Yes this will work in dire situations, but you're better off buying something more stable because this item makes a great gift, but a dinky tool.the blade is literally 2-inches long. half serrated and half straight. For example its not very good at cutting zip ties, i did cut my finger trying to cut a zip tie. This will definitely let you cut soft plastic packaging.Another annoying part is opening the keychain. unless your thumb and finger nails are rock solid, you'll have a heck of a time opening this knife to use it. When you do open it, the screwdriver becomes the only substantial handle for using the knife.lastly i wanted to point out that it doesn't work like scissors. My friend thought it worked as scissors, i had already opened it a few times so i KNEW it wasn't like scissors, but to someone reading this that has never used it before, just be aware of that.