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

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.

A must if you have ageing bottles with brittle corks. Does the job where other screw type corkscrews break dry corks and leave a mess in the bottle. Only minor grip is that the click fit of the extractor into the sheath is a little on the tight side. Will hopefully improve with age, like the wine! :-)

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!

I used something similar to this at a friend's place who did not drink wine - they did not have a corkscrew, it was surprisingly easy to use. Bought one of these to try, it's great especially for older bottles where the cork is fragile. Highly recommended, I used this now more than my screwpull.

The theory is great but it is difficult to use. First time I tried I ended up pushing the cork further into the bottle. Then I realised it was important to twise it (or the bottle) as it is inserted. But the amount of strength and time it took was rediculous. I could have easily opened 10 bottles with a standard cork screw in the same time. I'll keep it and see if I can become better at it!

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.

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

Works a treat on old and difficult corks. It's well made, nice and heavy in the hand. It took a couple of practices but it is pretty foolproof. Would definitely recommend for old bottles, though it does chew the outside of the cork up.