Hip flasks can hold liquids other than drinking alcohol. You can fill your flask with water, juices, lemonade, tea, and more. You'll want to stay away from hot beverages and anything carbonated, though. You can also carry liquids you don't drink.
If you have a flask but you don't drink alcohol, there are other uses for it. Or, even if you just want more reasons to use your hip flask, I have some suggestions. Keep reading to find six different ideas for what to put in your flask.
Water Works
Let's start with the simplest answer. You could put water in your flask. Plain water won't react with any metals, won't stain anything, and is easy to clean out.
Hip flasks aren't designed to hold much liquid so you probably don't want this to be your only water source, but it will do in a pinch (and water is at least easy to find for a refill).
Juice Is a Maybe
Should you put juice in a hip flask? Yes and no. Some flasks, like those made of stainless steel or copper can handle some juices. Other materials won't hold up as well, though.
Many juices are highly acidic. The acid can cause a reaction with the flask metal. Typically, higher quality flasks are made of materials that won't react with the acid in the juice.
Juice is also hard to clean out of a flask. You're better off avoiding juice that's dark in color. Lighter juices won't cause the same staining, so they're ok for flasks made of appropriate materials.
Lemonade Anyone?
Lemonade is similar to juice in terms of what kind of flask materials are ok for carrying it. It's especially important when the lemonade is made with all-natural lemon juice.
Lemon juice is highly acidic, so make sure you use a stainless steel flask for natural lemonade. We recommend against putting lemonade in a copper flask as it can lead to stomach troubles, such as gas, bloating, nausea, and vomiting.
Iced Tea Please
You can put brewed iced tea in your flask. The trouble is you'll have a difficult time putting ice in the flask with it.
One thing you can do is chill the flask before pouring the tea in. You can also pour the tea in and then put the flask in your refrigerator until you're ready to take it with you.
It's not ideal to put hot tea in a hip flask. Should you decide to do that, though, brew the tea separately and pour it in. Also, keep your milk separate rather than storing it in the flask with the tea. It won't keep well otherwise.
Bone Broth
Who in the world drinks bone broth? Not many people, although some do for its health benefits. We're not talking about putting bone broth in a hip flask for drinking, though.
Think about times when you make food somewhere other than at home. Sometimes you make recipes at someone else's house and bring all your ingredients with you. That's a good time to take bone broth in your flask to use in your dish.
We also cook when we go camping. Wouldn't it be nice to make a good soup or stew over the campfire? You can bring bone broth with you in your flask to use as the base of your soup.
Rubbing Alcohol Isn't for Drinking
Here's another flask use you may not have thought about. Let's say you're going camping or on some other type of adventure. You'll want to have a first aid kit with you.
You can add to your first aid kit by pouring rubbing alcohol into your hip flask. Rubbing alcohol is good for cleaning out cuts, scratches, and scrapes. Make sure you put it in a flask with a screw-on top, though, so it won't leak out.
What Shouldn't I Put in My Flask?
Don't put anything carbonated in your flask. These containers are not designed to keep your fizzy drink from going flat. Carbonated water, sodas, seltzers, and beers won't keep well in a hip flask.
We also advise against putting hot coffee in a flask. The metal will heat up and could cause a burn to your hand or lips. It's also likely to stain your flask inside, making it hard to clean out.
The Bottom Line
You can carry many different kinds of liquids in a hip flask. They're designed with hard liquor in mind, but their convenient size and shape make them good for taking other liquids with you, as well. They're easy to transport, don't take a lot of space, and are discreet enough to take anywhere!
