mick b Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Mind you I just remembered a storey that an older friend of mine once told me. When he was doing his National Service in the Royal Navy in the 1950's he worked in the stores department and some of the men used to nick Brasso metal polish , filter it through some bread and drink that. Apparently it does contain meths or some other alcohol. Even Farther Jack might balk at that. When my pussers grey ship visited Saudi Arabia back in the early 2000's the Brits working out there were still distilling Brasso! It was pretty foul but brought your fillings up lovely! Mick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Test Graham Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 It was said that the mechanics in Mig21 units (and possiby other types too) would drain the windscreen washer bottles. as one admiral said (I forget the context) some people would drnk sulphuric acid if it came in a gin bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 It's amazing what some folks will drink, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaddy Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 When my pussers grey ship visited Saudi Arabia back in the early 2000's the Brits working out there were still distilling Brasso! It was pretty foul but brought your fillings up lovely! Mick. That's a lie! We never had to resort to Brasso. Siddiqui was the drink of choice. Distilled in the homes of Aramcons in Dharan in stills thoughtfully provided by ARAMCO in the early days. Distilled to 90%+ proof it could be cut with water. Great with tonic but usually mixed with Pepsi or Teem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deanflyer Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Ahhhh... good old Sid. These days they either mix it with coke or put a shot into a bottle of Budweiser Non Alcoholic Malt Based Beverage (No kidding - that's what it says on the side of the bottle) to produce what's known as a Sidweiser. Human ingenuity knows no bounds... Cheers, Dean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaddy Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 We used Schlitz from time to time. Y'know I could fancy a Sid and Pepsi now...just for old times sake. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 It's amazing what some folks will drink, isn't it? So you've tasted Norwegian beer too. Duncan B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 (edited) LOL! Edited August 24, 2013 by Nigel Heath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Smith Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Hmm, we have quite petty regulations when it comes to anything alcohol related. IPA, iso-propyl alcohol is on [or was ] the poisons register, I used to have bother getting it from chemists to use as record cleaner. chemically it is C3H8OH It's toxic, but not horribly so http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isopropyl_alcohol Toxicology[edit source | editbeta]Isopropyl alcohol and its metabolite, acetone, act as central nervous system (CNS) depressants. Symptoms of isopropyl alcohol poisoning include flushing, headache, dizziness, CNS depression, nausea,vomiting, anesthesia, and coma. Poisoning can occur from ingestion, inhalation, or absorption; therefore, well-ventilated areas and protective gloves are recommended. Around 15 g of isopropyl alcohol can have a toxic effect on a 70 kg human if left untreated.[16] However, it is not nearly as toxic as methanol or ethylene glycol. Isopropyl alcohol does not cause an anion gap acidosis (in which a lowered blood serum pH causes depletion of bicarbonate anion) unlike ethanol and methanol. Isopropyl alcohol does however, produce an osmolal gap between the calculated and measured osmolalities of serum, as do the other alcohols. Overdoses may cause a fruity odor on the breath as a result of its metabolism to acetone, which is further metabolized to produce the nutrients acetate and glucose.[17] Isopropyl alcohol is oxidized to form acetone by alcohol dehydrogenase in the liver. 'meths' comes in various forms, but is essentially ethanol, C2H5OH [ie drinking alcohol] made 'undrinkable' by the addition of 5 or 10% Methanol, CH3OH. Also know as wood alcohol. Although just Denatured Alcohol is hard to get, as it's usually dyed purple and has bitrex added. Methanol ingested in large quantities is metabolized to formic acid or formate salts, which is poisonous to the central nervous system, and may cause blindness, coma, and death. Because of these toxic properties, methanol is frequently used as a denaturant additive for ethanol manufactured for industrial uses. This addition of methanol exempts industrial ethanol (commonly known as "denatured alcohol" or "methylated spirit") from liquor excise taxation in the US and some other countries. So meths and IPA are not the same thing. Ethanol would probably be rather good as thinner, but the powers that be don't want you using it, as you might drink it, and lose them tax. Worth noting that distilling alcohol [ethanol] illegally is very frowned upon, high fines and prison... You can get a licence to buy a limited amount of lab grade denatured alcohol if you write to HM Customs and give them a reason, and the amount you intend to buy per annum and they will issue a licence. straight methanol would make interesting paint thinner, but you'd want a proper fume mask and extractor to use it! By interesting I mean as it's a low molecular weight, it would be very volatile, so you could really thin paint down, but it would evaporate off really fast. bit like using lighter fuel to thin enamel paint [chemically is hexane C6H18] which is really volatile and low viscosity [which is why it works well for washes] boy, I need to get out more.. T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 (edited) LOL! Please excuse me I may have been imbibing something, I hope it wasn't methanol, propanol, hexacyanol, glucanol, butanol, dimethylhexabutadyene or ethanol, hopefully its just IPA. Edited August 24, 2013 by Nigel Heath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 So you've tasted Norwegian beer too. Duncan B Actually yes - on a snowboarding holiday at Hemsedal. £5 a half litre and that was a good 10 years back I also remember seeing the queue for the government owned off-licenses from our hotel room across the way. They opened for about 9 nanoseconds a day and charged the earth for anything with even a smidgeon of alcohol in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Is it really that difficult to get on your side of The Pond? Up here in The Great White North, I can get at any pharmacy and most large grocery stores. Within 1 kilometre of my house is a large chain grocery store and a pharmacy where I can get both 70% and 91% IPA right off the shelf. Mind you, they are only 500ml. bottles, but when it's that close and that easy to get, who cares. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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