First of all GRRRRRRRR......

I'm on the hunt now for a new, better, bigger package opener.

I'm leaning t'wards something like a "Arkansas Toothpick".

The little ole "Old Timer". just isn't getting the job done on some of the packages any more....

Why just this morning, I tried to open a new package of Chapstick..(I like using it, vs some of the other brands). Anyway, the plastic that wrapped it, I thought I was going to have to take it out to the shop and use the hacksaw on it, to break thru that plastic wrap. GRRRRRR.....

Now my "Old Timer" is sharp, I keep it that way using my Arkansas whet stone. But I was still having a time of it this morning, fighting that wrap....

And it's not just this one package I was fighting this morning....Seems like about anything that doesn't come in a can or a glass jar a person need to have a spare tire iron, a hammer and chisel, a helping hand, to fight to open anything any more....


The canned food, not much of a problem with those. But anything that comes in a jar.....Welll.....A person might want to go to some of your local farm sales and see if you can pick up a good set of Vice Grips.

And while I'm trying to open XYZ, and be damned, if there isn't another seal under the cap that I had just fought to get off.....Here I go and try and squeeze out some ketchup and nothing comes out...So I unscrew the cap, and there's that seal, preventing anything from coming out...Out comes that good ole knife, to cut the seal and pop it off....

Rats....by the time I got thru with the ketchup bottle, my french fries were cold...GRRRRRRR....

I tell you, I'm thinking there needs to be a congressional investigation about this problem, cause us senior citizens are either going to be going hungry, because we can't open food containers, or do much of anything to help ourselves sustain our independent living if we're going to have to call 911 every time we need help opening a package...

Shoot, since the holidays are just a few short weeks ahead, ya'll might consider giving some senior you know a new Bowie knife or Arkansas Toothpick for a present...Those are large enough, a person like me can get their hand around the handle, and it's large enough to get most package opening jobs done, and lastly it'll be harder to lose in the drawer. Not saying it can't be done though.

Well, let's see how the rest of this day goes.



WuzzFuzz

Easy does it, have another cup of coffee but try decaf this time.

No, no, no he's onto something and OP is right. Wait 'til y'all get old, you'll see.

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Dick

How about something in between - ZT 300. It'll get you from point A to point B without a hernia, which is likely not covered under obamacare.

I keep a large set of tin snips handy. I got tired of having various body parts stitched up when my knife slipped.

Hand cranked can opener will work on blister packs that wont pop open.
I'm not a fan of the pills where I need to peel off the backing and push through.
Always seem to be the same color as the bathroom floor.

I work on classic cars. The rubber that's used to rebuild the vent windows comes in plastic sealed package. The plastic sticks to the rubber. If you jerk it you tear the rubber. Found that when you pull are cut most plastic away you can use a heat gun and melt the plastic loose. The rubber parts are expensive to replace.

Tin snips

Well I stopped in that there Harbor Freight place an got me two of them replaceable blade razor knives. Them things open just about all those blister things. But as somebody already said...stitches and the pain from cutting herself. Seriously those knives do work pretty good and you can replace a dull blade really quick... and they come with extry blades. The real big problem now is remembering where I put the darn knife.... or the extry blades..Dad blasted sometimers

I use a small pocket knife made by Gerber called the RIDGE, model no. 05898. It has a 1 3/4 inch sheepfoot blade that has a half serrated edge.
It also has a pocket clip than can be used as a money clip.

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"Life is short, hunt hard"

Take it easy!

Here you go!!!!!



If you want something more do-it-all

Reminds me of my Father. He had arthritis all of his adult life. He would buy a plastic bottle of Bufferin with the child-proof cap, and open it by pulling out his pocket knife and cutting the whole top off.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

Get a set of kitchen scissors, the kind you use to cut chicken and such.

I've been using them for years to great success.

Knives + blister packaging = ER visits.

Condor Golok 13". One swing usually does it. Probably better used on whoever invented blister pack packaging.

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Not in jail.

Kitchen shears are good. But though I don't know if they still offer it, Cold Steel used to sell a little fixed-blade knife called the Ready Edge. Blade about two inches long or less, and very aggresively serrated. It locks into a little sheath with a clip so it could be worn as a neck knife if your day calls for opening a lot of stuff. The handle is long enough and textured enough that you get a good grip, and there is a small guard to keep the hand from slipping down to the blade.

Does a great job opening packages. I gave mine to my sister, but I think I'll order another.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Kitchen shears. You know... the ones that'll purt near go through bone...

A few more tools:

Clamshell and Blister Pack Packaging - Plastic Packaging Tools

I have found that a sheepsfoot or Wharncliffe blade works on packaging better than other shapes.

Currently using a Cold Steel Tuff-lite; it fills the hand nicely for the size, and holds a decent edge for a budget blade.

A little film clip on the subject.

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Doesn't hasta call me Johnson

Do you see the opener that Russian Commissar had in the Hunt For Red October that he used to open the letter sent to him by Marko Ramius?

That bad boy should work just fine!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

Labworm...That clip of Larry David is exactly me this morning......


Somehow I'll bet who ever invented the packaging on products, also sells Anger Management books...


WuzzFuzz

....And still the champ....

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

For actual packages and letters, I use a WWII Garand bayonet, for other stuff, a Sears multi tool--or whatever its called?

Bought a knife once because I couldn't find my knife and I'm looking at the packaging....

Phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range oughta take care of that jes fine...

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50 Years of DSOTM

+1 on the old hand held can opener, the kind you squeeze tight and turn the handle. It works!

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Why duck?? It's a 9mm!

My tried and true, 50 year old KaBar.

Pet Alligator?

I bought one of those memory foam mattress mail order. It came in a box and the mattresses itself was vacuum packed in impenetrable shrink wrap plastic. Warning labels all over the package - DO NOT OPEN WITH SHARP INSTRUMENT.

As a mechanical engineer that one had me stumped. Sent it back.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

I use a strap wrench on those difficult to open jars.

For those darned plastic packages.

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Keep on Chooglin'

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Plasma Cutter .........but it can get messy.

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Not so Free in the Free State

I'm with the OP...............

We - Americans and Chinese - over-package everything that comes along!!!

Some of the "new and improved" plastic is almost impossible to get off/out/etc., without serious damage to your hands!!

Did I mention that I hate packaging??

What is this? What is it used for? I MUST have one.

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Recycled Bricklayer

That would be a brush cutter / bush hook.

The grandfather of the weed eater!

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

These are what I used in my youth.
The bow type worked better underwater.



Think either may take care of
today's packaging issues.

It is a brush hook or brush axe, sort of a cross between a bill hook and an axe. The handles are typically 36 to 42 inches, the blades are around 11-14" and weigh 3-4 pounds. They excel at clearing dry woody underbrush and opening those plastic clam-shell packages.



Those look like they would work well, I was using this old thing for a while,but the edge is very fine and really only meant for grass, the plastic packaging dulls it quickly.

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Regards,
Guy-Harold Smith II

Sorry to hear about the edge, I'd like to try to a scythe.
The serrations on the weed whackers allow a light touch with the foot to hold the packaging allowing for less chance of accidental trimming of the toenails.

Smith357...I think I'll put you in for contention for the Tim the Tool man award of the Smith & Wesson Forum.....


A man with the right tool for the right job.....Uh..Uh...Uh.


WuzzFuzz

This ought to get into it. I do love Buck stuff.

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I have made more than a couple trips to the ER for finger repairs after trying to open those Damnable plastic packages. One time the plastic cut was worse then the pocket knife. The ER doctors take bets on what cut me the knife or the plastic.

I dislike the seals inside those plastic bottles. you knoe if you squeeze hard enough the seal well explode and you get mustard all over the table and your white shirt.

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Carpriver.

This will do it:

WalMart sells a product that is supposed to easily open that type of packaging.

The rub? The tool is packaged in that type of packaging!

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... a little behind in my work