We all know them, love them and use them regularly, especially when outdoors. I was conversing with some fellow outdoor lovers on twitter, @norcalfj and @overlandgourmet. We ended up talking about products that have multiple uses while in the outdoors, or exploring. The plastic drinking cup came up as an item of interest. The idea here is to do a twitter conversation/blog about this particular product. We are each taking to our blogs, writing articles on the many uses of plastic drinking cups, then getting back together on July 8th, on twitter, to compare our ideas. Sure, it seems odd, but when you spend as much time outdoors and traveling as we like to, sometimes that little plastic cup can make or break your trip.
There are many uses for these beloved little red cups. First and foremost of course is beverage containment. I am very much a person that enjoys the occasional adult beverage AFTER I’ve done my wheeling for the day, and I’m back in camp. Whether it’s a mixer or a bottle of beer, a lot of adult beverages come in glass containers. This is never a good thing, and an added safety measure is to pour your beverage from the glass container, into a plastic cup, and dispose of the glass appropriately to ensure that there is no broken glass left behind. The plastic cup is also handy when you buy your beverages (soda, water, etc) in bulk containers, such as a 2 liter, or 5 gallon jug. They make it easier to partake of said beverage, without having to drink straight from the original container, which I am sure most of us are guilty of doing at some point.
The next plastic cup use I thought of involves two plastic cups, and perhaps some tape to keep them together. For those of us that enjoy mixed drinks, but don’t want to take an entire bars worth of mixing utensils out on the trail, simply pour liquid and ice into one cup, place opening of the other cup over the cup with liquid in it, secure them, and shake. Wala, cheap and disposable mixed drink maker!
The next thing I thought of , while not drink related, could have a positive effect for anyone that has a trail mishap that involved a loss of vehiclular fluids of some sort Simply take out your trail knife and cut a hole in the bottom of the cup, to match that of the item you are attempting to refill, and you have a homemade funnel.
I have also found that the little red cups make for great dish rinsing utensils when you do not have a sink to wash dishes in. Simply fill the cup with water, and pour over the soapy dishes to rinse them off. It’s seemed to work well for me in the past, and I’ll of course continue this tradition.
For those of us with pets, we all have the unsightly duty of picking up after our dogs droppings. What better way to do this than with a little red plastic cup? It serves as a shovel, a container for said waste, as well as an all in one throw away item once the pup has done his business. Easy as pie, and you’re doing your part to preserve our outdoors!
Finally, as a joke, it was suggested to me that two cups and a long piece of string could be used as emergency communication equipement in the event that the cb or ham radio communication goes down. While I have no tested this theory recently, I used to do it with friends all the time when I was a kid, and it seemed to work like a charm!
In closing, this was posted mostly as a challenge from a few guys on twitter, but I would really like to get your thoughts on uses for those genius little red cups. What do you use them for on the trail or, for that matter, off the trail? Please feel free to leave a comment, or join us on our forum www.adventurevehicles.org/forum and let us know!
I want to thank @OverlandGourmet and @norcalfj for setting this fun experiment up, and I can’t wait to see what those two come up with for ideas!
Scott
