Thousands injured trying to open plastic clamshell packaging

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://www.abc15.com/content/news/investigators/consumeralerts/story/Thousands-injured-trying-to-open-plastic-packaging/7QRWLJMw1k2Yx9AMBZvBTQ.cspx

Thousands injured trying to open plastic packaging
Reported by: Joe Ducey

You try cutting, tearing and ripping.

Depending on which way you choose to try and open hard plastic packaging, the outcome can be painful.

“I've cut myself with a knife,” a consumer told ABC15. “Because I was trying to open it.”

Plastic packaging, often called a “clamshell”, can turn dangerous.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC, plastic packaging has caused more than 25,000 injuries since 2004.

The problem is not just the hard, clamshell like casing.

It is also what people are using to open up the packaging.

Scissors and knifes are the common implements people use.

--------------------------------------------

What you need to know about opening clamshell plastic packaging:

- Always clear the area of people
- Use heavy duty, utility scissors with blunt tips
- Wear protective gloves to protect both hands
- Always cut away from yourself
- Don’t use your legs to keep the product stable; you may end up inflicting serious injury to yourself.
- Check out these websites selling instruments designed to cut packaging and keep you safe: http://www.wrapragecure.com/product.html ; http://www.myopenx.com/home.htm

Click here to see Consumer Report’s “2007 hard-to-open packaging hall of shame”. The winners for worst packaging and the products Consumer Reports said are the easiest to open.

[elehhhhna]

1. Cripes no kidding. My hand was almost a statistic recently.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. I have a really hard time opening this type of packaging. really hard.

[elehhhhna]

7. nail clippers? nope. big scissors? nope. wth? get the saws-all?

[flvegan]

2. It's a conspiracy with the healthcare industry to put more folks in the ER.

Seriously though, you'd think they'd come up with a better packaging solution.

[MercutioATC]

4. You need one of these:

http://www.pyranna.com/?gclid=COKmiZC235cCFQwDGgodJVsgCw

I don't own one but, supposedly, they work like a charm.

[Liberal_in_LA]

6. Does it come in a clamshell package? heh heh

looks like a letter opener

[MercutioATC]

8. Probably :)

You're right. It's essentially a heavy-duty letter opener.

[hlthe2b]

5. This seems funny, but oh so true....

There is a special place in some kind of hell for designers/producers of some of this packaging

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. It's one of the few types of packages that offers no instructions on how to open. Even bags will

say cut or tear here. This stuff is devilish!

[yardwork]

9. I watched my teenage son open one for me on Christmas morning.

I was impressed. He took a pair of heavy-duty scissors in his right hand. He held the evil clamshell package in his left hand. He began cutting around the edge of the clamshell, inside the evil joint where the two evil sides of the evil clamshell are joined. He gently but firmly cut all around the edge of the package, until the nasty evil little joint fell away on all sides.

It's the only way to do it. You have to have strong hands and tough scissors, though.

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. yup. Sissy scissors don't cut it.

[backscatter712]

40. I've resorted to attacking those damned clamshells with tin snips.

Those are heavy-duty enough for the job - they're designed to cut sheet metal.

[aikoaiko]

12. I find the kitchen shears work best.

I just along the seam on three sides and, presto, open clam shell.

My biggest gripe is how toy manufacturers wire down and screw down their toys to the cardboard boxes. My 3.5 year old son definitely doesn't appreciate all the effort. That's why its good to be 3.5 years old. ;)

[FloridaJudy]

13. They have a term for it in the ER

"Wrap Rage".

I'd also like to know when people started wrapping all their parcels with duct tape. They have free packing boxes in the post office, you know: they have sturdy seals and a nice tab to open them neatly when they get to the intended recipient. All you have to do it fill out the address. But Nooooooo. You jerks have to stuff it in a shoe-box, and wrap a whole roll of duct tape around it to be sure it doesn't fly open in transit.

Some days I hate eBay.

[katandmoon]

17. The free USPS shipping boxes are only for Priority Mail shipments

And they are labeled Priority Mail. If you use them to ship any other class of mail, you will likely get the package back.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

46. nope...not at all...

we actually reuse the ones we get...they are often the perfect size and the post office delivers based on the postage mark...not the container...

sP

[gravity]

14. They can at least make the plastic easy to cut

and have instructions on how to open it. Some of these packages are just ridiculous.

[TomInTib]

15. At our Town's first Get Ready (DHS) meeting.

We were discussing eartquake (since we are on SF Bay) preparedness in a program called GetReady94920. I had already relized it was a sham, but then the Homeland Security guy started talking about shutting off the gas in event of earthquake.

From a box, he produced this multi-piece tool in clamshell packaging. He told everyone to have one of those at the ready, just in case. I asked if it wouldn't be a good idea to put the damned thing in a bag. Ours is an older community and I, in my fifties, was one of the younger folks in the room.

He said oh, no, we certainly didn't want to loose any of the components (which were probably going to prove impossible for most of the old folks to assemble, anyway).

So I said, "Bam, earthquake! You have 10 seconds to get that thing open and in use before the house blows up".

You should have seen the guy.

Like a monkey screwing a footbal, he was all over that thing.

Hilarious.

[orleans]

33. that's funny, what you did to him. now he needs to pretend he's 80

and has arthritis while he opens the fucking thing.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. I took myself out on a light cardboard box yesterday. *holding up finger with paper cut*

[Historic NY]

18. Try and get a razor out of it package..!!!!!!!!!!!! Its harder that a cd case.

[supernova]

19. My Brother spent Xmas eve in the ER

for trying to get a child's toy out of the box. Jabbing a very sharp carabiner knife and trying to get the blade into those devilish little twisties they use to stick the toy to the box. He jabbed his hand between the thumb and index finger instead. Five stitches, but the good news is only two hours, they weren't busy.

Don't get me started on those clamshells. :grr: :grr:

I'd like to personally jerk around the person who invented that packaging. It makes the act of buying things unpleasant. I do stand there and think, do I want to open that when I get home? A good deal of the time, the answer is NO.

:grr: :grr: :grr:

[FloridaJudy]

23. Especially when it's something cheap

Like a toothbrush. I can somewhat understand putting that bulky plastic around a pricey item like an MP3 player - it discourages shoplifting. But toothbrushes and disposable razors? No thanks.

Thank the gods they finally got rid of those unspeakable plastic frames they used to put around CDs! But will someone please explain to me why they need to put tight plastic seals on three sides of a CD under the shrink-wrap? It wouldn't pose an obstacle to any would-be thieves, but it sure has cost me - the legitimate buyer - more than a few fingernails.

[Lasher]

20. Electric carving knife or jigsaw.

But sometimes nothing says it quite like the ol' chainsaw.

[stevedeshazer]

21. Mom's in her eighties. She has no chance.

I despise the stuff.

[SoCalDem]

22. Anti-theft packaging is designed to be "dangerous" and impossible to open

In the "olden days" toys were either unwrapped or came inside a tabbed box. People could take the toy out , look at it, and then put it back inside the box..or not..

Fewer and fewer dedicated employees are around and on the floor, to be there to put stuff back inside its correct box..or to monitor people who put the toy inside their purse/pocket instead..

Dangerous plastic packaging..and OVERSIZED, at that, is a way to display the item, and at the same time, prevent it from being casually slipped inside a jacket..

These clamshells also have RFID nuggets within them, so if you don't want bells & whistles on exit, you better pay for them:)

I use a standard box cutter, and just "trace around the "bubble" part until it's completely free, and then the stuff inside comes out rather easily..

What I hate about them, is the fact that once the packaging is totally obliterated, there is no easy way to box it back up & return it, if you goof, and buy the wrong one..

I had a recent experience with Office Depot.. Bought two ink cartridges..The boxes were sealed, and yet when I opened one of them, the cartridges inside were NOT what was on the box..Instead of three new color cartridges for my Epson printer, they were three random EMPTY cartridges that someone had placed there and resealed the box..

I was furious, and managed to get them to replace them for me, but I "knew" they did not really believe me, so now, whenever I buy an ink cartridge there, I make the clerk ringing me up, open it and verify that the cartridge inside is new and the correct one..

[Liberal_in_LA]

36. Been in your shoes...where I KNEW the manager did not believe me on a return.

<shrug>

[depakid]

24. What I need to know about clamshell packaging is- NEVER to purchase it

and make sure people know not to purchase anything wrapped in it for me.

[Duer 157099]

25. I used to think it was about anti-theft

Until one day, after being so frustrated with the packaging for a cell phone, was speaking with the company rep and complained at length about it - mainly asking why such a cheap phone should be so well protected against theft! The answer was that it wasn't about theft, but about protecting the product from damage (presumably during it's long journey across the globe).

I actively try to boycott such items when possible, and make sure to complain to store managers when possible.

Just so they know. As if they didn't already.

Surely one of my personal pet peeves, that evil clamshell crap.

[SoCalDem]

28. sure... and the little RFID thing sealed inside

is just there for extra protection:rofl:

[Duer 157099]

29. Well true. But inventory control is another explanation

I mean, some of the cheapest crap is packaged in that dastardly clamshell - the packaging must cost at least as much as the product.

I think they are just sadists and enjoy when we suffer.

[wildflowergardener]

26. packaging

I hate it too. I think I finally figured out the trick, though.

I get a box-cutter and trace all the way around it as far in as I can get just before the packaging bulges out, in the flat part then it opens up easily.

Meg

[1monster]

27. I accidentally found a really good clamshell package opener. My son asked me

to open his new cell phone package (his sixth or seventh phone... one was in his pocket when he was pulled into a swimming pool, fully dressed. Another went through a washing machine and dryer cycle. Two or three were lost, and so on and on).

Anyway, I didn't feel like going for the sissors and happened to have a heavy duty seam ripper at hand. I thought it was worth a try.

It worked like it was made to cut through the heavy, open resistant clamshell packaging. I had that thing open and the new cell phone out in less than 30 seconds... And not so much as a scratch or bruise on me!

This one:

[renate]

30. wow, that's a super useful tip!

Thank you!

They're only about $1.29, too. Awesome idea! :applause:

[FloridaJudy]

32. Cool tip! Thanks!

I'm a quilter, so I have more than a few of those lying around. I'll have to try that.

[Liberal_in_LA]

37. yeah, great tip. I have one of those.

[uppityperson]

38. That is a REALLY good idea. Thank you.

[Touchdown]

42. But do THOSE come in clamshells?

:rofl:

[1monster]

47. Not in the past, but who knows about now? When I bought that one, it was cardboard backed with

a plastic blister over it. Not the easiest package to open, but no where near as difficult as clamshell packaging...

[FloridaJudy]

48. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I just tried this and it works! Beautifully.

Funny thing: it was a pair of scissors enclosed in clamshell packaging that I'd bought to open packages. Oh well: you can never have too many scissors.

I'm going to pass this on to everyone I know.

[DireStrike]

31. At first I thought this was about a single piece of packaging

like the sword in the stone or something...

"Open it, and claim the contents... And your birthright!!!"

[KittyWampus]

35. LOL! Finally, something we can all agree on. A mutual hatred of clamshell packaging.

[Cronus Protagonist]

34. I use tin snips - they work perfectly

They make nice clean cuts - you can usually snip right across the bottom and squeeze the edges together such that the contents fall out the bottom.

[backscatter712]

41. Same here. Tin snips work pretty damned well.

They're a lot more hard-core than normal scissors - they're designed to cut sheet metal. They go right through those damned clamshells.

[merh]

39. Consider giving the clamshell cutter as a christmas gift to everyone

on the list with the label "OPEN ME FIRST"

Open Sezz Me - Clamshell Packaging Cutter



http://www.neweggmall.com/Product/2002315760/product.html?cm_mmc=PCE-GoogleSearch-_-Hardware-_-Hand%20Tools-_-2002315760

http://www.nexusgadgets.com/open-sezz-me-clamshell-packaging-cutter-pr-16683.html

[Touchdown]

43. Another top seller on the same page.

http://www.nexusgadgets.com/moo-mixer-supreme-chocolate-milk-mixer-pr-16280.html

for those days when your teaspoon is stuck in a clamshell. This is the most hilarious thing since the salad shooter!:rofl:

[Liberal_in_LA]

44. lol.

[merh]

45. well if you are going to get the moomixer

may I suggest you get the Automatic Twirling Spaghetti Fork



http://www.nexusgadgets.com/automatic-twirling-spaghetti-fork-c-256-p-1-pr-16470.html

:rofl: