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Buy with confidence! Brand New! From bulk stock. Government Issued "G.I. Type" US military can opener made by The Shelby Co. The Army's greatest invention! Compact and easy-to-use, this handy mini can-opener can hide in your cook set until you need it. More than "just" a can opener! This is the bigger brother of the famous P-38 military can opener made famous back in WWII. It's about twice the size and much easier to use compared to its' smaller sibling. This opener is a jumbo size, full 2" long. This added length affords more leverage when opening cans and does not require as much thumb pressure to use. Constructed of rustproof stainless steel that will not easily bend or break. Stays sharp for thousands of uses! A travel, camping and basic survival necessity! Excellent for emergency back-up if you store any type of canned goods. Over the years the P-51 (and old P-38) acquired hundreds of fully functional uses including, but not limited to: can opener, toothpick, fingernail cleaner, screwdriver, bottle opener, box cutter, digger, letter opener, chisel, scraper, stirrer, pry tool, groove cleaner, seam splitter and more!

A bit of old style P-38 trivia: The tiny, lightweight, P-38 collapsible military can opener was originally created in the summer of 1942 by the Subsistence Research Laboratory in Chicago. The inexpensive, easy to manufacture, compact 1-1/2 inch collapsing metal tool was developed to be included in mess kits to open food ration cans. The origin of the name "designation" is not exactly clear. Some say the "P" stands for puncture and the number 38 is how many twists it took to go around the WWII style candy bar can. One technical explanation for the origin of the name is that the P-38 is roughly 38mm (1.5") in length. Similarly, the P-51 measures roughly 51mm (2") in length. The hole in the top of the P-38 was added to dip it in boiling water to clean after use. Most troops during WWII, Korea and even Vietnam conveniently carried it on their dog tag chains. Even today, many servicemen carry it in the field even though no longer used for opening rations and civilians can readily carry them on their key chains. Whatever the case, this little device has been considered one of the most perfect inventions ever designed for use in combat and is often called "The Army's Best Invention".

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