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can't open water bottles

K

Keith Molden

Well-known Member
Just wondering if anyone else is having a problem taking the cap off water and pop bottles. This may sound stupid but this past summer while making hay, I just didn't have enough grip in my hands to twist the cap off a bottle of water. Then the other day I was by myself and stopped and got a Dr. Pepper and had a heck of a time getting the twist cap off. I swear I'm about to put a pair of pliers in every car, truck or tractor I own just so I can get those tops off. Seems like it's happening more often than not anymore.
 
Dont feel like the Lone Ranger, know exactly what u mean and its not only water or pop bottles, had a heck of a time opening a jar of pickles, had to run hot water over the lid before finally got it open!!!!
 


My wife drinks a lot of bottled ice tea. Recently the caps have gotten to be too tight for her and I find them to be a challenge too. To add insult to injury they are so full that you can't open them without squeezing some out.
 
I've notice that myself lately. don't know if they just put more pressure on them or my pressure has gone down but got my channel locks close by.
 
I to wish water and soda bottle tops were not put on so tight.
Makes it hard on these old hands to get them off the bottle.
I can live with bacteria getting in a loose fitting top.
I can live with a bottle that is not tamper proof.
Makes it pointless to provide these safety features if I can't get the top off to consume the product.

And dam the person that invented plastic disposable bottles in the first place.
Lets go back to glass bottles that would cost twice as much to make driving up cost.
Or better yet just put some tap water in your own container with an easily removable top.
 
I can normally open the caps, but seems many of the caps are too sharp to really grip tight. We have rubber strap tools to help. Got some earlier this Summer from Tractor Supply. The rubber is really nice! Blue handles. Large and small come together. These straps also work great at removing oil filters!
 
I can tell you why the bottles are full to the top. The air in the headspace of a bottle will cause tea to mold. When I worked in the local Coke plant we made tea and added liquid nitrogen to the top of the
bottle to make an inert head space. Problem with that is it cost money for the facilities to have nitrogen capability and to buy liquid nitrogen so its cheaper and easier to just fill the bottle to the top and
eliminate the head space.
 
I got good tap water to drink. So, I only buy a bottle of water once in awhile mainly for the disposable bottle. I'll refill the bottle a few times after opening. So, lets just say I only open a new bottle 1 out of 10 times. 9 out of 10 times I'm just removing a cap from one thats already open.
I know its not recommended to refill them. But my tap water is chlorenated, I only refill a fresh one (not one I opened and been sitting around empty for days), and they either get lost or discarded before a whole lot of time goes by.
In my opinion, my tap water is probably safer to drink than most bottled waters. I guess I'm not a believer in how safe the labeling makes it sound. When it says filtered, how often do they clean thier filters?? And just how bad is their water before they filter it? Undrinkable perhaps?? I know that if I drink my own tap water (unfiltered), I know I'm drinking water that didn't need to be filtered to start out with. I know the source, and where it comes from (not pumped out of the river someplace, and then attempted to be made safe to drink).
I quit drinking beer last June for awhile. Still going with that. So I drink lots of water. Last summer I kept bottled water iced down in a cooler. I like my water cold. Glad the weather has gotten cold so I don't have to ice down water anymore. I bought just as much ice after I quit icing down beer as I did before. So, I guess I havn't saved any money by not buying ice. Lol.
 
Well Keith, have your wife pull down the nut cracker pliers down from the cabinet and set it on top of the microwave, or get the rubber circle tool that they sell for just that purpose. I like the CHANNEL LOCK PLIERS idea! See you in June. Lunch is on me this time. No arguing on who picks up the tab. CM
cvphoto112300.jpg


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When I was a younger man, like many young fellas, the tops came off of the brown bottles just way too easy. Got over it once I moved away from my brothers. Not that they were really heavy drinkers, but when they would drop in, we would have a beer. They just didnt always drop in the same day, lol.
My wife has a tough time with plastic bottle caps too, I dont have any trouble with them, at least not yet.
 
Seems like about one to a case. Then some bottles have air presuer in them it seems and are sollid when you go to handling them, others colapes when you pick them up. Never bought bottlerd water on farm but other apartment I was in water was not fit for anything, this one has slightly off tast but not bad. Lady friend her well water is not fit to drink. I may go thru 2-3 bottles a day, at times even more. Gets expencive.
 
Yes, I have experienced that.

Not so much with water bottles ( because I rarely buy bottled water), but I drink a lot of bottled Lipton tea.

I think the bottle cappers are pneumatic powered, the torque is controlled by the pressure. For a few months I was having to go find the pliers to get them open, or find a rag and struggle with it.

Then it went the other way, loose caps, the tamper seal not crimped. That didn't bother me because the pack is shrink wrapped, no way they can be opened in the store.

Now they seem to be back to normal. I suspect assembly line mechanical problems, it happens...
 
I have the same issue. The big joint in both of my thumbs is wearing out. I've thought about doing the same thing, pliers all over the place. Unfortunately, I can't find a good pair of Cee Tees any where. Seems Crescent Tools bought Cee Tee out. It appears they aren't turning out slip join pliers any more. Genuine Vice Grips? Haven't looked for them yet.
 
We have noticed that too, but we don't buy water in disposable bottles so it's not a big problem. They make rubber grippers, a sheet of rubber about 5 inches square, it says Channel lock on it! Or one of these!
cvphoto112310.jpg
 


I might drink a bottle of water four times a year. At home I keep a two quart bottle in the fridge and replenish it every time I take some. When away I bring my insulated lunch bag with one or two insulated stainless steel bottles. I drink good well water that is cold and save $$$.
 
Thats my chap and the bottles are so thin they crush when you don't want them to....at night, when you get old man dry mouth, bottle is half full or less, get the tiny cap off and tilt it over for a swallow, lying on your back, and WHOOSH, water all over you and the bed.

On the thin caps, you can't uncap when working and keep the lip clean on most so I either leave the cap off with bottles partially filled sitting around the place and on equipment, or when I can get it, Aquafina brand, as it still has enough cap to get ahold on without getting the neck dirty. The one with lots of plastic also has a bunch of who knows what minerals for taste that i don't want nor need in my system so by definition, they are not considered.
 
Chief ..... me too, and not only that but they seem worse than they were 50 years ago and I don't think it's all because our hands/fingers aren't as nimble and the dexterity is worse. I think the carton's paper is actually fused together more securely than it used to be. Funny the problem topics that show up here, headline news .... problems opening water bottles (while some in parts of the planet have no fresh water to drink).
 
Yea, they screw the caps on too tight however I suppose that is better than them leaking. It would probably help if they would make a cap that is easier to grip.
 
Couple years ago the daughter-in-law handed me a bottle of barley water. I struggled to twist off that cap, thought I'd break the glass. about the time I got it twisted off and took a swig she frowned and said that that wasn't a twist-off top.
 
Sane thing for me. I had surgery for carpal tunnel back in '91 and it came back in my right hand so it was redone in '18 when I had the shoulder replaced. That thumb is very weak and the muscle is atrophied. I have a hard time just using a fork. Had to learn to wipe left-handed too.
 
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