Alcohol in your bob?

If you was threortically going to carry an alchaholic beverage then

Stanley Classic Flask - 8 fl. oz. is very sturdy and comes in three different colors so you can know what is in each flask
And
GSI Outdoors Hip Flask - 10 fl. oz. is lighter

GSI Outdoors Stainless-Steel Flask too heavy for it size, too narrow a neck to fill and the cap too leaky and often too difficult to open and close
 
6 small bottles of everclear (190proof grain alcohol, strong enough to use for fuel, a painkiller, to sterilize, as paint stripper haha) in the bag in my car trunk and a case of assorted cheapo 1/5 bottles at the house. I keep it mostly as stock to trade and barter with and not so much to drink, I like good beer. I'm not gonna try and get a buzz on during an emergency and alcohol would be pretty valuable in a post SHTF situation.
 
chemistguy said:
Pabst Blue Ribbon. Possibly the worst beer (other than Natty Ice?). Would rather drink fermented horse piss any day of the week.

I would take a good bottle of high proof whiskey: a lot of bang for the size and weight.
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I think most of them are pretty nasty. Some are worse than others though. I can cope with Kronenbourg at social events in which swerving beer would be frowned on just as much as whipping out a bible or announcing you'd turned vegan. As I said to a mate that was espousing the virtues of Guinness and Barley Wine not so long back, beyond the association with the effects of alcohol I suspect most people know it all tastes pretty grim. Folks tend not to want to consume alcohol free things that taste like that. And when they do it's social mimic stuff not sweets and toothpaste consumed in private.

Specific to this thread I think there is virtue in the pause state that Myal mentioned. Mebe cracking open a beer could be good for that. I can think of a bunch of people that I associate with that would work well for. Also as Myal mentioned, getting some coffee on the go could serve the same function. That said, if there was a possibility that the bag needed to be man-portable I'd no sooner be taking beer over spirits any more than I would pack whole milk [supposing I took milk in coffee].
 
neeman said:
this is why you carry a BIC lighter?
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I don't carry a BIC lighter. Most common about me are Clippers [2.5” mini purse ones for ladies] in reserve, a Zippo, and a Pierre Cardin Rollagas type thing for the skunk tools. I think the disposable Clipper flint wheel unit is vastly superior to that which BICs have, yet they cost the same.

It doesn't have any bearing on this though. I think inhaling decent stimulants is a path to Blebs and best avoided. Some people drown and some people surf. Get sophisticated and surfing is easy. Even compared to vodka it is the ballet slipper to the hobnail boot. Anyway, we digress.
 
smokinbasser said:
Everclear or what ever 200 proof alky is available, multiple uses, disinfectant, fire starter, feel good enhancer. Just do not use if you are cold to warm your innards.
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I was going to say the same thing when I saw the thread title :thumbup:

That what I tested out my aluminum can stove with and it burns nice. Just pour it in one of those metal flasks they sell everywhere for a few bucks and it's ready for travel (just not in the immediate cabin area of your vehicle - don't want to get cited for Open Container while en route). I'd assume for an emergency you can disinfect your blade with it and of course maybe drink a little for the pain :very_drunk:
 
I think it depends if you really enjoy drinking adult beverges. If you do, during an emergency, after you are "safe" tipping a couple might be a great relaxing reprieve from reality. I don't mean getting drunk. Just doing something "normal" that you really enjoy. I personally seldom drink "hard liquor", so it is not something that I would normally consider important in an emergency or to carry with me in a pack.

In a real emergency, I think having an adult beverge stash may be a good thing.
 
I was wondering more on this thread and conceived of it as two broad but different camps; [a] alcohol as a drug and alcohol as a ritual.

I'm very much tend to the [a] perspective. I frame a lot of things like that as it keeps me safe. It doesn't matter to me whether it is alcohol, or things people stereotypically think of as drugs, or chocolate loaded with sugar, or fried food loaded with grease, whatever. There's an amount of all of them that I can safely enjoy without getting into difficulties. I don't ever intend to be fat, or alcoholic, or craving anything in an uncomfortable way so I seldom want to look outside this framework. And I think that may have blinded me to something here.

Generally speaking the above is cold and dispassionate. What are the returns of X versus the hassles. Beer, cider, wine and whatnot strike me as a dumb way to take alcohol even if for no other reason than they are not concentrated. I touched on that earlier in the thread with the “whole milk” thing. But now I'm wondering “what if” there was a group that was as dug into the camp just as strongly as I am the [a]. I'm pretty certain they exist. The amount of substance and what it does to them chemically is second fiddle to the ritual. The well rehearsed pattern of social consumption is more interesting than an evaluation of the effect of the ingredients. Mmmmm.

Now I'm wondering; what if I made a beverage, a beer, cider or wine, that from a chemical effect perspective was inefficient crap compared to spirits, but that I was really really proud of? Curious one, I haven't got a clue. I think I'm too inextricably wired to the [a] camp to get my head round that. I am now open to the notion that the pay-off for one following this route could actually be more beneficial to that person in terms of moral than by counting brutal physiological efficiency.

FIIK.
 
Some would say, why drink alcohol at all if not for the effect? Others view it more as a social thing or something they simply like the taste of. I can't stand scotch or whiskey, but I like a bit of rum and tequila from time to time and the flavor is something that I can't easily create otherwise. The effect is secondary or not something I consciously think about. I come from a family that would be considered anti-alcohol as my grandfather was abusive and a total drunk. Nobody in my immediate family drinks much and I suspect it may be related to childhood training in one form or another. I say, use your brain and make your decisions accordingly.

But, I am pretty familiar with using alcohol as a drug due to my wife's side of my family. I don't associate positve things with it. Christmas (2012) my sister gave me a pint of "moonshine".... tasted it and yuck... but some people really like this stuff. I still have it and have more than once thought about pouring it down the drain. She said it's for sipping. Well, if you don't like the taste, why sip it?

A story... when I was in college, I recall having a bottle of some sort of whisky (airline size). At the time I thought it might be fun to carry deer hunting in the snow. I was at my stand and nestled that little bottle into the snow. (I didn't know at the time that alcohol actually hurts when trying to keep warm or I ignored it.) A hunter wanders by me and we do a little chit chat and he moves one. He runs into my other brother who was on down the mountain at his spot and mentioned to him that some kid had a bottle of whiskey with him..... as you can see, some people have rather strong reactions to such things. That was a long time ago now, but I'll never forget it as my brother of course told me about it and laughed at me.
 
Back around 1990 I went camping for a July weekend on Cumberland Island, Georgia. I and my then GF at the last minute grabbed a suitcase of cold beer at the last 7-11 and shoved pretty much the whole 24 cans in our two packs. We got about a mile or so down the main trail, morning got hotter, cold beer got heaver & we wound up lightening the load by drinking the beer. Summer morning fun. Had a good time but the unaccustomed morning beer buzz killed our ambition to go the 12 miles to the far end of the island for first night's camp.
Still a good weekend but I learned my lesson about the weight of unnecessary liquids.
A UL flask of brandy or scotch is about as weight efficient as you can get, but nowadays no, I wouldn't usually make room for it in my pack. And if it's a BOB/TEOTWAWKI escape bag, there is no such thing as 'a safe time' to get an alcohol buzz until it's over, IMO. My .02.
 
If you are going to keep it in your bob, then go with a hard liquor with a high alc/vol %. This way you can start fire, disinfect, etc...

If you find yourself in a sincere lifesaving/survival scenario, alcohol is a terrible idea as far as consumption is concerned. It is a diuretic, which means it will dehydrate you, cause you to urinate more frequently, sweat, and can lower yiur body temperature (though you won't notice) the latter is a serious problem if hypothermia or frostbite are a consideration.

As far as a painkiller, alcohol will thin your blood, and prevent clotting. Not so good if you have a bleeding wound. It will also slow injury recovery.
 
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