If you’re sans a zans for cans…

…then use your bare hands (from a man from different lands).

And he didn’t even cut himself. I could’ve benefitted from this knowledge a few times in the past. Much less messy than shooting it with a 10 mm pistol. I’ll have to try it of course, as soon as I get home tonight.

ETA; soup, vegetable and fruit cans, etc., are not made of tin. They’re made of high quality steel. The others, like regular beverage cans, are aluminum, but you knew that. I’m not sure where the term “tin can” came from originally. Maybe they were tin at some point, but the steel cans are soldered, i.e. “tinned”, and maybe it comes from that. If get interested enough I can always google it.

Tin is very weak compared to steel, and it isn’t magnetic. We do use a fair amount of tin in bullet casting of course, so I always keep some handy.

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6 thoughts on “If you’re sans a zans for cans…

  1. The traditional material for cans is tin-plated steel. So “tin” is short for “tin plated steel”. In Dutch, the material is called “blik” (and in German, “blech”) which specifically mean tin plated steel as distinct from the element tin. I don’t know if it’s still tin plated. Some cans seem to be coated with plastic to prevent corrosion. But I remember the last time I opened a can of pineapple — it had a distinctive crystal pattern on the inside, similar to the look of galvanized steel, the result of the acidic pineapple juice acting on whatever the plating is.

  2. I’m going to have to practice that. I could use a deposit in my “guy cred” account.

    • This reminds me of “Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog” by British humorist Jerome K. Jerome. And it reminds me of that only because it is mentioned in Robert Heinlein’s “Have Spacesuit, Will Travel” where the protagonist’s father, the onetime spy, tells his son about their discussion about opening a can of food without a can opener.

  3. Well I did have to try it of course. The bendy method a bit rough on the hands, but the thing is I think you could do it with less force than I used, and more repetitions. Getting the folds on opposite sides at the same level, to create a hinge effect, is a big part of it. I ended up with chili squirted on the front of my shirt, and in my hair, and on my hat, but I got the can ripped in half OK. Once it starts to tear its easy, but when you have greasy chili coming out it gets slick and that slickness makes it much more difficult. Having a towel handy would be a big help, as would doing it inside a plastic bag.

    The concrete or flat rock method works pretty well too, but it too can be a little messy. Trying it once anyway; by the time you get the rim shaved down enough to get it apart, it’s already leaking juice onto the concrete. Not that you’d care if you were desperate for food, but just so you know if you’re doing it in the comfort of home.

    I haven tried the bending method on the flat, tuna type can yet.

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