Tailgating Ideas

Do you remember back in July when we discovered the Sunscreen Flask? We even took it to Hawaii and field tested it out by the pool bar and never was caught smuggling our booze and our bar bill was a fraction of what it could have been given the level of intoxication we had achieved. Yeah, that Sunscreen Flask. We have good news.

Sunscreen Flasks side-by-side

We were just recently informed by the guys over at GoPong they have come out with their version of a Sunscreen Flask 2-Pack.

With the GoPong Sunscreen Flask 2-Pack, you get two (2) tube flasks that hold 8 oz. of liquid each. These “sunscreen” tubes resemble an SPF 15 and an SPF 30 tube of sunscreen in order to avoid detection at tailgate parties, hotel pools, concerts, sporting events, festivals, state and county fairs, little league games, etc.

The smart part is that you can now double the amount of booze you can smuggle into these places and keep them separated. If you are a vodka drinker and your companion is a rum drinker, you can place one liquor into the SPF 30 tube and the other into the SPF 15 tube. Now you both are boozing inside the venue for a fraction of the costs of what a mixed drink inside would cost. And when it comes to boozing while tailgating or inside the event, saving money is always something we all would welcome.

(Click images for larger, more detailed views of the Sunscreen Flask 2-Pack)

Sunscreen Flask 2-Pack Box with mini-funnel

Speaking of costs, the previous versions of the Sunscreen flask cost $12 for just one 8 oz tube. The guys at GoPong give you two flasks plus the mini-funnel for only $15. It also comes in a box so it makes it easier to wrap and give as a gift. It might be a little too late for St. Patrick’s Day but Mother’s Day is a few months away. Honestly, who would question a mom bringing in a tube of sunscreen to an event to prevent her kids from getting skin cancer?

With the weather warming up in advance of concert festival and baseball season, you may want to check out our section of stealth drinking supplies. Also, check out our blog post on the best ways to smuggle alcohol into events. It will give you some money saving tailgating ideas to bring in some hooch from the parking lot without detection.

The Sunscreen Flask 2-Pack comes in a box along with a mini-funnel for $15 plus $5 postage and packaging. If you buy two boxes, essentially a 4-pack, the shipping is the same $5. Buy the Sunscreen Flask 2-Pack by clicking HERE.

As tailgaters, we all seek out tailgating gear that is convenient. How else can you explain the proliferation of zipper lock plastic bags and the wide use of single use and disposable items taken to tailgate parties? Convenience and portability are two huge factors when deciding what to buy and bring tailgating. Unfortunately the way charcoal and particular, lump charcoal, is packaged and sold, there really is no single-use charcoal for tailgating. That’s what we thought until we discovered Grill Easy™ Natural Lump Charcoal.

Grill Easy™ Natural Lump Charcoal is a single-use, recycled cardboard container with an internal vent system that allows tailgaters to prepare charcoal without the hassle and the chemicals traditionally associated with lighting charcoal. The container is placed into the grill and a wick is lit from the front. The cardboard box container burns off while igniting the lump charcoal leaving them ready to use in under 15 minutes. We were sent a sample of Grill Easy and of course we tested it out while tailgating. (Click on the images below to see larger and more detailed views.)

To use the Grill Easy Lump Charcoal box, it just takes three steps. Tear off the bottom strip of the box. Place it in your grill. Light the wick located on the bottom. That’s it. And if you are not smart enough to remember those three easy steps, they even have the instructions written on the box to remind you.

As you can see from the photo gallery we shot while out tailgating, the box burned away in less than 10 minutes and within 15 minutes the coals were hot enough to cook our tailgating grub. We even had a few fellow tailgaters come over and check it out and commented on how they liked the compact size and ease of transporting it all in one container.

If you love the taste of grilled food on lump charcoal but hate buying the big bags, starter sticks or worse, lighter fluid, Grill Easy Lump Charcoal is for you. After bringing it tailgating and discovering the ease of transportation, the convenience of lighting it and checking the price, the Grill Easy Lump Charcoal is definitely “Tailgate Approved”.

Grill Easy Lump Charcoal will run you about $6 per box and you can buy it online. For more information or to buy a box or two for yourself, visit: www.grill-easy.com

Back in October of last year we posted a video and wrote a commentary, Video: Tailgaters, This Is Why The NFL Hates You Part 2. In a nutshell, it was a bunch of idiots getting into a fight in the parking lot of Qualcomm Stadium and one guy decided to break a glass bottle over one of the other combatants heads. Here is the video.
(Warning: The video does contain swear words, blood and violence. NOT safe for work and best not shown with kids in the room.)

UPDATE: The guy who smashed the beer bottle pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon. He is scheduled to be sentenced May 9 in San Diego Superior Court.

For the full story from the San Diego Union-Tribune, read: Fan pleads guilty in stadium bottle attack

Even though the calendar has turned to March, that doesn’t mean that winter is over. Because winter is not over, that means it is still getting dark earlier and you will need some lighting for those tailgates that last until the evening games start.

We recently had the opportunity to test out Fanatic Lights. Fanatic Lights are high-grade, custom, super bright, alternating (or single) colored, gumball shaped, LED bulb strands of lights. The color combinations are endless and as you can see in the photos, the color combination we chose to test while tailgating represented the blue and orange colors of Cal State Fullerton. We chose to display them on our pop-up tent on the opening night of the college baseball season. You can see it helped illuminate our tailgating space nicely after it got dark.

Fanatic lights are battery operated so you don’t have to worry about pulling out a generator or even getting a 12V converter and pulling power from your car battery to run these little lights. Because they are LED bulbs they do not consume a lot of energy and will be not burn out anytime soon. They were bright and added that something special to our tailgate that nobody else in the parking lot had. If the flags and banners weren’t enough, there was no doubt by anyone that parked in sight of us which team we were there to support.

Fanatic Lights color options

In order to attach the Fanatic Lights string to our tent, all we needed were a few small binder clips. We wanted attach them to the canopy portion of the tent so that they would run along the bottom line of the tent. We could have used zip ties and run them along the metal frame of the tent but that would have illuminated the inside of the tent and we preferred to use them like Christmas decoration lights. The string measures about 24 feet total but about 20 feet total from the bulb on one end to the bulb on the other end. To decorate the four sides of a 10 x 10 pop-up tent, I would suggest buying two strands to ensure full coverage.

Fanatic lights aren’t just for tailgating. You could definitely use them to decorate your Christmas tree if you are that big of a fan of your team. Decorate dorm rooms or fraternity houses to your school colors. You could even use them to decorate in the holiday theme you are currently celebrating. St. Patrick’s Day is coming up and a string or two of green and white Fanatic Lights would make for a great addition to your St. Patty’s celebration.

For the price, the portability and the sheer outpouring of fan pride in the parking lot, Fanatic Lights are definitely “Tailgate Approved“.

Fanatic Lights come in a battery operated string and also in a 110 AC plug powered version. No matter if you choose plug or battery operated, a full string will cost you $29.95. To learn more about Fanatic Lights or to buy a string of your own, visit: fanaticlights.com