Hip flask:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_flask
Also sometimes known as a kidney flask, since it’s often, as you say, carried in an inside jacket pocket.
Ah ok, thanks. I guess I just had never heard it referred to as a “hip flask”.
The rare occasions I’ve seen someone use one is when we were at an event where hard alcohol wasn’t available.
Even so, you can go to the liquor store and buy a pint of hard liquor in a plastic bottle, which will serve the same function. Also I’m not sure why its called a hip flask when a lot of people seem to carry them in an inner coat pocket instead.
Because they used to be, like, really cool, Daddy-o.
In my circle of friends, they are brought to weddings. There’s usually at least 3 guys who bring them.
Because it sounds more acceptable than ass pocket flask. Which is where I carried mine while stumbling around Fremont Street in Vegas.
I would think that something like a bota would be a better choice for venues like concerts. More form fitting and not detected with a metal detector.
Aye, just keep the hell away from my sporran!
I’ve seen engraved ones given as groomsman gifts in the past, which I thought was a bit strange myself.
I’ve seen groups of skateboarders passing a flask (maybe they need some courage before they injure themselves).
Pretty sure my kid has one… hmmm, I should buy him some good single malt to put in it.
A quick count shows over a dozen flasks in the house, and that’s just the metal ones. Throw in the Nalgene ones and the count quickly approaches 20. The plastic ones get used for both camping and travel, as they tend to be larger. But I’ll always carry a flask full of Wild Turkey 101 when in Vegas. Some places have spotty drink service and you can get dangerously sober while waiting for a cocktail waitress.
Sizes and styles run the gamut. Several are groomsman gifts, while a couple of others are Russian and have various medals welded to them. Smallest is a 4 oz. round flask from a E&J brandy gift set.
I have a couple of flasks, one was a gift when I left a job, it’s engraved with a nice message; the other is a Stanley flask that I’ll take fly fishing, especially in the winter, if someone catches a nice fish, we all take a pull.
Concerts, picnics in the park, other places where having a glass bottle labeled Jose Cuervo or Stolichnaya is going to get you into trouble, whether it be the kind of trouble that involves rules and regulations or the kind of trouble that involves shards of broken glass and all the yummy alcohol running into the grass.
They’re practical.
I occasionally carry one while skiing.
I have a few 8 ounce flasks. I also have one that holds 32 ounces that I got as a gag gift. Lots of laughs when I pull that one out.
Also, put cask strength whiskey in your flask, so it’s 125 proof. It just makes good sense.
Used to carry a flask quite often. Skiing, to concerts/opera… Gave nice pewter ones to my groomsmen as gifts. And still have a larger plastic one - a very nice water bottle for light hikes.
What I often find odd is how they are portrayed in movies - w/ people passing them around. They really do not hold very much. Not really for heavy drinking among many - more like just maintenance for 1-2.
This is an odd thread (content) to me. I have a hip flask, and most guys I know have one, too. It’s far from a film trope, and no, buying a bottle of liquor is not the same.
I haven’t been out for the night for a couple of years, but when I did, I often had a flask with me, and my friends had, too. A hip flask, being both very thin and curved, fits inside pockets that no liquor bottle outside minis would fit, at least without creating a noticeable and movement-inhibiting bulge. Also, hip flasks are usually metal, and so are way more durable than either plastic or glass bottles. It’s the kind of container that remains intact after a very rough night or three.
Innumerable are the times I’ve been out, and a hip flask has been passed around. Usually not between too many people, as they are small. But they are also filled with 40 - 80 % vol. alcohol, and a small sip has an effect. As noted, they are not for heavy drinking, but for maintenance, between more substantial sources of alcohol.
It’s pretty common in some hiking groups. It’s not the most ideal container to carry due to its weight and surface to volume ratio, but ultralight is not the point there but presentation. Passing around the flask when the summit or other break/view point is reached is the common use and it just make it better being in a proper flask.
The first image of a “flask” that always comes to my mind is a classical image of a flask made of an animal skin or similar flexible material.
This guy famously carried his magic juice in a hip flask:
I own a hip flask, though I haven’t used it in years. In the 1990s, when I worked at a renaissance faire, I used it to carry whiskey with me, mostly for sharing with friends. It was small enough that I could easily conceal it in my “work” costume.