How to Open a Bottle Without an Opener

Original image by Wil Stewart on Unsplash.

ANOTHER BOTTLE

1. Hold the bottle you wish to open upright in your non-dominant hand.

   Grip the neck of the target bottle, placing your index finger over the back edge of the cap.

2. Hold the second bottle horizontally around the label.

   Grip this bottle, the opener, as though shaking hands with the bottle.

3. Fit the shallow ridge found at the midcap of the opener bottle under the bottom edge of the cap of the bottle you wish to open.

   By using this ridge, and not the bottom of the cap, you will not risk opening the second bottle in step 4.

4. Using the opener bottle as a lever, press down and pry the cap off the target beer bottle.

5. Enjoy.

Alternate Method:

Hold both bottles end to end perpendicular to the ground, with the crimped edges of the caps together, locking them in place. Pull. Be careful, however, as either or both bottle caps could come off.

LIGHTER

1. Grip the bottle in your non-dominant hand.

   Make a fist around the top of the bottle so that your thumb overlaps your index finger and the web between your thumb and index finger sits in the groove under the cap.

2. Fit the bottom of the lighter under the teeth of the cap.

   Position the lighter so that it rests on the middle knuckle of your index finger.

3. Press the top of the lighter down and toward the bottle.

   Use the index finger on your dominant hand to provide resistance.

4. Pry off the cap.

   If necessary, turn the bottle and repeat.

TABLE EDGE

1. Put the teeth of the bottle cap against the edge of a table.

   The cap should be on top of the table edge; the bottle should be below the table. Do not attempt on a soft wood or antique table.

2. Use your fist to hit the bottle.

   The bottle will take a downward trajectory, and the cap will pop off.

SCREWDRIVER, SPOON, FORK, OR KNIFE

1. Place the implement under the bottle cap, as high as it will go.

2. Pry off the cap.

   Slowly go around the cap and lift up each crimped area with the tool, similar to opening a can of paint.

3. When the cap starts to move, fit the tool higher up under the cap and remove it.

BELT BUCKLE

1. Unfasten your belt buckle.

   If your pants are in danger of falling down, sit.

2. Pull the “tooth” of the buckle to one side.

3. Fit the cap into the buckle so that one edge is wedged against the buckle.

   Pull the bottle slowly. A quick tug may result in a spill.

4. Refasten your belt.

DEADBOLT LOCK

1. Fit your bottle into the lock.

   Place the head of the bottle into the recession in a doorframe into which a deadbolt slips, so that the cap fits against the notch in the lock’s frame.

2. Pull up slowly.

   The bottle cap should pop right off.

FIRE HYDRANT

1. Look for an arrow on top of the hydrant labeled “open.”

2. At the end of the arrow, locate the recess between the screw and the nut.

3. Insert the cap into the recess.

4. Press down slowly on the bottle until the cap comes off.

VENDING MACHINE

1. Locate a newspaper, snack, or soda vending machine.

   An older soda machine might actually have a bottle opener.

2. Place the cap in the coin return.

   Wedge the cap against the top of the opening.

3. Press down slowly until the cap is removed.

   Never drink from a bottle with broken or chipped glass.

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