I’m glad that you got one and I don’t mean any disrespect, but don’t you find it amusing the reluctance to spend on a lifetime tool what many here routinely spend on a single bottle of wine? You are certainly not the only one.
The reluctance in my case–and I suspect I’m not the only one–is that the actual device, a corkscrew combined with and ah so, doesn’t seem to merit the price, whatever meriting a price means. After all, the two tools separately, even relatively expensive versions of them, would cost well less than half a Durand. In the big picture, though, you are obviously correct. It’s just that we aren’t all rational about these things. I got mine as a gift maybe three years ago, by the way, and I swear by the thing.
This is so true. It’s an Ah-so ($20, $25 max) plus a long screw (let’s also generously call that $20). $45. This should be $60, max… Really, it probably should be $40 - $45. Once the patent expires, I imagine this will be widely available for a third of its current price. $125 is pretty damn crazy, and built-in to that price must be a whole lotta money “for the good idea,” which – in this case – is worth paying for.
That said, like Cris, I acquired mine by way of gift. I love it, and would definitely replace it myself if the use of a waiter’s corkscrew in conjunction with an Ah-so proved to be ineffective.
I appreciate the joke, but, other than the couple of times it takes to use and ah so correctly, it don’t find it takes much patience or practice at a;;. My method for corks that push in too easily, takes none of either. Unless it’s hard to grasp something with your thumb and forefinger.