This episode of Veteran Vices covers a company that is not technically in the vice business. But their product is closely related, and their Hollywood success story is uniquely encouraging for vetrepreneurs everywhere. Former Navy SEAL Eli Crane and his wife Jen took a single product that they were producing in their garage—a bottle opener made from spent .50 cal brass—and presented it on the high-stakes reality TV show, Shark Tank. Their product, and story, piqued the interest of two of the show’s investors. Since then, their product line has expanded into a comprehensive line of everyday products made from re-purposed military gear. Above and beyond the cool factor, Bottle Breacher products are useful and give a little taste of the battlefield to both veterans and enthusiasts. The Bottle Breacher workforce is over 30% veterans, and they are constantly searching out other veteran businesses to promote or partner with.
We got the chance to play with a sampling of their products, including two different breachers. First off was their MOAB – Mother Of All Breachers. The original Bottle Breacher was, as mentioned, based off of .50 caliber machine gun brass. The MOAB starts life as a decommissioned shell from a 30mm cannon. The 30mm GAU-8 cannon gained its fame as everyone’s favorite feature of the A-10 Thunderbolt II. The shells are topped by an aluminum dummy projectile and then imbued with the Breacher notch. The notch won’t do much against an Iraqi tank, but it’ll tear up the cap on your favorite bottle of brew. The other Breacher we have is their Freedom Frag. As the name implies, these are bottle openers made from bodies that model the M67 fragmentation grenade.
Bottle Breacher’s product line now goes well beyond bottle openers. Maybe our favorite product in their lineup is the Combat Cooler. Keeping in the spirit of repurposed milsurp gear, the Combat Cooler is a former military ammo can that’s been specially modified to tote a six pack or long necks in true man-style. These genuine ammo cans are cleaned and insulated with six holes cut in the lid to accommodate the bottle necks. Just place your bottles (or cans) and fill the dead space with ice. Now your drinks are cold, protected from light handling and sporting whatever battle wounds your ammo can showed up to the shop with.
If you prefer spirits to suds, they’ve still got you covered with their Whiskey Bullets. The last several years have seen the birth of several durable alternatives to traditional ice cubes. If you want to keep your whiskey cool without diluting it, or constantly replenishing ice in the summer heat, Whiskey Bullets might be the most manliest of answers to your dilemma. These are bullet-shaped, stainless steel “cubes” that you store in your freezer until ready for use. When needed, just drop them into your tumbler and sip away.
All of Bottle Breacher’s products can be customized with gift packaging, laser engraving or custom color schemes, making them ideal favors for holidays, weddings or corporate events. Check them out for yourself at
www.bottlebreacher.com.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Stay Tuned to Veteran Vices for a closer look at the
Rail House Brewery beer featured in these photos.
More Veteran Vices on RECOIL
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