Lightweight blistered lips fix

[Skidsteer]

I posted this on White Blaze and am hoping it might be useful to some folks here:


This idea was inspired by a conversation with Speedy on his Nalgeneless Winter Nights thread. (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showthread.php?t=17266&highlight=nalgene)
I got to thinking of alternative ways to drink coffee and other hot drinks directly from a cookpot without getting your lips burned and this is what I came up with:

-Get a cheap(.97 cents)football mouthguard (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=12836&catid=favorites) from Wal-Mart or any sporting goods store.

-Follow the boiling directions on the package(I boiled the water in the pot I was fitting the mouthguard to )

-Handfit the mouthguard to your pot (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=12835&catid=favorites). Carefully!

-Let cool on the pot, cut off the mouthguard strap, and then brew some coffee to test. (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?i=12834&catid=favorites)

-Finished weight. (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/vbg/showimage.php?
i=12833&catid=favorites)

This is just a first try. The first thing I noticed about the lipguard is that it's a lot bigger than it needs to be. I believe you could cut it in half or use a 'youth size' mouthguard and probably get the weight down to .2 or .3 oz.

It works even better that I thought it would. I half expected it to dribble down the side a bit when drinking but the mouthguard material molds so well to the pot that not a drop escapes.

I was also worried that the plastic would re-soften when I clipped it over the rim of a hot cookpot. For my test I made sure to put the lipguard on the pot immediately after removing it from the stove. The coffee itself was way too hot to drink(I boiled the crap out of it) but I could hold the pot to my lips as long as I wanted to with nary a scorch.

Bottom line is that you can leave the Nalgene at home, carry a platy or Gatorade bottle for hiking water, and save about 3 oz. if you only really carried the Nalgene for hot drinks.

Hope it's useful for some of you and let me know how it turns out.

[bird dog]

This may sound stupid, but I have always heard that hot drinks degrade Nalgene bottles. Obviously no truth in that. Something to the effect that it was unhealthy to drink because the plastic degrades in your beverage????? BD

[Take-a-knee]

Some scaremonger did put out something to the effect lately that plastic food containers were going to kill all of us. My kids carry their lunches and drinks everyday, usually in small nalgene bottles. These get run through the dishwasher (140 with heater) every night without a problem.

That lipguard thing is really cool Skidsteer, I'll certainly try it. I usually carry one 20oz gatorade bottle for water, the lid closes easily, I have something to drink from at mealtime without having to drag a platy out of my pack. I've never weighed it but it has to be lighter than a nalgene. I use those same gatorade bottles at home for filtered water and they get run through the dishwasher with no ill effects either. The spandex pocket on the side of my Granite Gear Vapor Trail pack holds the gatorade bottle nicely.

[dropkick]

Some plastics can be a problem, but that is normally because they hold onto food particles, not because of any breakdown or transference of the plastic to the food.
-That's just lies, put out to scare people.

Nalgene is one of the safest material you can carry foods in.
-And the other materials that approach it are either breakable (glass) or heavy (stainless).

[bird dog]

DK and TAK, thanks for the education. BD