A) I LOVE the concept, and nifty Making

skills. I've been skiing for 40+ years; old-skool was "Bota Bags", the

'hip-flask of skiers' if I can coin a phrase.

B) Saw the comments

below on safety of the vinyl -- funny timing, as I was just commenting

on another Inst'ble about using "vinyl" (=PVC) gutters for hydroponic

gardening, which I think is just fine. But: I'm gonna have to disagree, here.

I won't/can't say this is 'unsafe' -- but it concerns me, and I wouldn't do it.(Just FYI, I have a patent in hydrocarbon chemistry and some relevant knowledge.)

Here's the point: phthalates are used as plasticizers in PVCs to make

them flexible. This vinyl is clearly (ahem) quite flexible. And while polar solvents (i.e. water) don't tend to leach

phthalates (which are not bound, that's important) from PVC --

apparently alcohols are more efficient at that. Link to actual science

journal article below. I have no axe to grind (or commercial/employment

interest) about phthalates, but they are possibly linked to estrogen-like effects in mammals, which is why we don't use BPA in baby bottles any more, for example.

And

which makes the name "Gentleman's (Ski) Poles" somewhat amusing,

potentially. Or potently. Or not-potently.... >;-) There's just way

too much meat in there - oh, dang, there I go again - to chuckle about.

-------------------------

I think it'd just be far easier and possibly significantly

safer to just plug the bottom of a ski pole so that the libation won't

leak out, and use the crafty shampoo-bottle-thread solution from this

Inst'ble at the top. Ski poles are aluminum and, well, I'm pretty sure

beer cans are too, so probably safe enough, after a few good rinses just for fun. I'd imagine that pouring in

some food-grade silicone rubber would work just fine - better yet, just

pull off the ski-pole tip and squeeze in a bunch of clear silicone

sealant from the bottom; let it cure for a long time, more rinses. Added bonus: more

volume. :-)

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P. Chatonnet, S. Boutou, A. Plana. Contamination of wines and spirits by phthalates: types of contaminants present, contamination sources and means of prevention. Food Additives & Contaminants: Part A, 2014; 1 DOI: 10.1080/19440049.2014.941947