So you’ve gone camping with your pals and after hiking a beautiful, long trail, it’s sundown and you decide to unwind with a nice fire and a couple of beers.
You plunge into the cooler, only to find that you left the bottle opener at home. Bummer! Before you decide to use your teeth to do the job, think, think twice and think again. You don’t want to end up with a chipped or broken tooth just to enjoy a couple of Bud Lights. Sometimes, desperation can make it worth the risk, but not today!
Others like you have met with the same fate – stuck in the middle of nowhere sans bottle opener. Luckily, they decided to try some ingenious ways to crack open that bottle and happily succeeded.
It’s time to share their words of wisdom and put you out of your misery.
Here’s a compilation of handy-dandy alternatives that you can use to open a beer bottle without an opener the next time you are in the soup – be it in the wilderness or even at home.
Contents
Method 1: Take It to the Edge
Although this is one of the easiest hacks to open any bottle, it may leave your tabletop chipped or scratched. So, don’t do it on a clean and fancy granite countertop or a walnut coffee table. It would be better to take things outside or find a hard-edged surface that you are sure you won’t mind if it’s left with a nick.
Single-Step Method: Hook the bottle cap on the table’s edge and slam it hard
- Position the lip of the cap on the edge of a table.
- Smack the top of the bottle with your free hand. If done right, this trick will open a beer bottle in one go.
Method 2: Belt Buckle
Get hold of your belt and use its buckle the next time you need to open a chilled Corona.
Single-Step Method: Use the belt’s buckle as a lever to remove the bottle cap
- Hold the bottle firmly with one hand.
- With the other hand, secure the edge of the belt buckle under the cap (as shown in the image above).
- Applying your full strength, press the other side of the buckle with your palm, so the buckle acts like a lever and pries open the cap.
Method 3: Stapler with Staple Remover
The staple remover of a regular stapler can come handy when you decide to grab a few beers with your coworkers in the office – after work hours, of course.
Single-Step Method: Open a beer bottle with the staple remover
- Position the staple remover under the crown of the beer bottle.
- Apply force to pull it upward, working your way around the cap until it's loose enough to pull off.
Method 4: Spoon
You can also open a beer bottle with a metal spoon. Now, it can’t get easier than this. Also, if you happen to get a little tipsy and end up with a black eye the next morning, a metal spoon can also come handy as a cold compress.
Single-Step Method: Use a metal spoon as a lever
- Tuck the tip of the spoon under the crown of the bottle cap.
- Exert force downward on the spoon until the cap opens.
Method 5: Ring
The ring on your finger can also come handy to open a beer bottle without an opener. However, don’t use rings made of soft metals, as exerting too much force can bend your ring out of shape.
Single-Step Method: Position the ring under the cap to pry it off
- Put your hand over the bottle, and hook the bottom of your ring under the crown (as shown in the image above). Be careful that you don’t pinch your skin in between.
- Twist and pull up until the cap dislodge.
Method 6: Scissors
Using a pair of scissors may require some time and effort. However, if you don’t have an opener, there is nothing to lose by giving this method a try. Do exercise caution, so that you don’t end up injuring yourself.
Single-Step Method: Snip the small ridges of the cap with the scissors
- Open the scissors and set the blade under one of the ridges in the bottle cap.
- Make a small cut through the ridge at an angle. This will help loosen the cap slightly.
- Continue to make more snips, if needed, until the cap is sufficiently loose to remove with a tug.
Method 7: Key
Sometimes the only key to open a beer bottle is an actual key. A house key, car key or just any key can be used to easily pop that chilled pint you’ve been drooling at!
Single-Step Method: Use the jagged edge of the key as an opener
- Hold the bottle firmly by its neck in one hand.
- Place the jagged side of the key under the cap and give it a little nudge upward.
- Use the key as a lever and apply some more pressure to force out one of the ridges.
- Do the same on 2 or 3 more ridges, until you have created a gap that you can wedge your key into.
- With your key wedged under the cap, push it upward to force the cap off.
Method 8: Car Door Latch
If you wish to quench your thirst but have already hit the road, then just open a car door and use the door latch to open those bottles. But first pull your car over.
Single-Step Method: Use the car door latch as a bottle opener
- Open your car door.
- Position the bottle’s crown under the latch at an angle (as shown in the image above).
- Push the bottle downward to pop off the cap.
Method 9: Beer Bottle
If you have absolutely nothing at hand, hopefully you have at least two bottles of beer left. You can use one to pry the cap off the other.
Single-Step Method: Use another bottle’s crown as an opener
- Flip one bottle upside down and use the ridge of its cap to pull off the cap of another bottle. You’ll have to hold the two bottles strong and steady for this trick.
Method 10: Lighter
Who would have thought, right? Yep, you can use the back of a lighter or any hard surface as a lever to open a beer bottle without an opener.
Single-Step Method: Use the base of the lighter to open the bottle
- Hold the bottle firmly by the top of its neck, leaving just enough space for the lighter to fit in.
- Fit the back of the lighter under the crown.
- Push down on the other end of the lighter until the cap flies off.
Method 11: Coin
You can also use a coin as a lever to open a beer bottle without an opener.
Single-Step Method: Use a coin to force out the ridges of the cap
- Place the edge of the coin under the lip of the bottle.
- Push the coin downward to force out the ridges and create a gap.
- Continue working your way around until the cap comes off.
Method 12: Paper or Dollar Bill
Sounds absurd, right? But you can actually open a beer bottle with a piece of paper, if you do it the right way. You can use a dollar bill instead of paper, but paper sounds safer!
Step 1. Fold the paper to create a hard edge
- Continue to fold the paper in half until you can no longer fold it any further. This will give you a thick, long rectangle piece of paper.
- Fold the thick rectangle in half lengthwise to create a hard edge.
Step 2. Use the hard edge to pop off the cap
- Place the hard edge under the crown of the cap.
- Use the rest of the paper as a lever to pop off the cap.
Tips
- If you want to chill your beer quickly, simply wrap a tissue paper around it and spray it generously with water. The paper should be wet enough to stick to the bottle. Refrigerate the bottle for 15 minutes to turn it ice cold.