Talk:P-38 can opener

Overall Length as the source of the name?
According to my micrometer, the P-38 measures 1.504" which equates to 38.2mm. While that somewhat works, the P-51 measures 2.054" or 52.2mm so the length as a naming convention doesn't really work, unless you consider sloppy numbers and a penchant for naming can openers after fighters. Between that, and the U.S. not much using metric units in WW-II makes the names being based on the lengths questionable.

Naturally, this proves nothing but I'm bored so I thought I'd throw some metrology into the mix.

Nope! :)

It takes 38 punctures around a standard can to open it with thus tool.

Cheers! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.59.3.188 (talk) 02:52, 26 February 2008 (UTC)

Useful information?
some p-38 are labeled "mil j-0837" this seems like useful information to me but only some are stamped this way. It is shown on http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml so it is sourced.

"Harmless"
The last paragraph contain a POV issue: "Airport security personnel who are unfamiliar with this harmless device have been known to confiscate these can openers from these people because of the presence of the tiny sharpened surface." Is the P-38 can opener a "harmless device"? According to "Creative uses" section, the can opener can be used to gut a fish and as a box cutter. I hardly consider that to be harmless. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jumping cheese (talk • contribs) ^Right, cause terrorists are gonna take over a plane with a 1.5" stamped steel tool,right?

I carry a P-38 to this day, and a ball point pen is more dangerous then a P-38. And having flown many times, I have never had a screener look twice at it. 72.161.165.44 20:25, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

Offensive
It is also known widely in its derogative term, the "Fucking Ridiculous Eating Device". Can an encyclopaedic article contain an offensive term like that? I think it should be censored, or the whole sentence removed. This sentence seems like POV, so I don't think it should exist on the encyclopaedia.--ADTC 09:46, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

I believe that the sentence conforms to Wikipedia's profanity guidelines and should be left in. --Jrash 15:43, 18 December 2006 (UTC)


 * While the FRED has mostly been phased out in New Zealand based on the current ration packs no longer containing tins, it is still well known, and an oft privately used term in the NZ military. I cannot comment on it's prevalence in Australia though. Liberator 02:44, 19 December 2006 (UTC)


 * Other than the profanity issue (on which I agree with the above editors) -- no, that sentence is NPOV. It's unsourced, but assuming it's accurate, then "it is also known widely" is not biased, "derogative term" is not biased, and the term itself is accurate. See, for example, "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_words_for_Germans" - another list of "also known as" terms, including mention of the derogatory nature of some of them. Tofof 16:56, 1 January 2007 (UTC)


 * There's an example at http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=F.R.E.D, not sure if it's quite authoritative enough to be a source. That said, Due to the profane words, I'm not sure if we'll ever find an official source Liberator 09:50, 3 January 2007 (UTC)


 * In line citations for the term have now been provided--Golden Wattle talk 00:22, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

-Censorship is pathetic, the word fuck is in common use by adults all over the world and especially in the military.

Metal
Were they made of steel or some other metal? Can this information be added to the article? Badagnani (talk) 03:28, 10 July 2008 (UTC)
 * The one I carry on my keychain appears to be made of steel or soft sheet-iron. A magnet attracts it. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.41.40.24 (talk) 18:40, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

I have found them also made of aluminum & carbon-steel at the 'Dollar Store' and REI respectively. Same approximate design (shape), but no marks on the aluminum, which broke after a few uses. The darker carbon-steel was only stamped with "P-38" (no mfg), and worked quite well (somewhat better/stiffer 'feel' than the ordinary steel) for several years, but the hinge finally cracked. I have used several others for decades, marked with the Mil Spec, and apparently made of a Stainless Steel.  It does indeed work faster than a crank opener when proper travel pressure is applied and the 'cutting' hand is oscillated such that the point does not quite leave the interior of the can. The travel of the blade with each stroke, depends on the thickness & softness of the lid or the side (depending on how it is used). Boldklub-PJs (talk) 19:39, 3 August 2020 (UTC)

Purpose of hole = field sanitation
No cite for this, but I've been told that the hole is for a string or other means for the user to fish the gadget out of boiling water. Even "wiped clean," traces of food still provide a place for microbes to grow. Hanging a P-38 on a keyring or dogtag chain is asking for a hole in your pocket, or in the skin of your chest.

The whole "Usage" section falls under WP:NOTHOWTO and is uncited. 66.189.117.133 (talk) 02:13, 23 August 2009 (UTC)

I've been carying one on my keychain for almost 40 years, now, and never had the slightest problem with it causing a hole in my pocket. And, yes, I've used it occasionally.JDZeff (talk) 01:09, 20 August 2012 (UTC)

P-38 was NOT invented by The Marines!
The P-38 was not invented by the Marines! It was invented by "The Subsistence Research Laboratory" in Chicago, Illinois. The P-38 has often been called "The Army's Best Invention" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.14.109.33 (talk) 04:35, 16 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Nothing in the article states or even suggests that the device was invented by the Marines. The reference to the Marines is only to a Marine Corps nickname for the device. Monkeyzpop (talk) 07:34, 16 September 2011 (UTC)

This is not an item of the past - its variation is still very popular in Israel!
The article gives the impression that this can-opener is an item of the past. But a (non-folding) variation of this is still the most popular can opener in Israel... The article speaks of a Polish version, which might be identical to the Israeli one, but the link to the image of the Polish version is broken so I cannot confirm this assumption. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.139.174.142 (talk) 20:31, 10 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Indeed, the "P38" is still sold in the US at camping and outdoor supply stores. Perhaps they are old military surplus but the ones I see appear new. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.41.40.24 (talk) 15:50, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Similar, almost the same, device is used by Yugoslav army and todays Serbian army. Every field ration box (SDO - suvi dnevni obrok, dried daily ration) has one p-38. --82.41.8.167 (talk) 00:06, 27 January 2012 (UTC)

Larger version had different nickname
Never heard the larger version called a P51, we in the late 70s/80s Army called it a B52 b/c of it's size.

I have several on hand simply b/c they are such a dependable tool. I also have some FREDs as I worked with the RAA in Queensland for awhile back in the mid 90s. While great can openers, they were messy and borderline useless as spoons. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 184.20.37.79 (talk) 17:00, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

When I was in Nam 71-72, we used B-52 to refer to the beer can opener that punches triangular holes, aka “church key”. Don’t think I’ve ever seen the larger version of the P-38. Wschart (talk) 14:51, 4 July 2021 (UTC)

Fighter plane names
It would be nice to have references that say that the P-38 and P-51 are named for the P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang. It seems too unlikely if not at least one of those coincidences is a namesake. 8ty3hree (talk) 01:38, 27 September 2013 (UTC)

Usage
I think the usage as described is reversed for left- and right-handed users.214.13.69.132 (talk) 11:22, 28 August 2015 (UTC)

I added: "A left-handed user is at a slight disadvantage in that the tip of the thumb (instead of the lateral flank of the distal index finger) must apply the combined travel & twist forces. Righties' thumb takes only the twist force." However, that begs the question, "Do lefties use the tip or the side of their thumb to rock/twist the opener?"Boldklub-PJs (talk) 20:22, 3 August 2020 (UTC)

There are various versions
There's one with a peeler (actually, it's more P-51 size) and one with a blade lock. There's a "similar devices" section so the varieties of an actual P-38 should probably be mentioned too. And there's no mention of "steel." Just "metal." Some new ones are said to be stainless, most aren't. Maybe mention that.

69.114.29.205 (talk) 05:55, 30 March 2018 (UTC)

Who invented it
The notion that the P-38 was "invented" or "developed" in WWII is unsustainable because there is much evidence showing similar can openers all over the world in the decades preceding WWII. Or, how did people open cans before WWII? There is evidence that a similar device was patented and produced in Gijón, Spain, in 1906 by José Valle Armesto and sold ander the brand "El Explorador Español". An internet search for -abrelatas explorador español- shows much evidence of this product sold under the same brand for over a century. Link1 Link2 Link3 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.78.120.81 (talk) 19:31, 17 February 2020 (UTC)