanned clutch housing rebuild, spacewalk, or jewel heist, is the ability to crack open some brewskis... and it's not as if the people who buy this stuff already have fifteen cap lifters from all the other 'multi-tool' type conceptions they've bought.
Yet, not one of them includes a can opener, particularly when EDCing even a simply designed one like a P-38 or P-51 would be of far greater benefit to anyone that needs to open a package or something!

Here you'll find most of the cheap and expensive tinned goods don't have ring pulls, which means I use my SAK can opener several times a week. It's only the mid-range brands like Heinz that use rings, and to be honest no other can opener on the market is as good as the Victorinox one, anyway.

[Rich_SD]

When I'm opening a can that doesn't have a pull tab, I have two choices: hunt for the can opener that should be in the kitchen, or pull an SAK out of my pocket. The SAK is the much more efficient option for me.

Haha!  I love how you wrote "should be".

because of course the one thing you always need when in the middle of a firefight, polar exploration, medical emergency, unplanned clutch housing rebuild, spacewalk, or jewel heist, is the ability to crack open some brewskis...

The exact same thing is true for opening a can.  Other than camping, my cans are always opened in the kitchen where there are better and cleaner can opening options available.  It's not like my covered wagon loses a wheel and I have to open a can of vittles on the side of the freeway.  I'm not young, and *never* in my long life have I needed a can opener on a multitool, yet those useless things are crammed on almost every damn multitool I own.

Here's the thing, I completely understand that we all have different needs, so I know there are a lot of people that need a can opener and a lot of people who do not.  The "need nots" are stuck with a useless tool on almost every multitool, but the same isn't true for other tools, like scissors.  I could even make a good argument that scissors are more widely needed than a can opener, yet they are only on some tools.  Those of us that don't want scissors have lots of options, but folks who don't want a can opener have very few options.

Last note - I write "other than camping" on these replies because I like a can opener on my camping multitool; however, I haven't brought canned food camping in over 20 years.  All camping food now is in easy to carry, easy to open, and easy to carry out and dispose plastic bags.

[Farmer X]

Haha!  I love how you wrote "should be".

Funny thing is, I found the can opener that stays in the kitchen. By now I'm so used to just opening my pocket and pulling out the SAK that I didn't realize the dedicated can opener never moved!

[King_Gorilla]

I use the bottle openers on my multi tools a LOT.  I know that especially here in America, there are many people who have a different experience, but I certainly look for a convenient bottle opener on all my potential multi tool purchases. 

I drink Coke every day.  Its a problem.  I used to do about 4 to 5 a day but now I am down to 1 or 2 a day.  In an effort to limit my consumption and to lose weight, I only buy the mexican coke in glass bottles.  (they taste better and are a little healthier because of the real sugar instead of the high fructose corn syrup)  So I bring those bottles to work every day and open them at home every day.  At work I am always using my Signal to open them, at home I have several openers in my kitchen but if I rush to the living room to sit down and eat and forget to open the bottle, I will usually reach for whatever multitool that I have sitting around rather than make another round trip to the kitchen. 

When it comes to beer I mostly drink craft beers and ales.  Newcastle, Sierra Nevada, Smithwicks... all the best beer comes with regular tops instead of twist off. 
 

I know a bunch of ways to open bottles without a bottle opener, but I carry multi tools everywhere.  It just makes sense to have a good bottle opener on hand.  If I had two bottles in front of me with the same beverage and one was twist off and the other was not, I would rather use a bottle opener than reach for the twist off.   

[Singh]

I can't remember the last time I opened a bottle.

But i appreciate the cap lifter because of the flat driver.

[Jmoita]

Its a great tool on SAKs from unstuck stuff, breaking stuff, light prying. More than opening bootles sadly