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Japanese lifehack from Tokyo Police Department helps you open chip packets with ease

Oona McGee Oct 26, 2017
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Tired of ripping into stubborn chip packs with your teeth? Now you won’t ever have to do that again, and the tools you need for the trick are likely to be in your pocket.

We’ve all been in this situation before, when you’re starving and you look around your house for something to eat, finally glancing upon that pack of chips you were keeping for a rainy day and deciding in an instant to give in to your urges.

Then, you’re suddenly hungrier than you ever were before, and getting that crunch under your teeth and that flavour hit on your tongue is all you can think about, but as you try desperately to burst the bag open, it becomes a fortress of steel, refusing to release its contents, no matter how hard you try.

In the best case scenario, you might be able to tear into the bag from one of the tiny ridges at the top, which ends up leaving a ripped shard of plastic on the side that ruins the joy of reaching your hand inside. In the worst case scenario, you end up tearing into the pack with your teeth, or end up bursting it as all your precious chips fall to the floor.

Well, none of that ever has to happen again, thanks to this lifehack from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. Now you’ll be able to open even the most stubborn of chip packets with nothing but … a couple of coins.

▼ 10-yen coins are highly recommended but any pair of matching coins will do.

In Japan, chip packets come with a tiny pre-tear at the top of the bag, which people use to rip into the pack. Lining up the two coins here will help you rip into the bag with ease.

You’ll get the best results from using the coins at the pre-tear point, but the trick will work anywhere along the top of the chip packet.

▼ Simply place one coin on either side…

▼ …pull the furthest one towards you…

▼ And you’ll create a neat tear that allows you to get at those tasty chips with minimal effort!

This tip, which is said to work with things like confectionery packets as well, comes courtesy of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, who sent out a tweet recently, outlining the procedure. This hack is actually designed to help those in emergency shelters who don’t have a pair of scissors handy to open up stubborn packs.

出先でお菓子の袋などを開けるのに、素手ではなかなか開けられず困った経験はありませんか？そんな時は１０円硬貨２枚を使って簡単に開けることができます。写真のように硬貨で袋を挟み込み、スライドさせると簡単に開けることができます。避難所等でハサミが無い時などは知っておくと便利です。 pic.twitter.com/91thqUncV3

— 警視庁警備部災害対策課 (@MPD_bousai) October 24, 2017

A hard-to-open chip packet when you’re starving and displaced in a shelter due to life-threatening conditions certainly is one of those small things that can tip people over the edge, so it’s fantastic to see the police department paying such close attention to the small details that can make a difference to people’s lives.