It’s somewhat unfairly overshadowed by hunting, kitchen, and military knives, yet it’s a knife that’s virtually 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 kind of bottle at home—whether in the kitchen or at a summer barbecue. The Handyknife is, first and foremost, equipped with a corkscrew. Without it, opening a bottle sealed with a cork is practically an unsolvable problem.
We’ll never know who invented the corkscrew. In any case, British Reverend Samuel Henshall had it patented in 1795. His corkscrew was equipped with a sort of button at the end that prevented it from going too deep into the bottle. Henshall was very ambitious, but his abilities were limited, and as a result, he was not very successful in life. He was in debt and did not become wealthy from his invention; on the contrary, he was accused of simply appropriating someone else’s idea.
The Handy waiter’s knife doesn’t try anything fancy. Although there are various lever mechanisms designed to help a corkscrew pull the cork out of the bottle, Handyrelies on simplicity and compact dimensions. It can therefore be carried comfortably in a pants pocket or apron pocket.
Both in restaurants and at home, bottles sealed with crown caps are used far more frequently than those with corks. With the Handy knife, opening them safely and quickly is no problem at all.
And of course, the Handy is also a knife. Its small folding blade, like the body of the knife, is made of stainless steel and is primarily used to cut through the foil wrappers around bottle necks.
It’s worth noting that the knife is used on board Czech Airlines flights, and Mikov offers the option to have text or a logo laser-engraved on it according to the customer’s wishes. You can order it here.