Grand Openings

These days, traveling light is essential. But I also like to be “all-inclusive”—I hate asking for something I don’t have. So items that multitask are golden.

And like any beer geek worth her beer, the one thing I always like to have on hand is a bottle opener. In past columns, I’ve featured a few items that multitask as bottle openers: flip-flop sandals, baseball caps and belt buckles, for instance. But a newer bunch of brilliant bottle openers have cropped up since that first roundup. Here’s a handful of openers that are so clever, you’ll never want them to leave your side … or at least, your best friend’s …

Let’s start with one for the ladies, but with benefits for the men folk. Girls, if you’ve never been able to get your guy to go shoe shopping with you, this item might help: glittery “hooker heels” with a built-in bottle opener on each stiletto heel. Not exactly appropriate for work—unless you work at a strip club—but, as we women know all too well, every pair of shoes has its glory moment. Available at 5thfloorproductions.com, the shoe, known as 672-JANIE, retails for $64.

Definitely more at home on the stock exchange floor than the danceclub floor is the Happy Hour wristwatch. The watch itself is pretty standard stuff: quartz movement, alloy case, stainless-steel back. The beauty is in the band, where it very discretely hides a bottle opener on the buckle. The snazzy “Dark -N-Stormy” model could go from boardroom to yacht club, and at $69.95, you’d still have beer money. The newer model, named “Bottoms Up,” is a casual affair, with a 1970s-reminsicent wide leather band in brown or black and your choice of three gradient color schemes for the watch face. Like its city-slicker cousin, the band also hides the bottle opener in the buckle. This one retails for $149.95. Find out more at happyhourtimepieces.com.

Anybody with a smartphone can tell you it’s one of the most useful items they’ve ever owned. But the cases that protect those phones are usually more eye candy than anything else—until some smart people decided a bottle opener would be a perfect app. There are a few different models for different kinds of phones. Besides getting the award for best name, Opena Case (hah) works on iPhones and features a slide-out stainless-steel bottle opener in a PC/ABS hard case. The company is based in Australia, but ships for free to the US, and can be found on many online shopping sites, as well as at openacase.com. Another iPhone covering is the iBottleOpener, which features a static, integrated opener in a hard-shell polycarbonate case and is made in the US. It comes in basic black ($19.95), but there are a few models with college-licensed logos ($24.95). Breweries, take note: The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company works with companies to create custom cases with their logos on them. Again, the iBottleOpener is available on numerous sites, but the company’s website is ibottleopener.myshopify.com. Don’t have an iPhone? A bunch of other smartphone bottle opener cases are available at beaheadcase.com.

And finally, a bottle opener for your best friend: a dog collar that features a bottle opener on a retractable 2-foot-long cord. The collar is made of high-grade woven nylon and, until it’s pulled away from the canine, the opener sits flush against the collar, barely noticeable. The cord keeps the opener from getting lost and feeds right back into the collar after you’re done. The Bark 4 Beer collar retails for $22.95 or $31.95 with matching leash at bark4beer.com. Finally, finding a bottle opener is as easy as calling Rover on over. ■