What would you put in your hip flask or wine skin?

My flask would contain water if it was for drinking purposes. Mainly because I don't enjoy the taste of alcohol and I can bear pain very well... so a shot wouldn't do me any good anyway. I don't plan on being social in a SHTF scenario and I definitely won't be having drunken relations, so alcohol is fairly useless to me.

If I felt compelled to carry alcohol of some type, it would be for medicinal purposes only. So, I'd take the purest liquor I could find. Most likely vodka or whiskey.

Originally posted by soulshn
Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.

Is there really an alternative?

edit on 4/15/12 by soulshn because: wow

Better not tell anyone you have it.

Originally posted by ottobot
My flask would contain water if it was for drinking purposes. Mainly because I don't enjoy the taste of alcohol and I can bear pain very well... so a shot wouldn't do me any good anyway. I don't plan on being social in a SHTF scenario and I definitely won't be having drunken relations, so alcohol is fairly useless to me.

If I felt compelled to carry alcohol of some type, it would be for medicinal purposes only. So, I'd take the purest liquor I could find. Most likely vodka or whiskey.

I agree water is best and for sure you don't want to be drunk. If you are drunk, you are probably going to make some fatal mistake.
I get bad hangovers so I don't drink much and most wines give me heartburn because of the stabilizers they put in it.
But still there are times when a sip of something will take the chill off and help to calm the nerves.
It would be like gold. You would want to keep it for times of need.

reply to post by Rocketman7


If you do nothing else in your life, do have at the very least a glass. Explore life, succumb to the muses.
I do believe as of now it has been unbanned in most countries.

I would not describe it as psychoactive properties, I would say absinthe offers one opportunities to explore very interesting adventures through life.

Thujone is just there for flavor.

Originally posted by Rocketman7
I agree water is best and for sure you don't want to be drunk. If you are drunk, you are probably going to make some fatal mistake.
I get bad hangovers so I don't drink much and most wines give me heartburn because of the stabilizers they put in it.
But still there are times when a sip of something will take the chill off and help to calm the nerves.
It would be like gold. You would want to keep it for times of need.

I guess I just have nerves of steel or something, because I really can't see alcohol calming me down. If anything, it would get me riled up.

Thinking about it, every time I've taken a shot of alcohol I get hot. Not warm... HOT. Hot under the skin and then slightly nauseated and quite irritable. So, I don't think I would use alcohol to get warmed up, either.

I rarely drink at all, and have never been drunk because I do not like being nauseated, I do not like being hot, and I do not like the taste of alcohol. Once every couple of years or so I will have a Smirnoff Ice or try some mixed drink to see what it tastes like, but that's about it.

If I felt like sharing something with a random person, I'd share some squirrel meat or other type of food I'd collected. *shrug*

Sharing food is a practical idea too. A candy bar is probably a form of currency in a disaster zone.

Well right now I might be leaning towards brandy, although after doing a quick poll through google, I see Jack Daniels, as the flask of choice, and for reasons such as "it is stereotypical for a reason" which I guess means it is tried and true.

Someone did say though that you are not supposed to keep anything in a flask longer than 5 days.

So thats not good. But I have a plastic flask, bought at the mountain climbing store, so maybe it is the metal in the flask that determines the length of time your elixir of the gods, your ambrosia, your snake-bite remedy, can stay in your flask in your back pocket or wherever.

I would not underestimate the glory, the sheer ecstasy, of a good sip of strong drink, in time of need.

However...

What do St Bernard dogs carry in barrels around their necks?

TSA is correct....giving alcohol to a person with Hypothermia would KILL them!! It is true that St Bernards were used as rescue dogs...but the myth of the brandy barrel was created by a well known artist who painted a picture of a brandy barrel around the dogs neck. The picture became famous..and everyone liked the idea...but it never really happened.

My drink of choice would probably be the Gran Legacy vodka which is the store-brand CVS sells. While the lot of you have put down premium labels of alcohol I chose an off-brand because I'm an alcoholic on a budget not to mention that since it's cheap, it's quality is going to be less than stellar and not many people are willing to imbibe it. Furthermore, most of the people I know do not like vodka at all so that means more for me. Unfortunately if SHTF and I've been drinking a lot I probably would die off right away from sheer apathy that prolonged drinking sessions tend to cause in me. Either way, I hope that if somebody is about to off me they would at least have the common courtesy to let me finish my drink

I don't have a hip flask, but if I did, it would be either Wild Turkey or Jack Daniel's. Of all the things I have grown to appreciate about your country, Americans, I am probably most fond of your alcohol.

Apparently this isn't a particularly popular opinion in this thread, but alcohol in a survival situation is a bad idea. It may numb pain and warm you up a little, but it also dehydrates you--which is the worst thing that can happen.

It dulls your senses, impairs your judgment and reflexes, and it's also an anti-coagulant. If you're bleeding, the last thing you should do is start drinking. Plain old water is the best thing for you. There are other, much better ways to deal with pain, calm nerves, and stay warm.

Originally posted by NthOther
Apparently this isn't a particularly popular opinion in this thread, but alcohol in a survival situation is a bad idea. It may numb pain and warm you up a little, but it also dehydrates you--which is the worst thing that can happen.

You're probably right about alcohol generally being a bad idea. It can be used topically as a disinfectant, though, and a fuel source. It's also good against hypothermia.

reply to post by Rocketman7


Wound removal?

Whiskey.

I don't even like whiskey, but I know it would help dull the pain.

Originally posted by petrus4

You're probably right about alcohol generally being a bad idea. It can be used topically as a disinfectant, though, and a fuel source. It's also good against hypothermia.

Touche. It can be used as a somewhat effective disinfectant and fuel source.

But, metabolizing alcohol raises core body temperature only slightly. Since it's basically poison, your immune system fights it, which raises your temperature slightly again. The danger lies in the psychological effects of alcohol. You think you're a lot warmer, but in fact the physical effect is minimal. That's a perfect recipe for hypothermia.

Tequilla in one and four loko in the other for chaser..

Mine would contain water, or rubbing alcohol, all depending on whether water is plentiful or not.

Rubbing alcohol would be ideal for any medical issues that require it.

As far as survival goes, all this on-the-road type preparation is mostly futile.
In any disaster scenario, most people will run, and if you run, you'll wind up populating areas that will now have a large population of people competing for resources they've mostly left back in the place they were running from.

The people that don't run will be looting and stockpiling all the stuff you left behind, and digging in, living fat and secure in defensible solid structures like court houses, schools, churches, and other solid masonry structures that afford decent protection against light arms assault and attempts at breaching.

If you were in a survival situation.....

Things to know. Every form of commercial drink is loaded with toxins. Visually you can pick these out by any spirit that has color. The reason those drinks are put in the barrel is to get rid of and cover up the taste of those toxins. There is also a toxin heavy clear drink. Gin. It is flavored to cover the excess toxins.

Vodka is the safe bet if you must. And you can even clean up bad vodka with a filter like the grey kangaroo.

Clean vodka has no hangover. Dehydration but the hangover is toxins usually heavy in colored drink. Second you dont want to use a barreled spirit in a wound. Think about it. Would you ever in your right mind expect leach ate from an oak barrel to enhance healing?

That is why hospital grade alcohol is pure. It is diluted with water and given to people to collect and remove toxins as an antidote. It collects them and allows them to be expelled.


Clean vodka is the survival tool.

I always top off my trusty hipster with Laphroaig single malt Scotch. It never fails to warm my heart on soul. My grandfather was a "home distiller" back in his day and always relied on his personal best for his flask. I wish still had some of his good stuff.

Yukon Jack, one because it is sweet, two because it's 100 proof which will have other uses as well.

reply to post by NthOther


morale is just as important in survival as anything else. especially if you just witnessed the destruction of human civilization.

Jameson for sure.