I got out of the Navy in ‘71, and my P-38 is hanging on my keychain, still as sharp and useful as the day I got it. One of the greatest achievements of Western industrial technology.
the bird 55 — you wanna bet you and I and Lucky Louie are the only ones who know what a P038 is? I have on that my dad got in Korean War…steel, not the cheap aluminum ones you see today.
You’d lose that bet. Love the P-38, got one about 30 yrs. ago from a friend in the Marines. Still using it even picked up one of the cheap aluminum ones for my son. Mom don’t part with her P-38
I have one of those and have been looking forever to get another as mine is all rusty. Works better than any can opener on the market! Plus you have always have it with you :)
Maybe I just haven’t had enough practice, but my P-51 remains only for emergencies because it’s too slow and hard to use. I’ll stick with Victorinox Swiss Army knives.
I must be doing something wrong. My P38 always turned my thumb red. Let me see, it was at the bottom of my tool box 35 years ago. Ah, my Echo is in the junk drawer.
Well, how ‘bout that; I done larnt sumpthang today – and bright and early in the morning, too. Here’s where you can get one: http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml. There’s even a nifty scroll in the status bar.
I have been looking for a replacement p38 every since I lost mine. My wife even keeps asking what happened to it, now that we have gone through 4 cheap can openers in the last year. With practice a P38 can open a can almost as fast as a regular can opener.
I bought a $10.00 electric can opener at Walmart for my step-dad for fathers’ day last year. because the one we had was bleeep - turned out the one I bought, was the exact same model and also worked like bleeep.
He ended up buy a hand powered one, that works 1000 times better than the electric one and probably a fraction of the price.
Good Grips makes a soft handled non-electric can opener. I’ve had mine for years, works just fine, and is easier on my hand. Cost less than $15 ten years ago if I remember. I rinse under faucet after use and toss in dishwasher ever so often if it looks like it needs a better cleaning.
Electric can openers have never worked properly. I threw mine away over 15 years ago & haven’t bought one since. I can’t imagine why anyone would waste the money, unless they had some kind of medical issue that prevented them from using a manual opener.
Electric can openers have never worked properly. I threw mine away over 15 years ago & haven’t bought one since. I can’t imagine why anyone would waste the money, unless they had some kind of medical issue that prevented them from using a manual opener.
They dont want to have to use the effort required to manually open one.
I’m going to try the mail-in offer for $3.00. I might lose it but I think it’s worth the risk.
I carried one on my key chain for years. I love it when people ask what it is. Many people are astonished when they see one in action for the first time.
I had used the electric can opener at my parent’s home way back in 1970’s but it was not in lifetime guaranteed. It would be died or broken easily after used it many times. I do not use the electric can opener because it was not worth to buy with money and no room to put it on the counter in the kitchen. I have the can opener with two AA batteries and it works pretty well and I love it. That one I bought was from TV ad on the TV. I bought it from Wal Mart where I work at. Also, I have manual can opener and left it in my locker at my work just in case if I need it to cut and open the can for lunch or dinner.
RinaFarina, where do you live currently out of US?
Something that has not been brought up so far….
Most people I know have two can openers.
One for people food and one for pet food.
Not all cans are pop-tops, yet.
My mom loved her One Touch - the one you see on TV - but IMHO it’s a piece of crap. God help you if the batteries run down in the middle of opening a can - which they invariably do.
A hand-operated one is the only one in our kitchen. The one on my Swiss Army Knife does the job as does my P-38, but both are strictly field tools: not worth the trouble at home.
We had P38s. But, my dad was Coast Guard and it was before my brother went to Nam, so we must have gotten them at an army surplus store. We shopped there in the 50s and 60s for camping supplies. The whole family was into primitive camping and hiking. I still have a couple of those tough wool felt blankets.
But, we didn’t use the P38s at home. My mom had the elaborate crank can opener which hung on the wall. You could remove it to sharpen the blades. It wasn’t until she was over 75 and her hands got to arthritic that she got an electric can opener.
Ah yes, I remember when $20 was “a fortune”. But after a few generations of government deficit spending, $100 is the new twenty.
Bad news: I recently encountered an ATM that dispenses twenties and fifties.
Zimbabwe now has 100-trillion-dollar bills. That’s where it leads if we’re not careful.
(I’m talking about the U.S. here, not Canada where the one-dollar-bill was replaced by the “loonie” coin and then they added the $2 “toonie”. Watch out for Congress trying another round of forcing a $1 coin on us again.)
Howthduck, thanks. I must have been thinking 1960’s instead of 1980’s. : P Raspberries (to me) as Luvh8 would say. (I was busy learning to drive then, my junior year.)
Thebird55 Awesome. Thanks for the link. I think I’ll order a few for stocking stuffers. I bet my father (Marines) will get a kick out of it. He likes gadgets like I do. I never heard of these before today, but I’m sure I’ll learn all about them when I give him one.
I’d say don’t try to bring it on a plane or into a court house though. They confiscate everything now and days.
As one who could never even get the can onto the electric thing…
This was my recommendation yesterday to:
Notinkansasanymore I’m not left handed, but I have a drawer full of manual can openers. Try Farberware. They’re nice & sturdy with plastic handles and a plastic crank that doesn’t kill your hand. They turn effortlessly. They’re nice and sharp too. I bought one and liked it, so I bought 3 more, figuring it wouldn’t last long, but it’s still going strong after 3 years. I got them at Stop & Shop. They’re like $10.00, but they go on sale for 3 for $10.00 or 50% off all the time. I have good luck with those. they work well, and don’t break. Don’t buy the KitchenAid one though. As much as I love my KitchenAid 6 qt. mixer, the expensive manual can opener that looks well made, broke after I used it twice.
I reposted it in case you didn’t go back to yesterday’s strip.
This cracks me up: So many comments generated by a can opener. I can’t believe my one claim to fame, my moment in the sun, the only things I’ve been blessed with: I had the same electric can opener for at least 20 years. Its made several moves with me. It’s a champ. No one else has shared this experience!!!
Man O Man I think I wasted a perfectly good blessing.
Thank you piano38 for letting me know about P38 (just one more thing I missed out on.)
Wow. I get these things at my local Army-Navy Surplus store for like 68 cents a piece. Then, I put a small piece of plastic tubing (sliced down the middle) over the one edge so it doesn’t hurt my fingers. Love that little gadget!
Having worked in big professional kitchens, I love the can openers you get there. If you’re opening the sort of really large can where the contents weigh in at over a gallon, you need a seriously large can-opener to do it with. There mount onto the end of the worktable, and consist of a blade attached to a large vertical thickness of metal which slots freely into a socket. Just allow the vertical bar to drop so that the blade penetrates the lid, and a handle will fold over and engage a gear, allowing the operator to turn the handle and remove the lid. The weight of the industrial canopener is its secret: it traps the can between the workbase below and the blade above and means it can only move in a direction dictated by the user. (Best seen rather than explained!) I’d love one of those for my own kitchen as they do any size of tin, within limits, and last a lifetime.
alviebird over 14 years ago
Get a P-38. It’s all you need.
luckylouie over 14 years ago
I got out of the Navy in ‘71, and my P-38 is hanging on my keychain, still as sharp and useful as the day I got it. One of the greatest achievements of Western industrial technology.
donboyer over 14 years ago
the bird 55 — you wanna bet you and I and Lucky Louie are the only ones who know what a P038 is? I have on that my dad got in Korean War…steel, not the cheap aluminum ones you see today.
longandgreen over 14 years ago
You’d lose that bet. Love the P-38, got one about 30 yrs. ago from a friend in the Marines. Still using it even picked up one of the cheap aluminum ones for my son. Mom don’t part with her P-38
WORDMAN33 over 14 years ago
I showed one of the old ones to my nephew once and he didn’t know how it worked without any moving parts.
CarolinaGirl over 14 years ago
I remember those things!! Hmmm…wonder what happened to my dad’s…
mcveinot over 14 years ago
I have one of those and have been looking forever to get another as mine is all rusty. Works better than any can opener on the market! Plus you have always have it with you :)
masnadies over 14 years ago
We had a P38 emergency not that long ago- very handy gadgets, if you can carry them without getting arrested.
In fact, we have the hand-operated can opener too, for much the same reason- that and the electric ones don’t work well for me
Gigantor over 14 years ago
Maybe I just haven’t had enough practice, but my P-51 remains only for emergencies because it’s too slow and hard to use. I’ll stick with Victorinox Swiss Army knives.
lewisbower over 14 years ago
I must be doing something wrong. My P38 always turned my thumb red. Let me see, it was at the bottom of my tool box 35 years ago. Ah, my Echo is in the junk drawer.
Yukoneric over 14 years ago
I keep my P38 on my key chain. Has come in handy many times.
pianist38 over 14 years ago
Well, how ‘bout that; I done larnt sumpthang today – and bright and early in the morning, too. Here’s where you can get one: http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml. There’s even a nifty scroll in the status bar.
Nighthawks Premium Member over 14 years ago
nothing like being totally dependent on the juice coming out of that socket…surely it will ALWAYS be there….we can count on that! surely
SnowCritter over 14 years ago
Hey, Gigantor, I can see your problem. Using a P-51 to open cans would be a bit of overkill (8 machine guns in the wings and all).
A P-38 works like lightning, once you get the feel for it.
ursen1 over 14 years ago
I have been looking for a replacement p38 every since I lost mine. My wife even keeps asking what happened to it, now that we have gone through 4 cheap can openers in the last year. With practice a P38 can open a can almost as fast as a regular can opener.
Jascat over 14 years ago
You’re all saying what I said two days ago. Only one person agreed with me. No one else even paid attention to me~~ah well, such is my life :-<
mrslukeskywalker over 14 years ago
It’s as if the whole days long manual can opener conversation never took place here. I wondered if I was in the right comments.
$34.99 back then? Hey Howtheduck, is this an updated strip? If so they only updated the first part, because the manual one is only $1.25.
Look at the raging scowl in panel 3, over a can opener! Jeez.
thestargazer1682 over 14 years ago
I bought a $10.00 electric can opener at Walmart for my step-dad for fathers’ day last year. because the one we had was bleeep - turned out the one I bought, was the exact same model and also worked like bleeep.
He ended up buy a hand powered one, that works 1000 times better than the electric one and probably a fraction of the price.
alviebird over 14 years ago
If I had known that it was so popular I would have posted the link that pianist38 posted. Wait…pianist*38*?
Mythreesons over 14 years ago
Good Grips makes a soft handled non-electric can opener. I’ve had mine for years, works just fine, and is easier on my hand. Cost less than $15 ten years ago if I remember. I rinse under faucet after use and toss in dishwasher ever so often if it looks like it needs a better cleaning.
RinaFarina over 14 years ago
it really annoys me that everyone’s raving over something that I can’t buy because I live outside of the United States!
yyyguy over 14 years ago
i’ve had the same hand-held crank can opener for nigh on 30 years. quality lasts.
mrslukeskywalker over 14 years ago
Rina, you can’t get them unless you served in the US military. I can’t get one either. Neither can they, who are looking for a new one.
mroberts88 over 14 years ago
I’d go with the manual one.
jerzy over 14 years ago
Electric can openers have never worked properly. I threw mine away over 15 years ago & haven’t bought one since. I can’t imagine why anyone would waste the money, unless they had some kind of medical issue that prevented them from using a manual opener.
mroberts88 over 14 years ago
jerzy said, 21 minutes ago
Electric can openers have never worked properly. I threw mine away over 15 years ago & haven’t bought one since. I can’t imagine why anyone would waste the money, unless they had some kind of medical issue that prevented them from using a manual opener.
They dont want to have to use the effort required to manually open one.
alviebird over 14 years ago
MrsLukeSkywalker,
Here is a site that offers them.
http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml#p51
I’m going to try the mail-in offer for $3.00. I might lose it but I think it’s worth the risk.
I carried one on my key chain for years. I love it when people ask what it is. Many people are astonished when they see one in action for the first time.
SherriannPederson over 14 years ago
A hand operated can opener is the only way to go!
Wildmustang1262 over 14 years ago
I had used the electric can opener at my parent’s home way back in 1970’s but it was not in lifetime guaranteed. It would be died or broken easily after used it many times. I do not use the electric can opener because it was not worth to buy with money and no room to put it on the counter in the kitchen. I have the can opener with two AA batteries and it works pretty well and I love it. That one I bought was from TV ad on the TV. I bought it from Wal Mart where I work at. Also, I have manual can opener and left it in my locker at my work just in case if I need it to cut and open the can for lunch or dinner.
RinaFarina, where do you live currently out of US?
Hope all goes well! :- )
summerdog86 over 14 years ago
Something that has not been brought up so far…. Most people I know have two can openers. One for people food and one for pet food. Not all cans are pop-tops, yet.
KimberlyT over 14 years ago
Hmmm… this strip was first published when? I’m twenty and I’ve never used anything but a hand operated can opener.
jruckman over 14 years ago
My mom loved her One Touch - the one you see on TV - but IMHO it’s a piece of crap. God help you if the batteries run down in the middle of opening a can - which they invariably do.
A hand-operated one is the only one in our kitchen. The one on my Swiss Army Knife does the job as does my P-38, but both are strictly field tools: not worth the trouble at home.
lindz.coop Premium Member over 14 years ago
They still work!
ellisaana Premium Member over 14 years ago
We had P38s. But, my dad was Coast Guard and it was before my brother went to Nam, so we must have gotten them at an army surplus store. We shopped there in the 50s and 60s for camping supplies. The whole family was into primitive camping and hiking. I still have a couple of those tough wool felt blankets. But, we didn’t use the P38s at home. My mom had the elaborate crank can opener which hung on the wall. You could remove it to sharpen the blades. It wasn’t until she was over 75 and her hands got to arthritic that she got an electric can opener.
pschearer Premium Member over 14 years ago
Ah yes, I remember when $20 was “a fortune”. But after a few generations of government deficit spending, $100 is the new twenty.
Bad news: I recently encountered an ATM that dispenses twenties and fifties.
Zimbabwe now has 100-trillion-dollar bills. That’s where it leads if we’re not careful.
(I’m talking about the U.S. here, not Canada where the one-dollar-bill was replaced by the “loonie” coin and then they added the $2 “toonie”. Watch out for Congress trying another round of forcing a $1 coin on us again.)
mrslukeskywalker over 14 years ago
Howthduck, thanks. I must have been thinking 1960’s instead of 1980’s. : P Raspberries (to me) as Luvh8 would say. (I was busy learning to drive then, my junior year.)
Thebird55 Awesome. Thanks for the link. I think I’ll order a few for stocking stuffers. I bet my father (Marines) will get a kick out of it. He likes gadgets like I do. I never heard of these before today, but I’m sure I’ll learn all about them when I give him one.
I’d say don’t try to bring it on a plane or into a court house though. They confiscate everything now and days.
As one who could never even get the can onto the electric thing…
This was my recommendation yesterday to: Notinkansasanymore I’m not left handed, but I have a drawer full of manual can openers. Try Farberware. They’re nice & sturdy with plastic handles and a plastic crank that doesn’t kill your hand. They turn effortlessly. They’re nice and sharp too. I bought one and liked it, so I bought 3 more, figuring it wouldn’t last long, but it’s still going strong after 3 years. I got them at Stop & Shop. They’re like $10.00, but they go on sale for 3 for $10.00 or 50% off all the time. I have good luck with those. they work well, and don’t break. Don’t buy the KitchenAid one though. As much as I love my KitchenAid 6 qt. mixer, the expensive manual can opener that looks well made, broke after I used it twice.
I reposted it in case you didn’t go back to yesterday’s strip.
oneliner over 14 years ago
hello p39 fans try galaxyarmnavy.com if i read it corretly they are $1.99 and thanks for the laughs
littledutchboy over 14 years ago
This cracks me up: So many comments generated by a can opener. I can’t believe my one claim to fame, my moment in the sun, the only things I’ve been blessed with: I had the same electric can opener for at least 20 years. Its made several moves with me. It’s a champ. No one else has shared this experience!!!
Man O Man I think I wasted a perfectly good blessing.
Thank you piano38 for letting me know about P38 (just one more thing I missed out on.)
cutiepie29 over 14 years ago
Wow. I get these things at my local Army-Navy Surplus store for like 68 cents a piece. Then, I put a small piece of plastic tubing (sliced down the middle) over the one edge so it doesn’t hurt my fingers. Love that little gadget!
AgProv over 14 years ago
Having worked in big professional kitchens, I love the can openers you get there. If you’re opening the sort of really large can where the contents weigh in at over a gallon, you need a seriously large can-opener to do it with. There mount onto the end of the worktable, and consist of a blade attached to a large vertical thickness of metal which slots freely into a socket. Just allow the vertical bar to drop so that the blade penetrates the lid, and a handle will fold over and engage a gear, allowing the operator to turn the handle and remove the lid. The weight of the industrial canopener is its secret: it traps the can between the workbase below and the blade above and means it can only move in a direction dictated by the user. (Best seen rather than explained!) I’d love one of those for my own kitchen as they do any size of tin, within limits, and last a lifetime.