Thursday, 12 June 2014

Bonus mid-week post: A Beginner's Guide to Hip Flasks

A quick bonus mid-week  post for you now, let’s say to celebrate the beginning of the World Cup. My love for hip flasks is no secret of course so, inspired by footage of Chris O’Dowd chugging from one at some awards ceremony or other, I thought I’d post a link to that, and in the name of encouraging you to join the hip flask family, give you a quick guide to all the things you need to know.

  1. Think about size. I wouldn’t get one that was too small, as you’re barely going to get a buzz before you have to refill it. Conversely, I’ve seen some that look like they would hold a full bottle of spirits… so what’s the point? Too big to secrete in your pocket and, frankly, too much spirits for a man to drink on a night out in addition to his other drinks… surely?
  1. You don’t have to, but I recommend you get one that has a cap attached. You’re not going to drop it, and you’re not going to have any trouble screwing it back on. The first hip flask I had had a free cap and it could take 5 minutes to slot it back into the grooves correctly.
  1. When you’ve bought one, make sure you clean it out before you use it. Otherwise you might die.
  1. When deciding what to load your hip flask with, think about quality. Don’t be putting your finest, most expensive spirit in there as it isn’t going to taste as good as from a nice glass. The hip flask is your chance to chug on some of your lower quality stuff without noticing how bad it might taste.
  1. Determine the capacity of your hip flask before filling. This will help you to avoid spillage and waste of precious alcohol. To do so, fill your hip flask with water, then empty it into a measuring jug, taking note of the amount of liquid that fills the jug. Then you can fill the jug with booze to the same level and load into your hip flask.
  1. If you have a funnel for filling your hip flask, make sure you hold the funnel, leaving a space between it and the mouth of the flask. Not doing so will cause the funnel to overflow, spilling your precious beverage. The reason for this is science.
  1. If you are concerned that you might be taking a hip flask somewhere that it might not be appreciated and you might be searched, carry a bag, but keep your hip flask in the pocket of your clothes. If you are searched, you will tend to find that they search your bag and not your clothes.

  1. Go forth and top up your buzz, on the cheap, like a boss. But be warned, you might end up getting hammered, which is probably the point anyway.

Ok, let’s hear it for the hip flask. See you later in the week, or early next week for the post I promised in my last one.

3 comments:

  1. My experience of hip-flasks is somewhat different.I found hip-flasks always negatively flavoured the buzz, and went off them. Also, the really small opening doesn't flow like a glass of course, so it takes ages to get through a full flask, leading on to my final point - unless you use it all the time it just ends up getting manky, being left in a camping rucksack somewhere. This does however give you the opportunity to play gruesome drinking games.

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  2. thanks for that, mester. Yes, you are correct that it isn't the most fulfilling drinking experience however, for me the attraction lies in the ready availability of strong alcohol.

    Would you care to elaborate on your "gruesome drinking games"?

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  3. Hi,

    If you post at least one image in this post then it will be looks attractive.

    _____________
    Hip Flask

    ReplyDelete