Video shows how to open a can with a spoon if you don’t have a can opener

Trying to open a can without a can opener might seem like a stumper to those of us who are creatures of convenience, but in an emergency, this could become a crucial skill.

So, I did some research and found this life hack video in which a metal spoon is used to open a can … and I was intrigued.

Video creator DaveHax makes the process look straightforward. His video features a close-up of a hand pressing down on the can’s lid with the edge of a spoon. After working on it for a little bit, the spoon pierces the lid and slices along the edge to open the can.

Take a look at DaveHax’s seemingly simple process for opening a can with a spoon.

DaveHax is not alone in suggesting this can-opening method. There are many other YouTube videos showing the same process.

Yet, by the time I was done trying out the spoon method, I felt like the frustrated cat in the classic Dan Haskett “Sesame Street” cartoon, who tries opening a tuna fish can on his own before his owner finally uses a can opener.

I tried rubbing a metal spoon on two different cans, as one metal seemed a little thinner than the other.

I did this both barehanded and while wearing a winter glove for protection from errant jabs and jagged edges.

Check out my serial killer look below.

Using the spoon, a lot of effort and several breaks, I made a decent groove in both lids.

But I couldn’t puncture either of them.

So, I called in reinforcements, aka my husband. After a good amount of exertion on his own part, he did manage to make a small slit in a can.

Several forceful jabs with the spoon later and the indent had grown.

But when we each tried to use the spoon to slice open the rest of the can in a circle, we couldn’t do it.

The spoon was stuck!

At that point, I just went and got the can opener because it was dinnertime and I wasn’t going to be the “Sesame Street” cat.

But I felt better about our failure when I read comments left under DaveHax’s video by other people who hadn’t been able to make the spoon hack work or had to use a lot more effort than shown in the video.

“This will not work on most cans in the USA,” commented CatspitProductions. “The metal is way too thick.” (DaveHax is from the U.K.). “I’d have to be the Hulk to get it to work.”

Another YouTube commenter, Bodomi said the spoon hack did actually come in handy after moving and not having a can opener yet, but he added, “I dunno if you have super-strength or if your can is thin as paper, but I had a lot more trouble opening it than you seemed to do.”

Many YouTube commenters also thought that if this were a true emergency situation, such as the zombie apocalypse, you wouldn’t have a safety glove to protect your hand. Alternatives suggested were a bandana or a dishtowel.

Besides a spoon, you can find videos of people opening cans with a knife or rubbing the can lid on concrete or a rock until the edges give.

Have you ever used something other than a can opener to open a tin can?