After my post-mentioned ordeal fresh in my mind and hands, I ventured a trip to Amazon to look for corkscrews. I was ready to buy the easiest, most effortless corkscrew money could buy, that probably being a CO2 cartridge type, but being a pragmatical person, I didn't want to have the possibility of having an empty CO2 cartridge in a time of need, so a mechanical type that utilized easy leverage and at a modest price was my preference. Entering "corkscrew" in the search area produced more than enough choices for me. Most corkscrews were of the double wing type and it looked like any one of them would produce enough leverage to extract a cork from a wine bottle, so I made my choice by price. After perusing through several pages of corkscrews, I settled on one that was a little less than $7; a Bonny Bar Deluxe model. It arrived in less than a week by Super Saving shipping and was packaged very well. Upon opening the boxing and after examining the corkscrew, I came away with two quick observations about the Bonny Bar Deluxe corkscrew's fit and finish. The fit; a little loose, i.e., not tightly constructed to close tolerances. The finish; very good, much better than the quality of the fit. Overall; surprisingly good despite that it was probably made in China and considering the price that I paid for it. The first use; after my debacle with the imitation Swiss Army knife's corkscrew I would have rated this corkscrew with 10*s, as it was that easy to extract the cork from the next bottle of wine that came my way. Since I took delivery of this item in October of 2012, I have only used this corkscrew two times, so that limited amount of time is not much time to evaluate the longevity of this item, but I do have an opinion on that matter. Conclusion; for "my personal use", the Bonny Bar Deluxe corkscrew was a really good choice. It is easy to use, and seems like it will last a long time, and it's hard to beat the price. Bottom Line; would I recommend this corkscrew to someone else? If you use it as infrequently as I do,(<4x/yr.) then yes, I would. I also have no doubts as to whether this item will open 12 bottles of wine or champagne per year and still give a few years of creditable service. However, it is by no means a "Professional" corkscrew. If you need to uncork more than 52 bottles/yr., I would look elsewhere and then be prepared to spend much more than $7. If possible, look for an item that is made in the USA. Next, look for an item that is constructed of at least 95% metal(hopefully, steel rather than cast metal) with the remaining % a pliable rubber stepped bottom ring for protection against chipping the rim of the bottle where the wine is poured out. The reason for buying a corkscrew in the first place was because of this story that happened last September, 2012 of which I made a couple of references to during the first portion of this review. My oldest daughter brought over a bottle of wine to drink with a surprise luncheon visit. Naturally, the wine bottle had a cork instead of a screw cap (okay, so now you I'm not a wine connoisseur, but I can tell the difference between a White wine & a Red wine). Upon looking throughout the entire kitchen, no corkscrew, but all was not lost as I remembered that I had an imitation Swiss Army knife somewhere in the apartment. Ten minutes later, we were in business, well almost that is. After twisting, yanking, and pulling on that cork for 30 minutes, I had about 1/16-1/8" progress on extracting that cork. After another 30 minutes of holding the Swiss army knife corkscrew and pulling on the bottle, I had sore fingers, hands, and was generally exhausted, but perseverance finally paid off. Remember I said it was an imitation Swiss Army knife, well, read that as a Chinese knife made with a Chinese mystery metal. The corkscrew started out at approximately 1-1/2" long, and after the hour long ordeal it stretched out to about 2" in length. I laugh about it now, but for the 60 minutes of pain I endured, plus the time it took until I pressed "Purchase Completed", did a smile return to my Soul. If anyone is wondering why my fingers and hands hurt so much, it's because I haven't done a single days hard work in the last 20 years that would produce those God given protective calluses on my hands for my protection. Peace, Abijah
