He's talking about the can openers Walther made for the German Army. It does take a little practice to shoot the lids off cans.

Attachment 64482

:rolleyes:

Why, I never heard of such a thing! Must've been for old-time soldiers who ate C-Rations out of cans. I was raised on MREs and LRPs.

I may have eaten some C-rations; but, choose not to remember.

As Rumpole of the Bailey would say, I'm grateful to m'learned friends. :thumb:

When I entered the US military, it was transitioning from Meal, Combat, Individual (MCI) to Meal, Ready to Eat (MRE). The former being in cans, the latter in retort pouches. The MCI was the successor to the C-Ration and they were very much alike with both being canned goods. There were times when I was issued a mixture of both; until, the stockpile of MCIs was exhausted.

I never heard anyone call an MCI by that name though, everyone still called them C-Rations. I supposed they felt the "C" might as well imply "Canned" rather than just being an alphabetic type designator. It was much like the situation with "Jerry" cans which derives from jeroboam; but, sounds (i.e. Gerry) like it could be associated with the Germans who were primary users of them.

The canned ration meal was packed in a cardboard box with food accoutrements and accessories. A dozen boxes came in a cardboard case. A few P38s, in individual pouches, were loosely tossed into each case. They neither came in each boxed meal nor were there enough for each meal in the case since they were expected to be reused and those in the case intended as replacements for lost, damaged, or worn out ones.

I would go through the discarded case boxes and scarf up the unclaimed P38s. I left military service with a bag of about 50 of them which I gave away to family and friends. They were novelties to most. Some actually used them for outdoors adventures like camping in which canned goods were still popular. They have a hole in them for wear on a keychain or neck chain (with dog tags). While they were small and light, they had one major drawback … they lacked a corkscrew. US Military Vietnam Era Can Opener with Corkscrew

I have a few leftovers from my brother when he was in the Army. I was on a camping trip and left my can opener, but had my p38 on the key fob. Well it doesn't work like it looks try the opposite and it opens cans. Unfortunately I had never used it and it was a decoration. How hard could it be?

Well I ended up cutting open a few cans with my knife before I figured it out.

Well whatever the hell number it was it was a reminder of my brother in the Army. I remember when Katz's Deli in NY advertised send your boy a Salami in the Army and my father did.

When I was a kid we had an opener with a corkscrew like that. I doubt it was military issue, maybe the source for the military later on.

I had a boss at Boeing who was a Colonel in the reserves. He brought is some MREs he kept in the trunk of his car for emergencies. I opened a foil pouched brownie and as I'd expect for a brownie with miles on it the surface was crisscrossed with cracks. What I didn't expect was the cracks were lined with white. Close examination showed it was crystals of sugar I assume migrated from the brownie... or cocaine for morale. :haha:

Close.

I got close.

Attachment 64492

You could really fuck someone up with that thing. If stopped and questioned it's just a can opener in your pocket... if you wipe the blood off. :angel:

I've got one with the buckle proof blue blade... of course the cork screw is bent. :)

No, I'm just happy to see ya!

Don't have a P-38, Do know what one is, Do have a can opener that I've used to liberate canned food for my personal consumption.

#leatherman

I have a p38 kicking around somewhere. No idea where, and they are very small and hide easily

I can wholeheartedly endorse the new(-ish, it came out in April) cherry Ale-8-One (a late one, get it?). Cherry ginger ale, Precious!!!

Attachment 65437

It is teh awesome.

:yum::yum::yum: