Pity the Corkscrew

The corkscrew: standard feature on a Swiss Army knife (SAK), butt of many jokes and a lot of ridicule. Even top-notch survival writers pan corkscrews, remarking that all they are good for is opening a celebratory bottle of wine after the adventure.

I've got news for them -- they're wrong. Anyone that works with cordage -- from the thinnest of fish line to the heaviest of hawsers -- would find a corkscrew to be handy when they were dealing with knots or snarls.

You untie knots by twisting, tugging and working at them until they loosen. The curved pointed tip works beautifully for picking apart small knots or snarls in fishing line or thin ropes. Anyone trying to untie a knot in a heavier rope will find that twisting the corkscrew into a bend of the knot gives them more leverage and more pulling power to loosen it.

I read a tip on this years ago, and now have BTDT on stuff up to a good 1-1/4" in diameter.

Trying to untie an overhand knot that a rambunctious horse twisted into his lead rope or undo a poorly tied knot in a tow rope with your fingers is a thankless and maybe impossible job, but running the corkscrew on a SAK in and then using the whole knife to do some judicious twisting and tugging usually frees things up. Open the corkscrew the whole 90 degrees and the knife handle gives you leverage to twist it in, then the handle gives you some leverage for real pulling power. (Disclaimer: Obviously you must leave the other blades closed!)

I've used that little curved point on the corkscrew to ease splinters out of my hands and punch holes in light leather for emergency sewing, too. That SAK corkscrew and a little imagination can help in a lot of situations, and you can still use it for the champagne when you celebrate afterward.

Yes. I have ranted on this before, but thought it bore repeating.

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