Sitting in the shop at lunch time today when I hear someone ask if anybody has a can opener.
What I didn’t hear next was, sure, bottom right drawer of the toolbox next to the gear pullers.
So I said, “Sure Do”.
Of course the guy didn’t know how to use it either so I had to open his can of fruit for him but there it was, that one day after carrying that thing around for years, when it finally paid off.
…and now he wants one !
I have several P38s, come in handy and civilians are astounded when you use one that small to open a can…
Cederq, did you offer to open the can with a Walther P-38 service pistol too, or a Lockheed Lightning fighter?
I have a bunch of those ones also, i wz scared they would get scarce and hard to find.
I’ve carried one since the late 60s. I got mine out of a box of C-rats. My father was food service in USAF and they had to put a small amount of them on the serving line. No one ever ate them unless they had to and he brought 5 cases home every year as we were supposed to have at least 3 days food on hand to grab and bug out (we were supposed to go to Rota, Spain if that happened) in case Ivan decided to visit Oktoberfest. 5 cases for my mother, self and 2 brothers came to a lot more than 3 days.
The ol’ P-38. Still have several in the wrapper from the days we’d go camping. Dad would throw a couple boxes of C-rations in the truck and off we’d go.
Some years ago I came across a bag of 100 of them, so I’ve got them salted all over the place. Greatest single invention ever made by the US Army.
And like Wiz above, I’ve had great fun with C rats. Wish I could still get them.
Still have one I was issued, plus a coupla spares.
Mine sits in the cup holder of my truck. When I carry it on my keychain in my pocket it tends to open up around some very sensitive parts of my body.
Heh, saved a couple from my C rats in the Navy back in 1970, still work as designed. Used to keep one on the key chain for years but now just in the desk drawer, pretty much all cans are now pull tab.
I kept one on a loop with my dogtag. It never failed when I had to get up Monday morning with a bit of a hangover I had put my dog tag on backwards. I would have a dozen puncture wounds before I realized I need to turn it around, FYI, I say dogtag because we were instructed to lace the other dogtag in our left boot lace. When I retired I bent my dogtag and mounted the dogtag with the P38 in my shadowbox.
Got one in each toolbox, and with the emergency supplies, but don’t carry on on my keyring. I probably should….
I carry my 70+ year old one in my wallet, I’ve used it four times. Looks a little oxidized, but still sharp as ever!
Had the same one on my keychain since 1973. Never wears out, only gets better.
That’s a P 52 and I did the same thing for my female pistola instructor one evening a few weeks ago getting some practice in. Mine is on my key chain.
ps My old P38 is on a keychain somewhere in my house. Bought the P 52’s on the zon a few years ago they are a little bigger and my hands and fingers don’t work as well as they used to.
I also have several, but not on my key ring. I’ll have to remedy that.
I have one on every key chain. Truck, Jeep, motorcycle, snowmobiles and boat. I do have to admit though, I use them more to get the gunk out from under my fingernails more often than opening cans.
Kinda scary that your dude couldn’t figure it out at least as far as “big sharp part make hole”… maybe not catching that the notch goes on the rim, but they could always just go Yip Man speedpunching the lid until it was mangled enough.
I saw a vid years ago now about opening a can with no tools. The guy in the vid scraped the top of the can on concrete until most of the seal was worn away, then popped the top off with his knife. Took about ten minutes according to him. He didn’t show the whole process in the vid, just the important parts.
I got mine in Saudi. Nothing like open a great big can of T rats with small P38. It wasn’t until later that the mess hall told us they actually had bigger ones. Besides opening cans it works great as a screwdriver in a pinch.
I’ve had two things on my key ring for the last 34 years, a key my father gave me and my P38.
One of the best things I’ve ever done was to start carrying a Leatherman at all times. Between the pliers, screwdrivers, file, and saw I use it quite often. I need a can opener rarely, but it’s got one. (Now it’s the Free P4 model)
I’ve carried one or another model of Swiss Army Knife since I was in school (except for rare occasions getting through TSA–spit!).
If I need pliers or a wrench, I almost always have at close hand a Leatherman and a Gerber multitool. They rarely get used though, since I prefer the specific tool they are a substitute for, wrench or pliers or screwdriver, but as a key item in a BOB or GHB, they’re essential.
When I first saw the little scissors in a SAK, I thought it was a joke. But the more I use that thing, the more I like it. It’s razor sharp, and with practice will cut as fast as a much larger scissor.