Poll: How many alcoholic "drinks" per day on a canoe trip?

[Glenn MacGrady]

The question is how many alcoholic drinks do you consume, on average, on a typical 24 hour canoe trip day?

To clarify the poll, I define define one "drink" as follows:

-- 1 beer = 12 oz. (355 mL)
-- 1 wine = 5 oz. (148 mL)
-- 1 hard liquor = 1 oz. (30 mL)

On edit: After 29 votes I changed the wine definition from 3 oz. to 5 oz., which is often said to be the "standard pour". If I get smashed or stoned for this . . . well . . . you can whine about it.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Solo or tandem?
Who drinks 3 oz of wine? Even a restaurant pour is 5 oz
Portage or non portage trip?
These factors influence my decision
And royally screw up your poll

 

[sweeper]

Portage or non portage trip isn't really a factor that only means more Liquor or more Beer or Liquor in the bottle or decanted into plastic containers.

Thou shall not let a Portage get in the way of a good time.

 

[flyingbison]

Leaving tomorrow for a 3 night solo trip. I've packed 6 beers (16 oz., though) and 1L of wine.

 

[Canotrouge]

I went for 2 lol.... cause usually I don't drink that much on trips. I bring a flask of scotch or bourbon, and a few beers. I'll have a few sip of scotch by the fire after supper, as for beer, I don't drink the same stuff as what seems to be the trend on this site lol. So usually they come in at 650ml, and average 8-9% and go up from there to 12%

 

[yellowcanoe]

It is for me. Solo 0 etoh
Portage 0 etoh
River or ocean tandem. 1 3 liter box for 10 days (wine)

Solo I can do dumb things with etoh. Tandem there is someone to catch me

Boston might be a wrinkle with the cart. Wine would be a weight factor. Maybe Drambuie

 

[latremorej]

As many as it takes!

Honestly, if it's a fishing trip and I am pretty much base camping, I've been known to sip on beers from lunch to bed time. So about 10.

On the other hand, if it's a travel trip, and you are paddling all day long, I drink water all day and may only have a few shots around the campfire before bed.

Jason

 

[Grandpa Paddler]

I drink as much on canoe trips as I drink at home (or anywhere else): Zero!

 

[27 ELKS]

Wine=Never, Hard Liquor=Rarely, Beer

 

[Muskrat]

Three months ago in a group it would have been easily seven plus. I wish it could be 1-3, but now it has to be zero for the rest of my days. I will not go through those withdrawals again. In the past I have made my own whiskey, not sure if my moonshining days are over or not. I just need someone else to make the cuts.

 

[Robin]

On a solo portage trip I bring a liter of either rum or vodka and have 2 oz a night. On a base camp trip I'll bring beer, amount may vary.

 

[Odyssey]

I went for 2 lol.... cause usually I don't drink that much on trips. I bring a flask of scotch or bourbon, and a few beers. I'll have a few sip of scotch by the fire after supper, as for beer, I don't drink the same stuff as what seems to be the trend on this site lol. So usually they come in at 650ml, and average 8-9% and go up from there to 12%

Me too. Porters and stouts are my brew, all others pale in comparison. (Get it?) Scotch or Whisky I sip sometimes. Red wine more often. My wife is strictly a white wine gal (unless mem brings the Bailey's, then lookout!). So I polled as zero, because we don't always take any alcohol. We probably average less than one drink per day as a result. Wow, do we ever sound boring!?
We're planning a June trip shortly, and haven't considered booze yet. Hot chocolate for the cold nights. (St Remy a la Creme goes well in that.) Coffee for the mornings. (A dribble of whisky goes great in that.) A litre of white for her and a litre of red for me for 5 days...
I may have to redo the poll when we get back. lol

 

[Mihun09]

Depends. If it is just Christy and I, then none. If going anywhere with Mem, more boats equals more space for liquor. Warm beer in the truck after the trip.

Mind you, I have not had any alcohol this year so far...

 

[red langford]

You should watch Kevin Callans latest video of his trip down the Spey river in Scotland. Warning: if you are a whiskey drinker it will incite strong urges to make the exact trip.

https://youtu.be/zfDMAINfHcg

 

[memaquay]

Cripes, fine bunch of pirates you teetotalers make. If you're gonna pillage and burn, you need your grog. I will be without liquor for a ten day trip coming up in two weeks, but that's because I've got about 20 kids to look after. I'll make up for it when I launch the SS Bud when I get back, with two horsepowers of unmitigated power, unlimited beer carrying capacity, and a very large backyard called Northern Ontario to conquer! Wise fathers of the North, lock up your daughters and your livestock, the Pirate of the Kapikotongwa River has been unloosed!

 

[Canotrouge]

I was waiting for that guy ^^^^ to chime in!! I had great expectations... I'm not despoiled per say, but I was hopping for a bit more!!

 

[Odyssey]

He mean't to say "...lock up your daughters' livestock." Remember the cow incident?

 

[Canotrouge]

 

[Chip]

Way too many variables to pin it down to a single number. How much space is there? Are we carrying (portage, not weapons)? How long a trip?

That said, I have always been fond of the colonial-era, naval ration of daily grog, which I thought was 4 oz of spirits. I recently learned that number wasn't constant over time. This is from Wikipedia: "A sailor's ration of alcohol was originally beer with a daily ration of one gallon (i.e. eight pints). This official allowance continued till after the Napoleonic Wars. When beer was not available, as it would often spoil easily, it could be substituted by a pint of wine or half a pint of spirits depending on what was locally available. In later years, the political influence of the West Indian planters led to rum being given the preference over arrack and other spirits."

Over time, the ration was reduced until the daily, two, paltry, ounce ration was eliminated around 1970. Well, in my one-man navy, the ration lives on, and I drew the line at 4 oz. That's more a planning number than anything.

On one trip, our shuttle driver was two days late picking us up at the rendezvous point. We scraped by eating mostly bacon grease, fiddle heads and bisquick. But after two days, the booze ran out, and that's when I started hiking out. Luckily, the shuttle came in that afternoon, and I'd only walked a few miles before I got picked up.

 

[Odyssey]

He mean't to say "...lock up your daughters' livestock." Remember the cow incident?

Remember? It went something like this:
It was a dark and stormy night, when a cattle truck skidded into a ditch on highway 11, releasing innocent bovines into the northern wilderness. Mem walked out into the swirling snow in search of them armed only with the Ripster. And by complete coincidence mem wound up with a freezer full of prime rib later that week. That cow incident.