Never thought about weight of can openers till I joined here. My regular opener weighs almost 10 oz. I found one for 3 oz but it broke quick. What do you use that is lite and holds up?
Tuna, salmon, chicken in foil pouches. They also make pop top cans in various sizes. Spam singles come in a pouch. Shrimp and shellfish come in pop tops or pouches. I usually take dehydrated or take a pouch.
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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities. In the expert's mind there are few." Shunryu Suzuki
Registered: 02/23/03
Posts: 2124
Loc: Meadow Valley, CA
I've been known to have to resort to a small pocket knife when the can opener was forgotten. Kinda dangerous, but its gotta be done. If I am packing canned stuff, not much point in worrying about the weight of an opener as canned goods are only brought along for a weekend trip, no big deal.
I never thought I would see a discussion about can openers on a lightweight forum. Kind of like having a Jenny Craig meeting at McDonald’s. For me taking canned goods is a mistake that I don’t want to repeat. That can of ravioli and various other cans seemed to weigh about 50 pounds after a 12 km hike uphill. At the time I was too cheap to buy dehydrated stuff but I learned from my mistake. Dehydrated = money well spent in my book.
The P-38 that I use is one that I got from a C-ration when I was in the Army in the early 60's. Still going after nearly 50 years. It weighs about 0.2 oz and will open any can that needs to be opened. It is an exquisite little piece of engineering. Beware of Chinese import imitations; they don't hold up very well.
With the above said, I seldom take food along that requires a can opener so the P-38 is sort of an honorary gear item that gets used perhaps once a year. I know, I could reduce my pack weight by 0.2 oz if I were to leave it behind; I do sometimes. I just view it as a link with my youth.
I never haul cans backpacking either but a P-38 is always on my key ring. Those little guys do more than open cans! If you dress up the edge very slightly with a chain saw file or crock stick, they will cut string/tape, open boxes and envelopes. Not razor sharp but a little shaper than how they come. They'll do 80% of what I use a pocket knife for. For car camping they are great to have around. What a wonderful little tool, Pika!
P 38's are great, another option is to get a Swiss Army knife with a can opener. Most of the fairly basic models have them.
Perhaps, however, a model with the can opener (like a climber) usually weighs more (60 Gr) than a SAK classic (14 grams) + a P-38 (I have no idea but nowhere near 45 grams)
Plus if you're like me and were never in the service so you ain't nostalgic about it you can remove the p-38 from your pack after the 5th trip you take it for a ride on your back and don't open any cans. You can't do that if it's part of your knife Yes it's only a little thing but the decision I'm talking about above is an ounce and a half, with no real loss in utility if you aren't dragging tins of ravioli with you. 10 of these such decisions is a pound of packweight.
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