The Soda Can Hack That'll Make Sipping Even Easier

Take a look at that can of soda in your fridge. It could be Coke, it could be Pepsi – so long as it's in a can, it'll be fine. Inspect the can all over from top to bottom. Most of it is smooth, unblemished aluminum — except for the top. There's that pull tab, the thing that you slide your finger under and lift up to crack the top open. 

While the pull tab design of the soda can seems pretty mundane, following the same amount of excitement you get when you pop off a bottlecap or unscrew a plastic cap, the pull tab is actually an ingenious use of physics. The pull tab mechanism is designed in such a way that, when the tab is lifted, the pressure inside the can of soda will vent very easily using minimal effort on your part. By simply using basic knowledge of how a fulcrum works, you can easily open a can of Coke without struggling to release all the carbonated pressure inside.

But we're not here to talk about physics. Instead, we're here to talk about how that little tiny metal tab can actually improve how you drink your soda. If you're a person who prefers to use straws instead of drinking straight from the can, you'll be glad to know that the pull tab can actually serve as a sort of "straw holder," ensuring you can drink your Pepsi or Sprite without chasing your straw around.

When you first crack open a can of soda, you'll notice that the pull tab can freely spin around above the opening to the can. While this is ordinally something you'd probably just fidget with while you're in the middle of shooting the breeze with your friends, the rotating action of the pull tab is key to using this soda hack correctly.

First, spin your pull tab so that the "open" side of it, the part where you would slide your finger up to lift it, over the opening of the soda can. Then take the straw of your choice– it could be any straw, plastic, paper, crazy, bendable–and slide it through the hole in the pull tab and into the soda can. From there, you can drink your soda as you usually would– that's how simple this trick is,

But what exactly is the whole appeal of this hack? If you were to put a straw inside a can of soda the usual way, it doesn't stay in one place. The wind pushes it, it "floats" back and forth, and it may even jab your cheek instead of your lips (harmless, sure, but embarrassing). The pull tab helps to keep your straw firmly in place, allowing you to drink your soda without having to awkwardly chase your straw around.

Although the pull tab hack for keeping your straw in place is useful for when you're drinking the soda, it's not so impressive when you finished your drink. Before you toss that empty can away, there are a few things you can do with the pull tab around your home.

If you have a particularly messy or disorganized closet, filled with too many clothes and not enough space, you can actually use a pull tab to help organize it. Take your hanger– metal or wire hangers work best–and slide your pull tab over the hook using one side. In the other hole, you can then hang another hanger by sliding the hook through the hole. This way, you can have one hanger hanging off another one instead of taking up space of its own, maximizing storage space potential. 

You can also use soda tabs and cans for a wide variety of outdoor or survival purposes. While the can itself can be used for anything from a makeshift stove or water purifier, a pull tab can be fashioned into a fishing hook, a hanging hook, or even as a weapon if need be. But whether you're holding a straw, doing some fishing, or organizing a closet, a pull tab is actually a nifty little thing to have around.