Westmark Bottle Opener/Corker, Monopol Edition, die-cast steel/zinc, Ah-So, chrome-plated, 6285336C

Removes corks as expected - good to have one that works on corks that do not come out with a screw in cork screw

It really works so well for old corks of the wine especially when they are so fragile and not co-operating well with a generic wine opener. Since I had this double-bladed metal corkscrew, I am so relieved every time when I pop an old vintage wine. The only downside is that the top end part - handle is a bit rusty, otherwise, a must-have tool for pulling a good shape of the cork out of an old vintage bottle.

This cork remover works brilliantly if you know how to use it. Firstly insert the longer prong between the cork and neck of bottle. wiggle it a little and then insert the shorter prong. Then rock the handle from side to side applying slight pressure downwards. The two prongs should move down between the neck of the bottle and the cork but the cork stay in place. If the cork moves down, ease off the downward pressure being applied. Importantly, wait until the opener can go no further and the base of the handle touches the top of the neck of the bottle and top of cork. Once this has happened you can then start to remove the cork from the bottle by putting three fingers through the handle and gently twisting the opener at the same time as pulling it by the handle. It sometimes requires a degree of force to remove the cork (holding the bottle between your knees aids the process!) but usually it is fairly straightforward. NB It is important not to just pull the opener without twisting as the prongs will not grip the cork sufficiently to remove it. "Practice makes perfect" as they say!

It looked an unusual device , used it once , it was a breeze , it arrived very quickly and i now have a great idea for christmas presents.

Replaced a poor buying decision, a rubbish VacuVin version, which was replacing one that was borrowed and never returned!This one is perfect, good shape to the blades, and slips down nicely, not failed to remove both natural or synthetic corks, and more importantly coped with the critical corks that it's the only tool to remove, old and dry crumbly ones, and those that have stuck literally to the inside of the glass neck.For those really hard corks it pays to have perfected your technique on everyday bottles, but once the rocking insertion is perfected and the twist remove controlled, it's a dream for problem corks, even ones you've already damaged with a conventional helix style cork screw.Excellent, Good value too, bought another 2 for work and my cellar, as I'm in the trade I do remove a fair few corks, and I'm very happy with this item.

This is ideal for corks which are fragile or have been damaged. It requires some practice so I'd recommend using it on a good cork first. The key is small steps - if you push it in too quickly on any movement, the angle will dig the tip into the cork and damage it.The prongs are very thin so need to be kept in the cover when not in use - the cover or sheath is actually made from very cheap feeling plastic. The main handle and prongs however are metal.

There is a technique to using this which is to rotate when pulling the cork out. If you push in and pull out the cork doesn't come with it. A good idea but still find brittle older corks can be a little difficult but much better than using a screw mechanism.

I bought this because I've had a few corks in 20+ year old wines that have crumbled when using a conventional corkscrew. This type of extractor is supposed to be better for removing such corks, and thankfully it is. Despite other reviewers saying that it is difficult to use, it's quite easy and only took one practice go (on a cheap bottle of wine) to work out how to use it effectively.