Pretty cool. Think I'll pass on the Bosch...

Santa brought me the Oster electric. So far it has opened one bottle in a row perfectly.

My standby is a no-name but heavy gage stainless steel waiters' model. The heavy gage stainless means that an imperfect placement will not cause it to torque over and bend.

The bent corkscrew occurred on a picnic at Wolf Trap near DC. Fellow picnicers got the joke when I approached them pleading a "corkscrew malfunction." The day was saved by a loaner corkscrew.

I still like using a "waiter's friend," mostly because it's small, easy to carry around to parties/events, and versatile (wine and beer bottle opener). I do have a Rabbit that I like very much, but I find that I only use it when A) I need to open many bottles very quickly and/or B) I've already been drinking enough such that my coordination (or lack thereof) makes it difficult to operate the "waiter's friend." :p :D

In that condition I need one that will open a screwcap...I hope I'm not the only one that's made that mistake after a few bottles

I did that once, and wasn't even blitzed.

Insert corkscrew
think "that went in VERY easy"
try to pull cork
corkscrew just comes right back out with no cork on it
look puzzled
finally the "doh" moment.

That was one of the many times I've said to my friends, "We will never speak of this again. Ever. Who needs a refill?"

I find that I use an Ah-so and a Screwpull, and between them, 99% of all corks are defeated. On a positive note, I find that I can pack an Ah So in my carry-on bags with no problem.

I think that Rogar makes the best wine opener. Our family has had the same one for 15 years, and we just decided to get a new one because we got new appliances and wanted the Pewter finish.

Put me on the list for the "waiter's" corkscrew. I've never had a problem with it as much as I do with other corkscrews.

We open a lot of wine bottles too...
 

and we have tried many different openers. They all broke (including the Screwpull and Rabbit) so we go back to the Laguiole brand. Yes, they're pricey - $80.00 and up depending on the material it's made of - but they really do last. (We have recently discovered the Hendry unoaked Chardonnay - it has a screw top!!!)

The Durand seems to combine the best of both worlds, the screw and the side grip for fragile corks.

http://thedurand.com/

http://i51.tinypic.com/5vbotu.jpg

I have nothing to do with the company and I do not have one to report on.

Chances are until somebody else starts knocking them off I won't have one, it's way up there price wise ($125 each)

I was with my parents over the holidays and picked up a two-step waiter's friend from Trader Joe's for them since they needed one. For $2, a good buy and easy to use. ^

how does that work? when i use an ah so!, i rock it back and forth, and rotate it both cw and ccw.

There are two components, the screw part and the dishonest
butler part. First you apply the screw to the cork, then insert
the d.b. around it. Now you have a three-point support that
should be sufficient to remove a cork, no matter how crumbly.
Here's the company take - from this you can see that the device
could conceivably be improved by making the parts interlock,
foolproofing the process for even the unsteadiest of hands.

The vast array of wine accessories on the market is just a clever marketing gimmick to fleece people who take something simple and turn it into a "lifestyle" (golfers are a similarly gullible sector). There is no reason to spend more than $7-10 on a wine opener. I have never seen anything more reliable, simple to use, and compact than the classic, double-hinged, waiter's corkscrew. As long as the screw itself is sufficiently long, sharp of point, and has a low-friction coating, you can't miss. A longer handle also provides more leverage. The only contraindication I can think of is for those who have arthritis or some physical handicap that might warrant a more complex device. But even so, a good waiter's corkscrew, used properly, requires minimal effort and will probably work just fine.

As for removing foil, I just yank off the whole capsule by hand. If it's "shrink wrapped" tightly around the bottle, you should check your storage conditions. But it does happen, and I use either the blade on the corkscrew or the screw tip itself to slice it off. My technique is too crude to be done tableside in a restaurant, but no one is paying me to open wine bottles (which in most cases are my own anyway, so freeloaders should be happy with the service they get).