I have to say - I got a stainless steel normal can opener from ikea a few years ago for super cheap and it has done better and outlasted OXO, Pampered Chef, and a kitchen aid can opener.

I think I have an Ekco handheld opener with plastic-coated handles. It's fine. I also have had good experience with the Swing-a-way wall-mounted ones.

I have three can openers - the first one is 30 years old, manual, and doesn't cut the rim of the lid off, which is perfect when opening containers of dog food because the lids fit better, and it also is good for mushrooms cause I can drain the water out
Can opener number two, electronic, LOVE IT. I think it's called 'One Touch', it cuts off the entrie tops
Canopener number three - non-electric, and it stinks, it cuts the entire lid of, but it's really tough to use.

I've used the same Kitchenaid one for the last 5 years and I've never had any issue with it.

I've had some BAD can openers in my life. I always had the basic stainless steel ones growing up and in college with room mates - they never worked! Now I have an OXO can opener and it works perfect every time! I like to cut it 99% so the lid folds up and hangs on by a tiny piece so I don't have to touch it or any sharp bit. I highly recommend it!

I really have had a problem with finding a decent can opener in the past few years, so it makes me feel validated to read this post. I had a few cheap Amco ones that eventually rusted, and then I had a Kitchen Aid one that was utter crap. It cost like $15 bucks but I ended up just throwing it in the trash. I had an ergonomic one I loved for a month until it got washed in the dishwasher and became unusable.

I have the Oxo one in the picture up there, in the middle, and it's been decent for the past few months. Why is it so hard to find a dang can opener these days?

I've had the same OXO can opener for years now and it's been great. The best part is that it has thick handles so it's comfortable to grip, unlike my last one which has skinny little metal handles that cut into your hand if you had to squeeze hard for any reason

I've got a ratcheting one that you place on the can and repeatedly squeeze the handle to advance the cutting wheel. I like it very well, but it's been in use for years and the part that holds the can tight to the body of the can opener has started to give out.

My favorite part of it is the magnet built into the handle. Once you've cut the lid, you use the magnet to get the lid out. No cuts on the fingers.

I really like my OXO can opener and also prefer to leave the lid slightly hinged. The OXO opener is easy to use and I've never had any problems.

That being said, my boyfriend bought a non name brand can opener from Walmart 2 years ago and it works just as well if not slightly better than my OXO one. The one he bought is cuts open then entire top so there are no sharp edges.

I've always had a classic swing-away brand can opener, and so has my mom. Never once had a problem, never once have to replace. http://amzn.to/g9mq3d

You need a swingaway...

really? this is an issue?

I just have a cheap, traditional can opener that cost maybe $10 and I've had for four years. It's just the same as the one my family used for a good 20 years before the blade was too dull to function. I don't think the can opener is in need of any improvements or gimmicks. And, uh, I think the 'Related' post pretty much answers this 'dilemma'.

You can't beat a basic Swing-A-Way. Durable, simple and works great. I bought a KitchenAid hand-cranked model a few years ago, though, and like it a lot. It's as simple as a Swing-A-Way, but a bit bigger and heavier, so it's easier on the hands and gives me more leverage. Plus, pretty colors.

I bought an OXO one when I moved out of my parents' house in 1998 and it is still working perfectly. Have never had any issues with it.

I had no idea finding a good can opener was so difficult. The one that's never failed me over the last 20 years is an old Zyliss...an earlier iteration of their 'Lock-and-Lift Can Opener'...

We received a can opener from Crate and Barrel as part of a wedding gift three years ago, and I love it (inasmuch as you can love a can opener, I guess). I've never used a can opener (personally owned or otherwise) that I've liked as much. It has thicker handles, and a locking mechanism so you don't have to squeeze so hard once you puncture the can. The crank isn't the normal type that you turn in circles, but more of a lever system that works similar to a wrench. Opening cans with it requires very little effort. Not that it normally requires a lot of exertion, but I've used can openers that were a pain. This one isn't.

When our old swing-away started to wear out a few years ago I picked up a new can opener at the grocery store. It looked like this one but was sold under a different name (Good Cook maybe?) It has been an awesome can opener for years. We have found a few odd cans that it won't open but we still have the old swing-away for those.

The best part is that the lid can be placed back onto the can if we don't use everything in it immediately.

Yes to the Swing-Away!

I've had mine for over 25 years and never had a problem with it; it's still going strong.

Our electric can opener was my mother's wedding shower gift from 1969. For some inexplicable reason, my mother gave it to me when I moved out on my own in the 90s. She has since had to replace can openers several times for own home. Donna (my husband named the can opener after my mother) is still going strong despite the fact that it is older than me and outlasted my parents' marriage.

I received one as a housewarming gift a couple years ago that is AWESOME. Best of all - it's that one that looks like a tucan. It makes me smile to use it, and it seems to work just fine!

Ditto on the Swing-Away, I am still using the old one my mom gave me when I went to college. I've tried others since, but none work as well.

Has anyone found a good can opener for bigger sized cans? I open lots of 28-oz cans and #10 cans and they tear up regular can openers. I went through 5 in a year before I got a countertop-mounted one and I HATE it.

Is there another option for opening big cans?

I bought a kitchen aid can opener and it was crap. I now have the OXO and I'm liking it. It is easy for my arthritic hands to operate, it actually cuts through metal. It's only a couple weeks old, but so far so good!

Just for fun - I would recommend to all to open a can with a P38 can opener. They are the tiny can openers that GIs used to open C Rations begining with WWII. The P38 name was a nickname supposedly that referred to the 38 Punctures it took to open a can of C Rats. They are extremely tiny and clever and there is something satisfying about opening a can with them. They cost pennies too.
Those that don't know what they are can refer to:

http://www.army.mil/-news/2009/08/11/25736-the-best-army-invention-ever/

Another vote for the OXO- we've had ours for about 8 years now, and it's still going strong (cuts easily, doesn't rust, thick handles are grippy even when wet).

I've had two swingaway can openers. They were great at first but after a few years, they got trickier to use. Lately I've been using a cheap electric one that my mom left at my house.

Nthing the Swing Away Can Opener. After trying all kinds of FancyPants can openers, nothing works nearly as well as the 'ole Swing Away.

I have arthritis so a regular can opener can be quite painful for me. I have the electric/battery operated One Touch and I LOVE it. Really. Opening cans is now a JOY. I also have a vintage wall mounted Swing-a-Way that I use for oversize tuna cans (it cuts instead of um-crimping, so I can use the lid for draining.)

Tarty can openers=another example of a wheel that never needed to be reinvented. I've had the same red handled Swing-A-Way for, um, probably longer than a lot of AT readers have been on the planet. It works perfectly.

We have an old Oxo that works greta--must be at least 10 years old.

I've had Swing A Ways and they rust and become useless, for me at least. My household seems cursed with can opener bad mojo. But recently my mom gave me a can opener that is the Queen of Can Openers and makes me want to sing its praises from the roof tops and leave comments in Kitchen forums.

Enter: The Nogent Super Kim Can Opener. No handles; just a small, space-saving device that never quits. It is my very favourite thing that I own, and I own a KitchenAid.

http://www.leevalley.com/en/gifts/page.aspx?p=66521&cat=4,104,53214&ap=1

When I was looking for a can opener, all I could find were impractical, expensive, “stylish” can openers.
One day I discovered this wholesale foodservice supply store hidden just around the corner from my apartment. I swear no one in my neighborhood even realized it existed. Anyway, I walked in and found a great Swing-Away for a few bucks. It works on cans of all sizes, and it’s easy to use without any frills.
Moral of the story: Buy your kitchen tools from a place that sells them to cooks not from a place that sells them to yuppies.

The basic one I got at the $1 store 5 years ago has rubber grips and continues to work just fine thank you. We decided 20 years ago never to let an electric or fancy gadget one through the front door again.

I'm a long time lover of the swing-away opener. You can't beat a classic like that. I recently got a Tupperware can opener, which is very pricey but I do love it. If you have little people or pets or arthritis it's really great. It doesn't cut the can, it just breaks the seal from when they glued the lid on at the factory. No sharp edges at all and it's really easy to turn.

The Swing-Away can opener is the choice of NASA. Can't argue with that!

I have never been able to understand that problem. A traditional spanish one is easy and lasts a lifetime.

http://www.aceros-de-hispania.com/cuchillos-cocina-3claveles/abrelatas-mariposa.asp

I had a Swingaway for 25 years or so. It worked fine, but the rust started building up under the rubbery handles and got kind of gross. I got an OXO. It's practically the same.

@kay_jay

I have the SAME problem. I cook in large batches (mostly when I make soups and sauces), and the 28oz cans kill my—arguably really awful—can opener, but I just can't bring myself to buy a new one until I'm out of the roommate situation.

I may try the Swing-Away for awhile. My mom uses an electric can opener, but that always feel like such a pointless waste of energy to me.

+2000 for the swing-away. My mom's still using the one she got for her wedding, before i was born, and I use mine all the time. I hand wash it after every use, just like she does, and have never had rust or gunk. Could the rust thing be from the climate?

I can't believe no one's mentioned the Kuhn-Rihkon. It was the first "unsealer" rather than cutter. I've had one for at least 15 years and love it. It has a huge, soft knob to turn, which makes my sore knuckles and wrists happy, and no sharp edges. The no draining is not an issue for me, if I need to drain something I just use a small sieve. Also, since no parts of the opener ever touch the food, no gunk. I had several friends laugh at it when I first bought it, and they all eventually asked for one as a gift.

I got a gift certificate for a fancy kitchen shop as a wedding present. After years of dealing with tin can shards and slivers from various IKEA can openers, I went for the fanciest can opener I could find: http://www.rosleusa.com/Can-Opener-plu12751.html

This Rosle can opener was pricey, but I don't think I'll ever have to buy a new one again. It works great, it doesn't leave sharp edges and I can reuse the lid if I were so inclined. Plus, it makes me feel fancy when I'm opening cans to cook chili.

I love reading the blog, but have never commented before now. I'm a student that works part time in a well-known fancy kitchen store and we encounter customers with this problem all the time... And we're all completely baffled by it. I have never in my life had difficulty opening an undamaged can with a can opener. Nor has anyone I work with or anyone in my family. I've used everything from swing-aways to oxos to rosles to forty-year old unbranded antiques in the bottom of my grandmother's junk drawer and never once have I not been able to open a can. What is wrong with you people?

I didn't go to uni, but I could figure out the IKEA one. And it's the best one I've ever used *shrug*

I love my OXO.

I agree with wintering. Is this really a thing? I've never ever had an issue with a can opener before.

I love my Swing-a-Way, although it may be a bit more about nostalgia for me. My Grandparents had their 50th wedding anniversary at the manufacturing plant in StL.

They gave away can openers as "favors" and I ended up with three - I doubt I'll ever need to buy another one in my lifetime!!

Starfrit all the way. No straining required. I've had it for 10 years and it still works the same.

I also have a wall one from the 50's that's still easy peasy.

But ya, Starfrit, Starfrit, Starfrit.

I have an old, 1968 wedding gift, manual swing-a-way that I use daily with no problems. It works as good today as the first day when it was new. When I stocked our camper, I did try a cheeper can opener, but threw it away after the first weekend's use and bought another swing-a-way.
My mother is still using the wall mounted swing-a-way she got as a wedding gift in 1950, however we now have to twist the handle counter clock wise instead of clock wise... small price to pay for 61 yesrs of service.

Rösle - no gunk, no sharp edges, lasts forever, hangs on my tool rack. I liked Swing-a-way that I used for 30 years- but it was sooo hard to keep clean. I'll never go back.