It's named Handy

29. května 2023

It stands somewhat unfairly in the shadow of hunting, kitchen or military knives, yet it is a knife that is almost irreplaceable in its field. And it's appreciated not only by professional waiters and bartenders, but by all of us who need to open any bottle at home, whether in the kitchen or at a summer barbecue. Handy nife is equipped with a corkscrew in the first place. Without it, opening a bottle closed with a cork stopper is practically an unsolvable problem.

We will never know who invented the corkscrew. In any case, it was patented by the British Reverend Samuel Henshall in 1795. His corkscrew was equipped with a sort of knob at the end that prevented it from going deeper into the bottle. Henshall was very ambitious, but his abilities were not so great and therefore he was not very successful in life. He was in debt and did not get rich from his invention, on the contrary he was accused of just appropriating someone else's idea.

The Handy waiter's knife is not an experiment. Although there are various lever mechanisms to help the corkscrew pull the cork out of the bottle, it relies instead on simplicity and compact dimensions. It can therefore be conveniently carried in a trouser or apron pocket.

Both in restaurant practice and in the home, bottles sealed with crown-type tin caps are still much more commonly used than cork stoppers. With Handy knife, it is no problem at all to open them safely and quickly.

And of course, Handy is also a knife. Its small closing blade is, like the body of the knife, made of stainless steel and is mainly used for cutting the foils with which the bottle necks are wrapped.

It is not without interest that the knife is used on board Czech Airlines planes and Mikov offers the possibility to laser-create text or logos on it according to the customer's wishes.