While no one’s going to cry if you lose your melon baller, there are some single-use tools that will actually make a difference in the kitchen. They’re easy to leave out, since they only do that one thing, but nothing comes close to that convenience when you need them. Take a look at these five utensils you take for granted before you find yourself up a creek without a can opener. Speaking of...

Can Opener

Photo: WiseGEEK

What good is a can opener? Well, when you consider that the alternative is smashing it open with a rock, pretty darn good. Aside from opposable thumbs, can openers are the only thing that separates us from wild animals. Either use them both, or accept your feral life among the woodland creatures.

Pizza Cutter

Photo: Pizzacraft

After a long day of moving with your friends, your only means of paying them back is your cheap and trusty friend pizza. But now you’re faced with the prospect of asking your friends to risk burning themselves by tearing apart a piping hot pizza. E tu, pizza?

Lemon/Lime Juicer

Photo: AliExpress

Yeah, you can squeeze a lime or lemon with your bare hands, but you risk making a mess or shooting citric acid straight into your eye. Either pack goggles or bring along this handy squeezer, which will give you more control as you add flavor to everything you cook.

Colander

Photo: Joseph Joseph

Pasta is another cheap and easy dish, and you can probably make enough to feed all your buddies for under 10 bucks. But without a colander, you’re simply tempting fate, my friend. If you leave this handy strainer behind, you’ll either be scalding yourself for forgetting it, or just plain scalding yourself.

Wine Bottle Opener

Photo: Wine Folly

This is the first level of hell. You’re already out of meal ideas, and now you can’t even open a bottle of wine to help melt that stress away. You try that trick with your shoes, but it just won’t work. Too bad Domino’s doesn’t deliver pinot grigio.