How to open a can when you don’t have a can opener

You never know when an emergency might strike. There could be a tornado. An apocalypse. And you might be left with a can of something delicious, but have no way of opening it.

Or you might just have a broken can opener and a can that need opening.

Either way, there’s actually a way to open a metal can without a can opener. And that’s by using a metal spoon.

It’s important to use good common sense, and take safety precautions, when opening a can this way. If you have gloves, you might want to slip them on to prevent cutting your hand or, at the very least, make sure you’re cautious around those sharp metal edges. Got it? Good. Let’s do this.

How Is It Done?

1. It’s ideal to have a flat surface to place the can on. Otherwise, it might slip, and that can result in a serious injury if you’re not careful.

2. Hold your metal spoon in one hand with your thumb facing upward. With the other hand, hold the can in place.

3. Using all of the upper body strength you have, rub the tip of the spoon along the top of the can to make a groove, which will eventually enable you to puncture the can.

4. Once the can is punctured, you can either try to pry the top of it open just enough so you can get the contents out or, if you have more upper body strength than I, you might even be able to cut around the can using your spoon. While there are videos on how you can cut around a can using your spoon once it’s been punctured, I didn’t have much success.

And another note: It may be because I lack upper body strength, but it took me a good 12 minutes to actually get the can open.

I also used a rubber gripper about halfway through the process to see if that would help. I’m not sure it did but, hey, I got the can open! Eventually!

Anyway. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you have a can that needs to be opened but no can opener, this trick not only allows you to open your can, but it also doubles as a nice arm workout!

[h/t: Tip Hero]