Best Jar Openers for travelers

(updated for 2024)

When you are going for a picnic or vacation you might want to take along a jar opener. The best jar openers for travelers should be small, lightweight and able to open a jar. They can be used not only on jars but on the other things that you might need to open while you are away from home too – like nail polish or a tightly closed bottle.

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Let’s take a closer look at jar openers suitable for travelers that are available on the market these days.

The best choice for most people to pack in their suitcase when going on trips would be a lightweight gripper.

There are a few designs of grippers to choose from: a very thin round or rectangular rubber sheet as in Prepworks by Progressive kit, or a rubber-silicone band that automatically coils around the lid or cap like in Slap Top gripper. (See photos in comparison tables at the end of this article).

Prepworks by Progressive jar grips set contains 3 rubber grippers: two thin ones of round and rectangular shape, and a small heavier rubber red cone for opening bottles and narrow jars. You do not need to take all of them on the trip. It will be sufficient to place in your suitcase only the large rectangular rubber sheet to be able to get a good grip on any size of cap or lid when the need arises.

Slap Top grippers, that come as a set, grasp the lid only in the places where grip needed the most – on the sides of the lid. The Slap Top opener looks like a band made of food grade silicone on the outside and rubber teeth for better grip inside the band. A metal strip is sandwiched in between these layers to hold the shape when Slap Top gripper coils around the lid, and also to provide support and pressure against the rim of the lid for better grip. There are three bands of different length and color in this set. The bands can be stored flat or coiled. The grippers are machine washable and do not contain PBA or latex.

As was mentioned before, the grippers will be sufficient to open jars for most people, but what to do if your hands are weak or you have arthritis?

In this case, it is a better idea to take along on trip lightweight handheld manual jar opener.

The best one would be a handheld opener that consists of a handle attached to a fan-shaped pad with metal teeth because this type provides the strongest grip and the best assistance for arthritic hands. This kind of opener also adjusts to the size of the cap or lid. It is simple to use and functional. Suitable jar openers of this type are OXO Good Grips with Base Pad, Pampered Chef, and RtreeK.

Of the ones mentioned above I like the RtreeK opener for the travelers because it is:

lightweight (weighs just 2.4 ounces)

colorful (light green is easy to spot in the bag or suitcase)

multifunctional (it not only open jars but also assists in opening cans that have a pull ring).

The only problem that I see with this kind of opener is the fact that it has sharp metal teeth on one side. So it would be a great idea to put it in a heavier plastic bag in order not to touch the teeth with bare hand accidentally while reaching for something in the bag.

Related: Best manual jar openers

Best jar openers for arthritic hands

You are invited to view best jar openers for travelers in the comparison tables below and choose one that fits your needs.

Note. The faded out text in the tables shows what features are not available in that particular opener.