§§§ Special of the Month §§§
German WW2 Can Opener
This is a classic bit of Landser kit, namely a Büchsenöffner (Gesundheit!), or, for us English speakers, a Can Opener. Even though many a time Landsers used their bayonet to open the ubiquitous tins of “Fleischkonserve”, “Eintopf” or “Suppe”, each squad had at least one of these little marvels of Teutonic engineering. While some Soldaten owned a pocket tin opener, such as the ‘Wanderfreund’ and similar brands, in the Wehrmacht there was no standard issue of tin openers, such as the ‘P38’ in U.S. service or the ‘3-in-1 PTO’ of Commonwealth troops. There were, however, the standard ‘puncture and rocker’ tin openers like this model, which were issued to kitchens and ‘Goulashkanonen’ (the kitchen trailerettes of the Wehrmacht). Needless to say, any Landser worth his spit would have sought to ‘rectify’ this can-opener gap by “liberating” an opener from the “Küchenbullen” (lit. “Kitchen-Bulls”-Cooks), becoming the man with the tool for the squad. Considering that the K98 bayonet is a rather large implement to open a can of Wurst with, you can imagine how popular a proper opener was…
Our openers are from a limited batch we purchased in Europe from a former East-German kitchen implement company that to this day manufactures the can opener with the same tools, markings and materials as when they had a contract from the ‘Beschaffungsamt’ (procurement office) of the Reichswehr and later the Wehrmacht. Use is simple as can be:
A. Puncture the edge of the can’s lid near the rim.
B. Ratchet the opener to-and fro, thus cutting the can open in seconds (without scrambling or spilling, as the bayonet would do).
C. In case of issue of beer with crown caps—No need to panic, Kamerad! The opener’s two spurs act as a double-toothed bottle-cap lifter! Guten Appetit-and Prost!
If you have a joined mess, a fighting vehicle, a mess tent, or just a well-rounded Squad, you need this opener to perfect your impression’s most minute detail.
Price: $12.95
