Opening a Beer Bottle With a Lighter

[MatthewB]

I'm 36 years old, and I can't do this.  Can someone tell me how?  In detail.  With diagrams and/or movie clips if possible.

Do you have a death wish?

Death wish?

I've been opening bottles w/ a Bic for 20 years. Never had a problem.

[ledervin]

A lighter.....that's rookie material....i have opened up beers with just about any imaginable strong material over one inch (simmer with the response to that set up of a joke please)..let's see.....keys, shovel, spoon, fork, knive, another bottle, mic stand, flash light, just about anything will work....the keys are tough but they're always around so useful...with the key you have to work your way around the rim....no poppin sound with that medium.

it's really quite easy when you get the hang of it....just think back to 5th grade science;;;ahh the lever and fulcrum....so the lever can be anything such as a lighter and the fulcrum your hand....what helps is to take the lever and apply an upward towards the bottle cap motion...

Maybe spending college in Canada helped...but I learned that trick way before then. What i like is seeing how far I can flick my bottle cap....big sport in canadian colleges.....

Here's a trick you can bet someone on for dinner: push a cork into an empty bottle of wine and give the challenger a cloth knapkin and tell them to remove the cork....let me know how it works out for you....

can't believe you guys can't open a damn beer with a lighter....maybe you should give up drinkin beer and go to shirley temple's!~

[hollywood]

Maybe spending college in Canada helped...but I learned that trick way before then.  What i like is seeing how far I can flick my bottle cap....big sport in canadian colleges.....

See. This is why we can't go to war with Canada.

[Stone]

I'm 36 years old, and I can't do this.  Can someone tell me how?  In detail.  With diagrams and/or movie clips if possible.

Do you have a death wish?

Well, I did buy a motorcycle last year.

Edited June 18, 2003 by Stone (log)

[maggiethecat]

Perhaps this needs its own thread, but it's related enough for me to inquire:

I have a beer, a bottle opener, and a cigarette. How do I light a cigarette with a bottleopener?

(This actually happens a lot.)

[Stone]

Open the bottle with the bottle opener, and put the cigarette in your mouth -- any man that walks by will offer to light the cigarette.

Edited June 18, 2003 by Stone (log)

[zilla369]

After reading this thread, i actually did open a beer this weekend with a Bic lighter on the first try - it was surprisingly easy. I would whine that this new skill will ultimately cause me to drink more, but the truth is, i can't recall an occasion where any sort of bottle/cap arrangement kept me from my appointed nectar. It's just that this is easy and usually convenient, since there's almost always a lighter where i am.

[MatthewB]

After reading this thread, i actually did open a beer this weekend with a Bic lighter on the first try - it was surprisingly easy.  I would whine that this new skill will ultimately cause me to drink more, but the truth is, i can't recall an occasion where any sort of bottle/cap arrangement kept me from my appointed nectar.  It's just that this is easy and usually convenient, since there's almost always a lighter where i am.

Zilla, welcome to the use of, what I term, "The All Purpose Party Utensil Tool."

[zilla369]

Zilla, welcome to the use of, what I term, "The All Purpose Party Utensil Tool."

Guess i don't need to mention what i used to use the edge of my bankcard for.

[MatthewB]

Zilla, welcome to the use of, what I term, "The All Purpose Party Utensil Tool."

Guess i don't need to mention what i used to use the edge of my bankcard for.

Wait . . .

Ummmm . . .

[Varmint]

Zilla, welcome to the use of, what I term, "The All Purpose Party Utensil Tool."

Guess i don't need to mention what i used to use the edge of my bankcard for.

Cleaning up the broken shards of glass from the beer bottle???

[NeroW]

Zilla, welcome to the use of, what I term, "The All Purpose Party Utensil Tool."

Guess i don't need to mention what i used to use the edge of my bankcard for.

Damn! I thought that was what my bench scraper was for.

[babyluck]

A lighter.....that's rookie material....i have opened up beers with just about any imaginable strong material over one inch (simmer with the response to that set up of a joke please)..let's see.....keys, shovel, spoon, fork, knive, another bottle, mic stand, flash light, just about anything will work....the keys are tough but they're always around so useful...with the key you have to work your way around the rim....no poppin sound with that medium.

Nope, they don't just grow in Canada -- I got me one too. He is from the Adirondacks, though -- pretty close to the border. I'm sure he'd love a worthy opponent, if in fact that's what you are.

He used to impress his friends in Denmark by launching caps onto the roof of a 3-story apartment building. Top that.

A friend of mine says you need lots of chi to do it. (He can't do it, but I can -- in 2 tries.)

[jess mebane]

My dear spouse can rip it 'n grip it with a Bic with what I've observed to be Olympic time trial speed. I'd add he's done the same with the left shoulder clasp of my overalls, but this isn't the "You Might be Trailer Trash If . . " thread.

[maggiethecat]

My dear spouse can rip it 'n grip it with a Bic with what I've observed to be Olympic time trial speed.  I'd add he's done the same with the left shoulder clasp of my overalls, but this isn't the "You Might be Trailer Trash If . . " thread.

Oh, Jess, you are The Babe.

I laughed so hard the cat was concerned, and trust me, she doesn't care 'bout much.

[tommy]

Once you get the hang of this you'll be surprised how easy it is. Its one of the most valueable things I learned in college:

I'm right handed, so I grip the bottle with my left. Wrap your hand around the bottle so that your thumb and forefinger are flush with the top of the bottle cap. Take the lighter and wedge it underneath the edge of the cap by pushing down on the fleshy part of the bottom knuckle of your forefinger. Grip tightly enough so that your hand doesn't slide down the bottle as you pry the cap off using that fleshy part as the fulcrum of your "lever".

Piece of cake...

i just tried this after 8 months. worked pretty damned good. nice job al...errr, dente.

Edited September 18, 2003 by tommy (log)

[Al_Dente]

Does this mean you haven't had a beer in 8 months?

[tommy]

Does this mean you haven't had a beer in 8 months?         

god help us all.

[redarmy]

A lighter.....that's rookie material....i have opened up beers with just about any imaginable strong material over one inch (simmer with the response to that set up of a joke please)..let's see.....keys, shovel, spoon, fork, knive, another bottle, mic stand, flash light, just about anything will work....the keys are tough but they're always around so useful...with the key you have to work your way around the rim....no poppin sound with that medium.

Maybe spending college in Canada helped...but I learned that trick way before then. What i like is seeing how far I can flick my bottle cap....big sport in canadian colleges.....

As a hard-drinkin' Canadian, I'd agree--there isn't anything that'll keep a Canadian from his (or her) beer. I've opened beers on tables, chairs, tractors (yay rural Alberta), fenceposts, car bumpers, trees (awkward), lighters, knives, bar tops, books--hell, I know rodeo guys who claim they open their Pilsner on bull horns. And let's not get into shotgunning cans of beer if they've lost the pull-top.

My Scottish in-laws were very impressed when I opened a beer with a lighter. They were less impressed when I opened the next beer with my belt buckle--I guess there is such a thing as getting a beer too close to man's groin.

And, as an f.y.i., I wouldn't recommend using the "marble" pillars at Ceasar's Palace in Vegas. A buddy of mine (lighterless) broke a sizable chunk off one trying to impress a girl. Being drunk didn't help.

[Stone]

I too can say that I have now mastered this art. Thanks to all those who helped. I have also determined that Bic is now my lighter of choice. I bought some cheapo lighter, and not only does it not give a decent flame -- even when I can see that it's still half full of fluid, but the bottom cracks too easily.

Now if only I can make a decent hollandaise.

(Just kidding, I can.)

[MatthewB]

I too can say that I have now mastered this art.  Thanks to all those who helped.  I have also determined that Bic is now my lighter of choice.  I bought some cheapo lighter, and not only does it not give a decent flame -- even when I can see that it's still half full of fluid, but the bottom cracks too easily.

Now if only I can make a decent hollandaise.

(Just kidding, I can.)

I've been saying since college that Bics are all-purpose party utensil tools.

[dankphishin]

about the arm method...........if you use the right part of your arm, you don't even had to jam it in there. extra points if the cap sticks to your arm. for some reason, this'll impress a girl if she's never seen it. hey, i've got an idea........what's the worst thing anyone here's ever bonged? mine is about 4 shots of Everclear.

[Toliver]

Haven't tried the Bic Trick, yet.

But I did discover long ago that the seat belt buckle of my Chevy Celebrity was just the right size to pop open a bottle of beer.

Who said American-made cars aren't well engineered?

[picaman]

Once you get the hang of this you'll be surprised how easy it is. Its one of the most valueable things I learned in college:

The lighter-removing-bottle-cap methodology is spot-on, but the most valuable thing I learned in college was how to snap the bottle cap after removing it with the lighter, so that it flies across the room in whatever direction you select. A most handy talent to have.

Jamie

[reverendtmac]

Note to the golfers in the house: investment cast irons work very well for this. Forged irons do not.

Todd, who now uses the metal part of the benches and the pop-down method...