Strawpedo

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Edward Forty-Hands

Strawpedo, also known as a bottle-bong or shnorkelling is a method of drinking bottled alcoholic drinks, especially alcopops. The name strawpedo is a portmanteau of the words straw and torpedo, from the apparatus required for the technique, a straw, and the swift manner in which the beverage is drunk (being evoked by the speed of a torpedo). This drinking technique is featured in a number of drinking games. The act of drinking a beverage in such a manner may be referred to as "strawpedoing" or "doing a strawpedo".

Contents

1 Technique
2 Scientific explanation
3 \"Ultimate\" Strawpedoing
4 Drinking game
5 References
6 See also

Technique

Requirements: beverage in a glass or plastic bottle, flexible drinking straw.

A flexible drinking straw is stretched out and bent back.
The long end of the straw is then placed in the neck of the bottle, with the shorter end going over the lip of the bottle and pointing downwards.
The neck of the bottle and the straw are then grasped with the drinking hand so the straw is touching the bottle neck. The drinker must ensure that the short end of the straw is not constricted or blocked at its entrance, allowing air to flow freely through the straw.
The drinker must then drink the beverage, ensuring that their lips make an airtight seal round the straw and lip of the bottle and also that the base of the bottle is properly elevated above the lip of the bottle.

Scientific explanation

When drinking a bottled beverage in the conventional manner, the flow of liquid from the bottle to the mouth is slowed by a vacuum which builds up at the elevated base of the bottle. The use of a drinking straw in strawpedoing allows air from outside the bottle to fill this vacuum more quickly than would otherwise be possible. The slowing effect of the vacuum is thus reduced and the liquid can transfer from the bottle to the mouth at a greatly increased speed.

\"Ultimate\" Strawpedoing

Thought to be invented in Bristol by Physics Undergraduates who realised that the effect of the strawpedo could be even further accentuated by having a positive pressure induced into the bottom of the bottle (incidentally the method by which torpedoes are fired out of submarines). The method of doing this was to add a further two straws to the first allowing a second person to stand behind the person drinking. The second person blows into the straws as the first begins to drink. There is some skill involved in the pressures involved, as too hard a blow will result in the drinker choking and the drink spraying everywhere. Thus "buddying" up for this activity is common, with a trusted fellow drinker used. Followers of this form of strawpedo use the term Snorkelling to refer to "regular" strawpedoes to avoid confusion. Records under this form for drinking: 330ml Bottle of Reef (Screwdriver bottled drink) 0.8 Seconds 750ml Bottle of Wine: 7 Seconds

Drinking game

Managing to drink the entire bottle quickly and without pausing is part of the 'challenge' of this drinking game. Drinkers may race with each other to finish their drink first. The winner is the drinker who places their empty bottle on the floor or table first. The origins of this form of competition are unknown, though it is particularly popular among binge drinkers.

References

[Strawpedo@Everything.com]
[Definition of strawpedo] from Urban Dictionary
[Picture of partygoers doing a strawpedo]