Bottle openers are one of those things we tailgaters never think of until we need one.  Being a tailgater who often drinks from bottles with pry off tops, it is even more important to have one handy.

I used to carry one on my key chain but after breaking several of them, which I’m convinced was due to poor quality metal, I stopped spending money on them. I do have a pair of really nice openers that I keep in my kitchen drawer, but I’m so fond of them I don’t want to risk losing them by taking them tailgating.  Thankfully we were approached by the folks who make the MyTopOff bottle opener.

Oddly enough, the MyTopOff is unlike any of the other bottle openers I’ve seen. First of all, it is cylindrical in shape and instead of using it to pry a cap off, you just push it down, then pull it up, and the cap should come off.  It’s available in both a black plastic and also a stainless steel version.  While both are interesting, I have to admit, that the stainless version is pretty eye catching with it’s brushed metal look.

Disclaimer: We received samples of the MyTopOff openers for free. The fact this sample was provided to us in no way influenced our opinion of the product nor did it impact our ability to test and review the product fairly and objectively.

As I mentioned before, the MyTopOff is a bottle opener, so naturally the main test for this product is opening bottles.  The company claims that it will open not only pry-off type caps, but the twist-off variety as well. For the test I had several different beers in typical long necked bottles (pry-off), some Mike’s brand beverages (twist-off), and some Red Stripe (pry-off).  The Red Stripe, in it’s “short ugly bottle” (their words not mine), was to check the effectiveness of the MyTopOff on unusual bottle shapes.  During the tests, I tried both the standard plastic and stainless steel models of the MyTopOff.

What I found is that the screw-off caps opened with no difficulty with either opener.  The long necked brews also opened just fine.  The Red Stripes were a little temperamental at times. I learned that a little turn and an additional down/up with the MyTopOff seemed to be the fix.  Another nice thing is the magnet built onto the rim of the MyTopOff.  While I didn’t get the cap to stick every time, I did enjoy not having to bend over to pick up all of my caps.

Also included with my samples were the MyTopOff bottle koozie and drink sling. Since we all have experience with neoprene bottle koozies I’m not going to do dedicated testing.  I did like the bright green color of the koozie as it would help with drink identification.  The drink sling basically turns your bottle into a necklace.  This is done by slipping a rubbery retainer over the opening of the bottle, and below the flared out section.  While I don’t see myself using it personally, it may be useful for freeing up your hands for a few minutes if you don’t have a place to set your beer down at your tailgate.

Probably the most meaningful part of my testing was the inclusion of my wife, Katie.  Katie has Rheumatoid Arthritis, so anything that helps her do basic tasks more easily is ideal.  I’m pleased to say that using the MyTopOff was easy for her and gave her some independence with opening her own drinks.  I have to believe that she’s not the only tailgater that could benefit from this sort of thing.

I going to say the MyTopOff is “Tailgate Approved” for multiple reasons.  First of all, it has conversational value, especially the stainless model, which in my opinion is huge at a tailgate party.  Secondly, it means you don’t have to worry about cutting your hand on a bottle cap or having to open a bottle with your teeth.  Third, it is affordable enough to keep with your tailgate gear all year.

Speaking of affordability, the current price of the MyTopOff is $9.95 plus $4.95 shipping and handling.  This is for the plastic opener, bottle koozie, and drink sling.  You can double that order for an additional $4.95.  The stainless steel version of the MyTopOff isn’t much more than that.  Of course you can check out all the pricing, quantity options and free items at mytopoff.com.  While you’re there, be sure to check out the MyTopOff girl as well!

Wait! There’s more!  The folks over at MyTopOff.com sent us an additional opener, koozie, and drink sling that we’d like to pass along to our readers in the form of a giveaway.  There are two ways to enter:

1) Facebook – All you need to do is scroll to the bottom of this post and hit the Facebook share button and post this review to your wall on Facebook. Feel free to make mention of how badly you would like to win or whatever else you can think of. After you have posted this review to your Facebook wall, click over to the Tailgating Ideas Facebook Page. There you will see a wall post promoting this review and giveaway. Just comment “I want to take my top off!” on that post confirming you posted this to your wall so that we can validate your entry. After you have done that, you are now entered into the random drawing via Facebook.

2) Twitter – Simply cut and paste the following piece of text into a Tweet.

@TailgatingIdeas wants to see your top off! RT this #giveaway & be entered to win a #MyTopOff bottle opener! http://t.co/goqMhlHv

Each time you tweet that exact piece of text will earn you another entry. Keep in mind only one tweet per day will gain you an additional entry. You don’t want to annoy all of your followers by tweeting that same thing over and over to increase your chances of winning.

The deadline to post to your Facebook wall or via Twitter is 11:59 pm pacific time, Monday October 24, 2011. A winner will be chosen at random from all entries and will be notified privately via Facebook or Twitter to provide their address. We will announce the winner publicly on Facebook and Twitter once the winner has confirmed their address and the MyTopOff is in the mail. And the best part is if you win, we will even pay for the postage to get it to you. Good luck.