10 days. You only have 10 days before the official kickoff of the college football season. With college football inevitably comes college football tailgating. And college football tailgating almost always includes shotgunning. If you go to a college football tailgate and someone isn’t shotgunning, you probably have walked into a weak tailgate and you need to evacuate immediately.
Old fashioned shotgunning beers can be fun but there is some inherent dangers to it. The first danger is poking the hole in the bottom sidewall of the can. Most people use a sharp object like a knife, car key, screwdriver, etc. A lot of times while puncturing the hole, the object can go all the way through or glance off and injure your hand or wrist. Not fun making a trip to the ER rather than going to the game later.
Then after the hole has been made, there comes the danger of sharp edges on the cut aluminum can. The previously mentioned objects used to puncture the can don’t make a clean hole and often times leave behind shards of aluminum that could cut your lips while drinking. Also not fun to leave the tailgate in order to get some stitches after cutting your mouth open. There has to be a better way that allows you to get a big enough hole into your can without injuring yourself yet allowing you to “rapidly rehydrate”.
We were recently introduced to Shotgunit Lips. Shotgunit Lips are lip-shaped devices made of FDA-approved plastic. The beveled punch shaft safely punctures a standard-sized beverage can and you place your lips on the plastic lips and the liquid rushes into your mouth just as if your mouth was directly on the can. See the video for a demonstration:
(Disclaimer: We received a sample of Shotgunit Lips free of charge. The fact this sample was provided to us for free in no way influenced our opinion of the product nor did it impact our ability to test and review the product fairly and objectively.)
We took Shotgunit Lips to the most recent Chargers/Cardinals pre-season game tailgate. Nothing like testing out a new shotgun tool in a parking lot now that football season is here. We chose to test the Shotgunit Lips that includes beads although we also were sent a sample of Shotgunit Lips without beads so that you can attach them to a key ring.
As you can see in the photos, the key is to insert the tip gently and slowly. You don’t want to jam it in there hard and fast. That will create a lot of foam and splash back. The point on the back end of the Shotgunit Lips is sharp enough that a gentle push will easily puncture the can wall.
Once you have inserted the Shotgunit Lips all the way, make sure to keep the can tilted horizontally until you are ready to shotgun. Place your lips on the Shotgunit Lips while the can is still tilted. The pressure of your mouth on the Shotgunit Lips will push the plastic all the way in. There is a rubber seal that will press against the side of the can to make sure the beer flows through the hole and not overflow around the lips.
Chug, chug, chug until the beer is gone as you would a normal shotgun. Remove the Shotgunit Lips from the can and hopefully you will be conscientious enough to recycle the empty. As you can see in the photo below, the size hole the Shotgunit Lips makes is quite adequate and would be the perfect diameter had you been opening a hole the old fashioned and dangerous way.
Shotgunit Lips does what is sets out to do; it makes shotgunning safer while it is still fun and effective. For that we will deem it “Tailgate Approved”.
The only criticism of the product we have is that it is a bit more expensive than the other shotgun tools out there on the market. The Shotgunit Lips without the beads is priced at $5.99 and with beads is $6.99. Compare that to the Shotgun Party Opener which is only $3.00 and is also a 4-in-1 tool that is a shotgun opener, a bottle opener, can tab lifter and a key chain.
As we also mentioned earlier, the puncturing portion of the Shotgunit Lips is quite sharp and only requires a little pressure in order to start the hole in the can. This sharp point could pose a problem if you chose to put it in your pocket. The sharp point could poke you in the leg and could be uncomfortable if it scratched your leg through your pants pocket.
All in all, we liked the product and will add it to our tailgating kit for future tailgate parties. If you would like to buy Shotgunit Lips for your next tailgate, the version without beads is available from Amazon for $5.99. If you prefer the version that comes with beads, you’ll need to visit the Shotgunit online store. Bead colors include gold, red, green, blue and purple and cost $6.99.
If you are into social media, feel free to follow them on Twitter @Shotgunit_, Facebook and Instagram.