Cocktail gear for civilized campers
I don't get out much, especially to shop. But a hit-and-run visit this week to Eastern Mountain Sports in North Conway, N.H., yielded a couple of items of interest: margarita glasses in highly polished stainless steel and in Lexan, a durable plastic resin. Both hold 8 fluid ounces of "frosty fun," as the EMS Web site puts it, but the plastic weighs 4 ounces, versus the metal at 7 ounces. The plastic also is more compact for travel, since you can remove the base, nest it inside the glass and snap it tight onto the rim.
OK, so the glasses aren't exactly high-tech, but even the most hard-core technophile needs to get out into nature every now and then--preferably with a good cocktail in hand. If you favor the tequila concoction, either kind of glass could be useful when you're kicking back to watch the sun set in the great outdoors. While EMS has the stainless version for $9.50 on its Web site, and the plastic for $6, you can find the glasses for less through the manufacturer's home page.
GSI Outdoors makes all kinds of camp cookware and well, bar accessories for campers, and provides a link to peak62 where you can buy the products, often for less than the retail price, online. So you can find that margarita glass in stainless steel for $8.95, while plastic costs $4.95.
Of course, if you like frozen margaritas, you'll need a blender. GSI lists a hand-crank model called the Vortex that crushes the ice in your cooler to the right consistency for margaritas and other frozen drinks. It'll set you back $69.95 at peak62. For $34.95, you can get a small table that clamps to your trailer hitch, and holds your blender while you crank.