P-38 can opener
Foldable carbon steel can opener issued with U.S. military rations.
The P-38 is a foldable carbon steel can opener issued with canned United States military rations from 1942 through the 1980s. It was originally distributed in the K-ration and later included in the C-ration. A U.S. penny is shown for scale in reference images.
Quick Facts
- Length
- approximately 1.5 in / 3.81 cm
- Introduced
- 1942
- Material
- carbon steel
- Original ration
- K-ration
- Later ration
- C-ration
- Larger variant
- P-51
- Early contractor
- J. W. Speaker Corporation of Germantown, Wisconsin
Facts from the source article.
Design
The device consists of a short rectangular metal handle with a small hinged metal tooth that folds out to pierce the can lid. A notch just below the hinge hooks beneath the rim of the can as the opener is walked around to cut the lid out. The larger P-51 variant, measuring 2 in, offers greater leverage and is somewhat easier to operate. The designer of the original device that received the official U.S. military designations U.S. ARMY POCKET CAN OPENER and OPENER, CAN, HAND, FOLDING, TYPE I, commonly known as the P-38, is unknown. Despite widespread claims that the P-38 was designed in a 30-day whirl of inspired effort by the U.S. Army Subsistence Lab in Chicago in 1941, a fully fledged version differing only in the hole for attaching to a lanyard being on the opposite end of its body appeared in a 1924 edition of Popular Mechanics, described as designed for campers and Boy Scouts. The P-38 was preceded in US military field rations such as the K-ration and C-ration by twist-key can opening, where a provided key was inserted in a tab and twisted around a can to peel away a metal sealing strip. P-38s are no longer used for individual rations by the U.S. military, as canned C-rations were replaced by MRE rations in the 1980s, packed in plastic pouches. The P-51 is included with United States military Tray Rations, which are canned bulk meals. P-38s are still seen in disaster recovery efforts and have been handed out alongside canned food by rescue organizations in several countries. J. W. Speaker Corporation of Germantown, Wisconsin, was one of the early contractors, producing them in the millions stamped Speaker USA or U S speaker. The opener was also manufactured by Washburn Corporation marked US Androck, and later by Mallin Shelby Hardware inc of Shelby, Ohio, variously stamped US Mallin Shelby O. or U.S. Shelby Co.
Operation
To use the P-38, first flip the cutting tooth out from its folded position until it locks at a 95-degree angle. Grip the opener by its flat, long section in your right hand. Hook the circular notch under the can’s rim, with the cutting tooth aimed downward and away from you. Rotate your right hand slightly away from your body to puncture the lid. Then move the opener a little toward yourself and repeat the motion around the entire can. Because the folding tooth locks in only one direction, left-handed people must reverse the process, which is much less comfortable. The flat end of the P-38 also works as a basic screwdriver.
Similar devices
The Australian and New Zealand armies issued a similar opener from 1943 to 2005, featuring a small spoon on one end and a bottle opener on the other. Called the Field Ration Eating Device, or FRED, it was widely known by the derogatory backronym "Fucking Ridiculous Eating Device." The Swedish army also distributed a similar variant, officially designated M7481-021000 Konservbrytare Mini, with its field rations.
More in Military Food of the United States
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced