Best type of wedding ring for opening beers

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davirley

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I'm getting married next year. I'm not into jewelry, and I've told my future wife that my main criterion for a wedding band is that it can open beer bottles (which she is completely OK with btw). That probably means it is made out of a durable material that cannot be scratched by beer cap steel. The other consideration is the size and shape; I'm assuming there's some dimensions that are more comfortable for opening beer bottles.

I've seen a couple of you mention opening beers with your wedding ring. Any advice? What's been working for you?
 
I have to agree with the tungsten, however I find that using a comfort fit for opening bottles to be a lot more difficult than using a plain smooth back band. Plus it helps that tungsten is, IMO, manlier looking than gold or silver. It's that cool gunmetal grey with a beefy heft to it.
 
This thread made me laugh.

That said, mine is a Scott Kay cobalt ring. The comfort fit is great but makes opening a bottle tough.
 
People see me open a bottle effortlessly without fumbling for a bottle opener, and I see the wonderment in their eyes. It never gets old. "How did you just do that?!?!"
 
I have a tungsten carbide ring and it's never even occurred to me to try opening a bottle with it. Guess I should give it a try next time instead of looking for an opener.
 
Mine is a comfort fit platinum ring and it works quite well for opening bottles. I haven't had too much trouble getting the lip of the cap with the comfort fit band and I have yet to see it scratch form opening a bottle. Only thing that would make it better would be to have it be a bit wider as its only 5 mm wide.
 
I just got married last week and picked out a Cobalt ring. It's very comfortable. I hated rings ever since smashing one on my finger in construction at a younger age and didn't want one but now that I have it, it means so much to me. Scratch-proof or indestructible, I would never... though I also carry a stainless-steel bartender opener with me at all times =P
 
my ring is tungsten and I used to use it all the time but then i started thinking to myself. This metal was basically a powder before and it has a very high hardness. Theres no way for it to be cut off if i bust my hand and my finger swells. Instead i guess it could be chilled and cracked with a hammer but I was always afraid id lose a finger.

I just dont even wear mine anymore.. and i keep my blichmann bottle opener keg tool on my keychain instead.
 
Mirilis said:
my ring is tungsten and I used to use it all the time but then i started thinking to myself. This metal was basically a powder before and it has a very high hardness. Theres no way for it to be cut off if i bust my hand and my finger swells. Instead i guess it could be chilled and cracked with a hammer but I was always afraid id lose a finger.

I just dont even wear mine anymore.. and i keep my blichmann bottle opener keg tool on my keychain instead.
Click to expand...

you can cut tungsten...it isn't indestructible.
 
Mirilis said:
my ring is tungsten and I used to use it all the time but then i started thinking to myself. This metal was basically a powder before and it has a very high hardness. Theres no way for it to be cut off if i bust my hand and my finger swells. Instead i guess it could be chilled and cracked with a hammer but I was always afraid id lose a finger.

I just dont even wear mine anymore.. and i keep my blichmann bottle opener keg tool on my keychain instead.
Click to expand...

all EMTs keep a small vise in the truck. If things go south, they just crack the ring off.
 
Another vote for tungsten. Great solid feel to it and basically indestructible. I've been rock climbing with mine for over 4 years now and the thing is still as shiny as the day I got it...not a scratch on it.

Note: It's not advised to rock climb with a wedding band on...several horror stories of fingers popping off/getting de-fleshed due to a fall with the ring getting caught.
 
Third vote for titanium. Only thing that has ever gotten to it was when I was welding without a glove on. Small piece of slag would stick to it. Nothing a sharp knife won't knock off.
 
Nice thing about titanium, my ring is very wide, which helps with opening bottles........ and still extremely lightweight - I forget it is on. Tungsten is much harder, and heavier. I certainly wouldn't try opening a bottle with a soft platinum or gold alloy.
 
Tungsten and titanium rings should be very cheap, everyone makes them now so the early days of their high prices are long gone. Unless spending a fortune on $2 worth of metal makes you feel you got a better product, don't waste money. One thing to consider is your profession. If you have any worries about a hand injury, these metals are hard to remove from a swollen finger as the cutters they use for normal rings don't work so well on such hard metals.
 
Mirilis said:
my ring is tungsten and I used to use it all the time but then i started thinking to myself. This metal was basically a powder before and it has a very high hardness. Theres no way for it to be cut off if i bust my hand and my finger swells. Instead i guess it could be chilled and cracked with a hammer but I was always afraid id lose a finger.

I just dont even wear mine anymore.. and i keep my blichmann bottle opener keg tool on my keychain instead.
Click to expand...

I was going to say, all of those really hard rings look cool but its a good idea to take them off if you are ever doing anything around really heavy stuff. Ive seen some pretty gnarley injuries.

BeerGrylls said:
all EMTs keep a small vise in the truck. If things go south, they just crack the ring off.
Click to expand...

No they don't. You may get lucky and get a truck with a ring cutter on it but it will only work with soft metals.

And guess what? Hospitals can't get them off either. A level 1 trauma center will probably have something that will cut it but most places won't.
 
edco76 said:
No they don't. You may get lucky and get a truck with a ring cutter on it but it will only work with soft metals.

And guess what? Hospitals can't get them off either. A level 1 trauma center will probably have something that will cut it but most places won't.
Click to expand...

Agree to disagree if you like, but many states' rules make EMS carry vise grips in the wagon. Vise grips can get a tungsten ring off in a hurry. And even if that's not the case, they can be cut with traditional cutting methods, it's just a little harder and they can't be repaired afterwards.
 
BeerGrylls said:
Agree to disagree if you like, but many states' rules make EMS carry vise grips in the wagon. Vise grips can get a tungsten ring off in a hurry. And even if that's not the case, they can be cut with traditional cutting methods, it's just a little harder and they can't be repaired afterwards.
Click to expand...

Some may. I've worked in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. None of those do. In fact even the cutters aren't required but some trucks have them. Some don't. I know other paramedics around the country and have never heard of it, though I could see how it wouldnt come up in regular convos.

I've only encountered them twice in the field.

Once we tried our cutter. Wouldnt even scratch it. We took the guy to a level 2 trauma center, the Dr. said they didnt have anything and immediately transferred him to a level one. He was working on his boat and got his hand crushed by an outboard motor.

The other time our level 3 local hospital called us to transport a patient to the same level one because they were unable to remove the ring.



I'm not saying don't buy one. I would if I wanted one. I'm just saying it may be wise to remove them if you are doing heavy lifting because in my experience working in EMS and at hospitals for 7 years, if you have an injury, it isnt guaranteed that you will be able to get it removed in a timely manner. But to be honest, that is probably good advice for any ring, because if you are to the point of cutting a ring off, its probably already done some damage.
 
BeerGrylls said:
Agree to disagree if you like, but many states' rules make EMS carry vise grips in the wagon. Vise grips can get a tungsten ring off in a hurry. And even if that's not the case, they can be cut with traditional cutting methods, it's just a little harder and they can't be repaired afterwards.
Click to expand...

You are correct. More hospitals are keeping special tools on hand to break tungsten rings since they're becoming more popular but vice grips will do it. Anyone who doubts should look it up online.

I had a titanium ring for a while and it got scratched to crap. I replaced it with tungsten and nothing will scratch it. Can't beat it for durability. Mine has comfort fit and a beveled edge and I've had no luck opening beer with it. I think it's more the beveled edge that makes it hard to get a grip on the cap. Luckily, I can open a beer with damn near anything so I don't need the ring for that.
 
edco76 said:
Some may. I've worked in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and Florida. None of those do. In fact even the cutters aren't required but some trucks have them. Some don't. I know other paramedics around the country and have never heard of it, though I could see how it wouldnt come up in regular convos.
Click to expand...

I suppose I can believe that. It's too bad it isn't more widespread. I'm glad that the state I'm in the vast majority of my time has the requirement as I wear one. I definitely wouldn't want to lose a finger to a jewelry choice.
 
I was advised by my jeweler to go with stainless steel. It will scratch and it shows it but he hates to sell titanium or tungsten rings to people that do any sort of construction type activities where they may mash a finger. He has been a jeweler for a long time and has a couple of clients that had issues when their fingers swelled and they could not get the rings off.

And wider is better. Mine needs to be a little wider for stubborn bottle caps.
 
Brickman said:
I was advised by my jeweler to go with stainless steel. It will scratch and it shows it but he hates to sell titanium or tungsten rings to people that do any sort of construction type activities where they may mash a finger. He has been a jeweler for a long time and has a couple of clients that had issues when their fingers swelled and they could not get the rings off.

And wider is better. Mine needs to be a little wider for stubborn bottle caps.
Click to expand...

As previously stated in this thread, Stainless steel and titanium have similar strength, depending on the Ti grade. Ti is just lighter..... Has a better strength to weight ratio.

Besides my Ti ring, I have a Ti road bike and have owned several nice Ti watches. It scratches more easily than Stainless, and develops an oxide patina which gives it a dull finish. It also tends to be warmer to the touch - perhaps due to its lower density.
 

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