Hot on Facebook

Guy Buys $123 Safe on eBay, Finds $26,000 Inside Seller tries to get half the cash back, fails »

Barkeep, Make That Cellphone a Double

Inventive drinkers beat beach booze bans with flasks, strap-on beer 'bellies'

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 27, 2007 9:25 PM CST

(Newser) – Is that a beer belly or a Beerbelly? And is that guy drinking from a flip-flop? As more and more beaches try to enforce drinking bans, inventors are doing their boozy best to outwit them, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune. Flip-flop flasks, booze-filled fake cellphones, and soft drink covers that disguise beer cans are helping drinkers beat bans and high drink prices at sporting events.

"There will be a little of a cat-and-mouse game going on,” says one cop about the no-drinking rules soon to govern San Diego beaches. "America is going crazy with rules," says the inventor of the 80-ounce strap-around "Beerbelly" filled with pure brewski—and the "Winerack" for ladies.

USA. San Diego. Beach towels for sale on Mission Beach, San Diego. 2001. (LON67754) (Magnum Photos)

A drunken Labor Day beach brawl led to San Diego bringing in a beach drinking ban. (Magnum Photos)

People who want to drink on the beach in San Diego are going to have to be a little more subtle if an expected ban comes in. (Getty Images)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Party's Over for San Diego's Floating Drinkers

Boozing on rafts now banned

(NEWSER) - San Diego's city council has closed a loophole that allowed partygoers to dodge a ban on drinking on the beach by boozing just offshore instead. Wording in the original ban defined beach as land only, leading to "Floatopia" parties which saw thousands of people drinking on rafts and inner tubes just a few feet offshore, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

Woman Banned From Every UK Bar

Laura Wilson, 20, gets a 2-year timeout from booze

(USER SUBMITTED) - A 20-year-old woman is the first person ever banned from buying or drinking alcohol anywhere in England or Wales. The police issued Laura Hall a Drinking Banning Order, which prohibits her from entering bars, pubs, clubs, or other establishments that sell alcohol. If she does, she risks a $3,800 fine. Police say they're just trying to help. "We want to rehabilitate her rather than send her straight to jail, and hope the banning order will help Laura address her problems," said a police spokesman. Read the full article . More»

1 in 6 Americans Is a Binge Drinker

Nation's heaviest boozers are in Wisconsin, study finds

(NEWSER) - Federal health officials have released their most detailed study yet of America's binge drinkers—and if you're a college-educated, high-earning young white man from Wisconsin, you may already be drunk by the time you read this. Researchers found that 38 million Americans, roughly a sixth of the adult population, are binge drinkers who over-indulge an average of 4.4 times a month, Bloomberg reports. A binge was defined as five or more drinks in the space of two hours for men, and four or more drinks for women. More»

Do Your Brain a Favor: Meditate

Other coping mechanisms do more harm than good: research

(NEWSER) - Humankind has developed plenty of coping mechanisms over the centuries, from long walks to hard drugs. While many of these methods have endured, not all of them are in our brains’ best interests, writes Alice Walton at Forbes . Smoking and drinking, for example, can lead to a vicious cycle of craving. Meditation, on the other hand, has long helped us get away from ourselves—and now there’s hard data showing it works. More»

Blackout Side Effect: Sewage Closes Beaches

2M-gallon spill hits shoreline in San Diego area

(NEWSER) - A really unfortunate side effect of the massive power shortage that hit Southern California yesterday: Miles of shoreline fouled with sewage. Beaches in the San Diego area are expected to be closed for at least two days after the pumps failed at a wastewater plant, causing about 2 million gallons of sewage to spill, reports SignOnSanDiego . It went into the Los Penasquitos Lagoon, which empties into the sea near Del Mar, notes KPBS . A smaller spill reached the Sweetwater River, which flows into San Diego Bay. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Barkeep, Make That Cellphone a Double

Inventive drinkers beat beach booze bans with flasks, strap-on beer 'bellies'

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

alcohol • beach • San Diego • drinking • drinking bans

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Party's Over for San Diego's Floating Drinkers

Boozing on rafts now banned

Woman Banned From Every UK Bar

Laura Wilson, 20, gets a 2-year timeout from booze

1 in 6 Americans Is a Binge Drinker

Nation's heaviest boozers are in Wisconsin, study finds

Do Your Brain a Favor: Meditate

Other coping mechanisms do more harm than good: research

Blackout Side Effect: Sewage Closes Beaches

2M-gallon spill hits shoreline in San Diego area

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?

Barkeep, Make That Cellphone a Double

Inventive drinkers beat beach booze bans with flasks, strap-on beer 'bellies'

Bookmark & Share

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

alcohol • beach • San Diego • drinking • drinking bans

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Party's Over for San Diego's Floating Drinkers

Boozing on rafts now banned

Woman Banned From Every UK Bar

Laura Wilson, 20, gets a 2-year timeout from booze

1 in 6 Americans Is a Binge Drinker

Nation's heaviest boozers are in Wisconsin, study finds

Do Your Brain a Favor: Meditate

Other coping mechanisms do more harm than good: research

Blackout Side Effect: Sewage Closes Beaches

2M-gallon spill hits shoreline in San Diego area

About Us

Site

Newser By Users

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?