Customer Reviews

Metrokane 6010 Rabbit 6-Piece Wine Tool Kit, Black

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I could *not* believe my eyes the first time I saw someone use a Rabbit. I've shredded SO many corks and even broken bottles trying to get corks out. I've tried so many different kinds of corkscrews (and the two-pronged non-screw-type cork-pullers), and I've been all kinds of frustrated. I'm a big and strong guy, and I've still been frustrated at how hard some corkscrews are to use.
Enter the Rabbit. It's hard to visualize from the picture, but it is SUPER-EASY, once you figure it out.
1) Flip the top over, away from the cork, raising the screw (sometimes called the "worm")
2) Place the two handles on either side of the bottle-neck, positioning the tip of the worm over the cork.
3) Squeeze the handles together to hold the bottle.
4) Bring the top handle up and over, which pushes the worm into the cork -- so easy you can't believe it.
5) Take the top handle back to where it started, and the cork is out! No muss, no fuss, no cuss!

Removing the cork from the worm is just as easy:
6) Bring the top handle back over, as if to put the cork back in the bottle, only without the bottle there.
7) Squeeze the side handles around/on the cork.
8) Bring the top handle back away to remove the worm, while holding the cork with the side handles.

Okay, the ad says "3 seconds". I put closer to five seconds, plus ten more to remove the cork. This is the easiest and best corkscrew I've ever used, and I'd say it's WELL worth the price. The "gift set" is nice, but personally, I don't think it's worth the extra price compared to just the Rabbit without the gift set. I do, however, recommend the Metrokane "Save-the-Wine" Vacuum Pump.

Oh, one more thing -- I've heard other people say that it doesn't work well on the new plastic-style "corks", but I haven't had any problems. It works great on them for me.

Whether you're having wine for a small dinner or for a large party, the Rabbit is what you want. I saw one being used by a friend, and bought one on his recommendation. I'm glad I did.

Other reviewers comment on the ease of use, and they're right: the very first time using it only took 5 seconds to figure out and open the bottle. The simplicity makes you wonder why it took hundreds of years to create -- and compliments from others seeing the device is a nice bonus!

The kit comes with other nice tools -- the foil cutter, too, is a necessity. I'm just surprised I don't yet see this everywhere wine is served!

From a design standpoint, this is a very good product. But the documentation is pathetic, and was clearly never tested with new / real users. There is no explanation of how it's supposed to work. That understanding is very helpful: with it, you'll never have trouble, and will marvel at the clever design. Let's get started.

Have a bottle of wine handy on which you've already used the supplied (and very good) little foil cutter to remove the foil over the cork.

Take the unit in your hand and look at the movable parts. The overhead lever that swings outward / downward and then is reversed / brought back over the top - moves the spiral corkscrew up and down. To see this, operate the overhead lever with one hand while holding the clamping "side handles" with the other. When you move the overhead handle the corkscrew rotates.

Why is the corkscrew turning? Because it's forced to do that as it goes through a "guide" (the metal collar with gray plastic center). The gray plastic piece has an internal spiral track that forces the corkscrew to rotate as it passes through.

Here's the critical point: as long as the guide mechanism is locked in place and can't move up or down, the guide forces the corkscrew to rotate when going through.

What if this guide were locked in place on the `down-stroke,' but could move vertically on the `up-stroke'? Then the guide would force the corkscrew to rotate on the way down (so the corkscrew would penetrate the cork), but the guide would stay attached to (and _not_ rotate) the corkscrew on the way up - thus pulling the cork.

When the unit is operated correctly this is exactly what happens. But how?

Look more closely: Before using the Rabbit's `side-handles' to hold the wine bottle neck, the guide is locked in place by two protruding spring-loaded latches and can't move vertically. Try it: it won't budge. (You can actually see these small latches projecting over the top of the guide and keeping it from moving - by looking in the area above and to the far rear of the guide, near the smooth rod.)

On the other hand, when the clamping handles are squeezed onto the neck of a bottle, these latches above the guide _retract_, releasing their hold on the guide so it can move upward.

Do this now: Take your bottle of wine and, with the overhead lever rotated to its fully outward / downward position, place the guide directly over the cork and grip the neck of the bottle _firmly_ with the clamping side handles.

Look at the latches described above: they have retracted, and no longer restrain the guide from moving upward. This has no effect during the down-stroke / cork penetration phase, since the guide is already as low as it can go. Because the guide can't move, it forces the corkscrew to rotate when you operate the overhead lever - thus penetrating the cork. Perform this down-stroke.

Now watch what happens when the overhead lever is pulled back to withdraw the cork (while you at the same time continue to grip the bottle neck firmly with the side levers). Because the guide can now move vertically with the corkscrew, it imposes no rotation on the corkscrew. The corkscrew stays inside the cork as the overhead lever is moved outward / downward, and the cork is extracted. Do it. You now have the cork out of the bottle, suspended above the bottle neck, and are still gripping the side handles around the bottle neck.

Release your hold on the side handles and move the Rabbit away from the bottle. The cork is still attached to the corkscrew. Re-grip the side handles with one hand and once again operate the overhead lever, bringing it all the way back to its fully closed position again (as if you were on the original down-stroke into the cork).

As you get to the very end of the stroke, you will feel resistance and will hear a click: the latches have snapped back into place over the top of the guide, locking it in place. The guide is once again `captured' - and cannot move vertically. The cork is still attached to the corkscrew.

Finally, move the overhead lever back yet again to its fully open position (as if pulling the cork from the bottle). This time the latches _don't_ retract (because you're not using the side handles to grip the bottle neck) - so the latches again keep the guide from moving, and this forces the corkscrew to rotate `in reverse' as it passes upward through the guide. The corkscrew backs out of the cork and the cork drops off. It takes all of a few seconds once you get the hang of it.

Understanding the operating principles should help. None of this is well explained (or, indeed, explained at all) in the almost non-existent documentation.

Steve Ferris

Received as a birthday present. After first use the spring inside one of the handles came out making difficult to close the handles. Returning set for a refund and buying different model.

This kit is great! the rabbit makes opening bottles of wine effortless and the additional accessories come in handy(especially the stopper).
One thing I would note though is that some people who have tried using ours have ran into difficulty if they do not grip the "ears" tightly enough. other than that it's perfect.

Having broken a couple Asian look-alikes, I purchased the Rabbit. It is strong, works great and seems like it will last a lifetime.

Had it 2 weeks and it broke. It looks sturdy but it isn't. It got off kilter and just wouldn't open bottles anymore. For all their advertizing, etc. you would think it would be a better product.

I have had my wine Rabbit for over 10 years! My husband knew that I needed a quick and easy wine opener, so he purchased the Rabbit from ORVIS as a Christmas gift for me. I LOVE it! I was amazed how fast I could get a bottle of wine opened.
This year I was at a party with a group of ladies from work~they could NOT get the wine cork off the bottle. They were using an "old school" opener. I lived up the street, so I went home to grab my opener and a couple extra bottles of wine! When I returned they were impressed when I arrived with my sidekick(Rabbit). I was able to salvage that bottle of wine, and the party was able to start!
I knew that my co-wokers were in love with my Rabbit. I LOVE wine! I wanted my friends to be able to have the chance to get one of their own. I decided that the Metrokane 6010 Rabbit 6 Piece Wine Tool Kit(Black)would be a great gift! I invited a group of my favorite Gf's over for our 1st Wino's(Women in Need of....?)party. I asked them all to bring their favorite bottle/bottles of wine. The more bottles they brought the better! They were entered to win the surprise "gift"~the Metrokane 6010 Rabbit 6 Piece Wine Tool Kit(Black)!
My friends were just waiting anxiously to see who was going to get the Rabbit! They were disappointed when their name was not the "one." I rate this TOOL a 5 star! I wish I could send all of my family and friends one! Order yours today! It is very easy to use and the quality is impressive.

I bought this Metrokane Rabbit 6-piece Wine Tool Kit for my husband for Christmas in 2010, feeling sure it would be an excellent replacement for the Rabbit wine opener we had used for almost 20 years. WRONG! Just last week the handle broke off--after less than one year of not-heavy use. Just broke! In examining it, it looks cheap, so I should not have been surprised. Then I saw the reason: MADE IN CHINA. I think that says it all. I make it a practice never to buy anything MADE IN CHINA, not just because U.S. Corporations who outsource there use sweatshop labor--in many cases older children--but also because the products are inferior 95% of the time.

I will never buy another Rabbit Wine Opener as long as they continue to be made in China.

We wrecked two other wine openers trying to open the Moscato we bought (cork is fat end down) so I ordered the Rabbit. It worked great, although my hands are not very strong and I still have to sit down and get a grip on the opener from above (more leverage). I ordered the extra accessories because they were not much more than just the opener and I'm glad I did. Love the foil slicer. Very cool. The instructions were not real good on the box but I found them online.