If you've been following the news out of Florida these last couple of weeks, you might be kicking yourself for not sauntering down to the survivalist expo earlier this month. In that spirit, let's talk about what is possibly the most impractical awesome drinking vessel ever milled out of a billet of 6061 T6 aluminium: The OPMOD Battle Mug.
We talked with Alessandro Minnocci, chief marketing coordinator at OpticsPlanet, and he was kind enough to fill in some details for us.
Minnocci says that the mug, sans carry handle, only weighs about one pound and has the capacity to carry 24 ounces of your beverage of choice. Due to the thermal conductive properties of aluminium he recommends against putting coffee or other hot beverages into the mug because it'll quickly grow uncomfortable to handle. The mug has three tactical rails which allow users to affix any modern firearm peripheral. Minnocci says that user feedback indicates that downward mounted flashlights and laser sights are the most popular accessories. Presumably this is because it allows Battle Mug drinkers to assert their authority by blinding and/or dazing users of lesser drinking vessels.
Minnocci admits the Battle Mug is "kinda ridiculous" but that they wanted to do something fun and were overjoyed to see it reaching a larger audience. "Battle mugs may not be the most functional mug on the market but probably the coolest," he says. That cool factor has made it possible for them sell a steady stream of the $250 mugs, moving around 200 of them since November.
Is the Battle Mug sturdy? For $250 we'd certainly hope so. Thankfully, people with access to explosives, guns, and construction equipment, put the Battle Mug through its paces:
The genesis of the Battle Mug is pretty straightforward. Steve, the bearded fellow on the left in the video, found a similar mug elsewhere on the Internet and said, "Why don't we put a carry handle on it?" Of course, "carry handle" for a company like OpticsPlanet means the detachable carry handle from an AR-15. This leads to one of the Battle Mug's most unusual claims to fame, namely that it's probably the only beverage container on the market that falls under U.S. government export restrictions.
OPMod is a subdivision of OpticsPlanet, they produce a wide variety of "mostly tactical stuff" including red dot sights, backpacks, gun bags, and night vision systems.
