Here are some of the best and most impressive ways I’ve seen of opening a bottle of beer without a bottle opener:

Another beer

One thing you’re certain to have is more bottles of beer. So why not learn how to pop open one bottle using another? It’s incredibly useful, and it actually looks pretty cool. I can’t quite believe I’d never thought of this one before. You’ll be opening everyone’s bottles at house parties before you know it:

Keys

You’ll most likely have a set of keys on you as well, so it makes perfect sense to be able to open a bottle using those. It’s easier than you think, so pop a few caps off and become the saving grace of your friends as you ensure the good BBQ times will be accompanied by beer:

Cigarette Lighter

There’s usually at least one smoker in your friend group, and if they’ve got the right kind of lighter you can use one of those babies to open your beer too. It’s another method that looks cool when you do it, just beware that if other people see you doing this and they’ve made the same mistake that you did you may well end up opening bottles for the entire park or beach all day. It’s no big problem though, as you can simply ask for payment in the form of beer:

A Bank Note

This one is a little harder but that makes it that little bit more impressive. Just fold up a note several times, pop it under the cap and hey presto, you’ve used a bit of paper to get a bottle cap off a bottle of beer. I never thought I’d be able to open a bottle of beer with some paper, but after watching this video I can:

Work surface / Countertop

You might not have a work surface or straight edge to work with on the beach or in the park, so this one works well for house parties when you can’t find a bottle opener for love nor money. This usually happens later on in the night when someone else has either misplaced it or taken it home in their drunken state. Just one sharp tap and boom, you’re the saviour of the party:

Bonus: Best ways to open a beer (Do not try these yourself!)

There are plenty of creative ways to open a bottle of beer that I haven’t covered, and the following video showcases some of the more extreme ways that people have found to work. I wouldn’t try to attempt most of the methods in this showcase though, especially with a chainsaw (!):

You can also find plenty of cool and intetresting bottle openers online if you’d rather you didn’t have to rely on your car keys or someone having a lighter.

Now, do you know those moments in life where, before an event, you will dream up the perfect scenario of how things are going to pan out? How everything is ideal, has a soft glow to it and looks like a Hollywood movie… Well if you’ve done that before you’ll know the crushing disappointment when it turns out to be nothing like that in reality. With the Brighton Naked Bike Ride the dream scenario for a 24 year old male spectator like myself would be to stand there on the pavement and marvel as beautiful woman after beautiful woman rides past smiling and waving like a group of modern Lady Godiva’s… or like an extended cycle-centric version of the Blurred Lines video. Ahhhhhh, perfect.

How reality actually panned out though, was as if the Naked Bike Ride had been marketed as ‘Sausage-Fest 2013: Bike Edition’, with the guys seeming much more enthusiastic about dropping trou and hopping on a bike than the ladies. Is it just me or is that the trend with most naked events? This is something that needs to be looked into a lot more I feel…

Why were people Riding Bikes Naked, Then?

Okay, I feel it’s about time to be serious about this now because the event (which actually takes place in cities all across the world) wasn’t just for people to ride their bikes in the buff and for me to go and watch on behalf of The Stag Company with a titan of a hangover… oh no, there was a real cause behind it.

The Bike Ride had a mission of 4 simple things – to celebrate cycling and the human body, to demonstrate the vulnerability of cyclists out on the road, to ride in protest of the world’s dependency on oil with the culture of using cars to travel everywhere… and of course – to have fun! Any people naked or clothed that are trying to raise this sort of awareness and save our environment deserve commending… so, good on you to anyone that was brave enough to bare all and take part!

… Alright, that’s enough being serious. My favourite part of the day was the lone guy walking down the road like he owned the place and didn’t give a single damn that he wasn’t going along with the actual purpose of the day by not riding a bike. See him below – and if you’re planning on taking a trip down for your stag do and joining in with the lads (or hoping there will be more women) mark out June 2014 on your calendar and click here to start planning your pilgrimage to the coast!

If you’re anything like me days like Father’s Day and even Birthdays can go unnoticed until the day before the event when it finally hits you and you realise just why your girlfriend kept saying “I can’t believe I’m going to be 24 next week” or why all those ‘Father’s Day’ banners have been hanging up in every Clinton’s Cards shop-front you’ve walked past over the last month.

Well, see this as your official Father’s Day reminder but also the amazing chance to give the old guy something a little bit different and a lot more impressive than a bar of chocolate and a card that still has the price sticker on!

If you’re thinking about booking up your stag weekend for any date in 2013 and will be travelling with a group made up of 18 or more merry men (including he stag’s Dad of course) then we’ll let him go for completely FREE.

Crazy we know, but Dad’s deserve it, because throughout your life they’ve had to deal with the dirty nappies, the awkward birds and bees conversation and that time he had to pick you and your mates up at 3am because you were too drunk and had no money for a taxi. Your Dad is a king among men so treat him well this Father’s Day (it’s Sunday 16th June if you really can’t remember) and send him off on the weekend of his life for FREE… whether it is a UK booking or a stag do flying off to one of our destinations abroad.

This Father’s Day Offer is only available until the end of Saturday 15th June 2013 – the day before Father’s Day, so if you make the most of it, you can give him some damn good news come Sunday. Acting fast is obviously the name of the game, so get things moving and start planning your stag weekend by clicking here!

Now before we go any further, we’re going to take a leaf out of Shaggy’s book and say it wasn’t us, because while we do send stags off on their wonderful weekends in places close to the trail, such as Leeds and Manchester, we don’t actively say ‘hey guys, go on the Real Ale Trail, cause a ruckus, tip some bins over and shout a lot’… we wouldn’t say that anyway but you know. However as we are of course The Stag Company, our ears tend to prick up when we hear these stories arise.

It can’t be denied that some stags out there do have the tendency to cause trouble, but so do a group of guys out for a drink that aren’t celebrating the upcoming marriage of one of their best friends – and that’s what worries us: all stags being tarred with the same brush. The real problem here seems to be popularity, with Northern Rail describing the trail as becoming like a ‘city centre’.

The Real Ale Trail can be incredible fun and that little something different to do with your mates across the North of the country, so like anything that’s good and fun (a music festival, a street carnival and so on) it’s going to grow in popularity with all walks of life… its natural.

Now I’m just a guy sat behind a desk in t-shirt and shorts (the weather is bloomin’ good today isn’t it) and we’re simply stag weekend organisers that are all about having a damn good time, but surely the solution here is not to discourage the majority because of a minority of troublemakers – but instead to practice better crowd control and restrictions on numbers? There are probably a million reasons why that would create more of a problem but how do you initially stop a group of stags looking to sample a few ales under the guise that they might cause trouble?

What do you think about it? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below and find out more about it right here.

If you’re Frank then it’s probably because they get in your way at airports, but who or what doesn’t get in your way at some point? The guy who jumps the queue for the bus or at the Post Office, someone dithering along the street, it happens all the time.

Sure some parties can be worse than others, but they’re enjoying one of the few times in the stag’s life that all of his friends from all walks of his life converge in the same place for the same thing.

Everyone wants to enjoy their life and the stag weekend has grown into this from a few pints down the local or a curry (sure, people still do this but different people like different things) to two or three days of celebrating a moment in someone’s life. A moment that will never happen again.

The pre nuptial celebrations and the wedding do cost a lot, we can’t really argue with you there Frank, our own research and articles can attest to this, there are others who really do go over the top but these are the people with too much money. To call it ‘egotism run riot’ is a touch misplaced though, not everybody spends the money in a ‘hey everyone look at me’ way.

Nobody can justify spending £30,000 on a big party, but I’m sure Frank has been to a few ‘functions’ in his time that have been past that price bracket and for less important reasons than the lifetime commitment and celebration of marriage.

What most people don’t often consider about stag and hen weekends is that they’re good for business and the local economy. We’ll never deny that not every party is well behaved but the drunken trouble doesn’t go wherever stag dos go, it’s their already.

Quotes from those in the sectors that deal directly with weekend and Bank Holiday festivities note that there is never really a direct correlation between trouble, drunkenness and groups of people on their stag and hen dos.

You could argue that there isn’t really much to be happy about in the world today, so I’ll quote our very own Cat here, quoted in the Argus article linked in the previous paragraph:

“It’s sad people don’t always see the fun side of people just having a good weekend.”

Come on Frank, maybe think about what it means to the groups instead of that fact that you’ll be a few minutes later to your departure lounge.

Following David Beckham’s final game of his illustrious career this weekend we thought it was only fitting that we celebrate the man. Love him or hate him, he’s one of the best players of our generation. So let’s take a look at five of his best and worst moments of his 22 year professional career.

The Best

Announcing his arrival with that goal against Wimbledon

This was the moment that David Beckham became the name on everybody’s lips. Spotting Neil Sullivan off his line in a Premier League game at Wimbledon in 1996, it took just one swing of that now infamous right boot to make Becks a household name. The rest as they say is history.

His best free kick ever against Greece

2001 saw Becks score that goal to send England to the 2002 World Cup Finals. After being awarded a free kick three minutes into injury time Beckham steps up and curls a beauty into the top corner, with Germany only drawing with Finland it meant England automatically qualified for the Finals. Quite possibly one of the best England moments I have ever witnessed!

Redeeming himself against Argentina

David was the villain in the 1998 World Cup in France after getting sent off for kicking out at Diego Simeone in the match against Argentina. Fast forward four years to the 2002 World Cup and it seemed like fate that we should meet the South Americans again. After being awarded a penalty Becks steps up to lash the ball home from 12 yards, redeeming himself for that red card and showing just how much it meant to him.

Becoming an ambassador for London 2012

His best moments haven’t always come on the pitch and many have said that his involvement in the UK’s campaign to host the 2012 Olympics won round many a voter. The part he played in the years of campaigning ultimately culminated in him bringing the Olympic Torch to the Olympic stadium up the Thames on a boat. An awesome moment and one that made many realise there was more to him than a pop star wife and a wicked right foot.

His final swan song

Following the emotional scenes that followed his final appearance for PSG and in his career it seems only fit that the final best moment is watching David leave the field on Saturday. Failing to hold back the tears, it was clear that walking off the pitch for the final time was too much for Becks. With many of his teammates dying their hair red, white, and blue in honour of the great man, this final video is a real choker. The celebrations that his teammates continue with after the game show just how much of a respected character he is in the game, especially considering he had only been at PSG for five months; as he rightly said they treated him as if he had been there for 10 years. A truely fitting end to a truly illustrious career.

The Worst

Most professionals will experience both highs and lows in their careers. While Beckham’s had more highs than lows, he still had his moments.

Cornrows

Most of Beck’s worst moments came off the pitch, including some truly horrendous fashion faux pas. I’m hardly one to talk about fashion but when it came down to it some of his choices were let’s face it, awful. First up, those cornrows (and a fair few other haircuts we’re sure you’ll agree!).

The Sarong

Following on with the fashion angle, we can’t write about Beck’s worst moment without mentioning that sarong as well! While there were plenty more to choose from, we soon realised we could have written an entire article just about his choice of clothing in the earlier days of his career. Were some of these down to Victoria Beckham? Possibly, but that still doesn’t make it ok.

Red card against Argentina

Of course, the first moment that Beckham went from hero to villain was a red card against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup for a petulant kick on Diego Simeone. Cue the inevitable red card and World Cup heartbreak for England yet again. Many placed the blame solely on Beck’s shoulders, but four years later (as you’ve seen from his best moments) he redeemed himself to the nation. Revenge is a dish best served as an emphatically taken penalty against the same team in the 2002 World Cup.

The Affair

Becks was in the middle of accusations about an affair with an assistant he had been delegated during his time at Real Madrid. Whether he did have an affair or not perhaps only he will know, but the woman at the centre of the allegations, Rebecca Loos turned up on TV again in March to talk about it again. She got a stack of money for some photo-shoots of the back of it all and not much else, while Posh and Becks are still together so we won’t assume the worst here.

Beckham and the boot

In 2003 Becks was pictured sporting stitches above his eye, which were later found out to be as the result of a flying boot in the dressing room from none other than Alex Ferguson. Becks responded by lunging at his then manager. Much speculation about his future followed, and the following summer he joined the Galacticos of Real Madrid in a deal worth €35m. It bought his time at Manchester United to a bit of a sour end, but he has since forgiven Sir Alex.

And so ends our tribute to one of the true footballing greats of our generation, we hope you’ve enjoyed it!

Marbella

Ah yes, it’s safe to say that A certain TV show based in Essex may have something to do with the appeal of ‘Marbs’, but take a second and you’ll realise it has everything that makes a great stag do. You’ve got sun, sea and sand, plenty of places to drink and a whole host of fun stuff that we can arrange for your stag weekend! One of the best and most popular things you can do while you’re here is take a cruise on a catamaran and have your very own boat party! That’s right, sail out into the Med, moor up near a private beach and enjoy some cold beers in the hot sun. Sounds pretty appealing right? Find out more about a boat party in Marbs here.

Tenerife

Tenerife has always been a popular destination for British holidaymakers, and one of the island’s main pulling points has to be the areas where you can party 24 hours a day making it ideal for your stag do! You get the fantastic weather yet again, a ton of bars and clubs packed tightly together and plenty of sandy beaches. So what’s the best thing you could do while you’re in Tenerife? Well what with all the hot weather a day out to a local water park probably sounds like a great shout, does it not? Let out the big kid in you for a day of water park fun with all manner of slides to tackle, and you’ll even find lazy rivers and a Jacuzzi too. Ideal if you’re nursing the world’s biggest hangover from the night before. Get wet and wild on your Tenerife stag do by clicking here.

Ibiza

That little island called Ibiza has long been one of the original party locations, and can be found just off the coast of Valencia (another great stag weekend destination, by the way). It’s really come back in over the past few years, thanks in part to the resurgence of the dance music scene and music festivals such as Ibiza Rocks helping the island appeal to other demographics. Everyone dreams of owning property out there, or at least seeing how the other half live. There’s no better way to do that than to book you and the lads in to attend a daytime beach party at one of the island’s VIP beach clubs, where you can enjoy some cold beers by the pools, book out some VIP day beds and check out the bars. No matter whether you want to take it easy in preparation for a big night or go for an all dayer, the beach party clubs are the place to do this. Find out more.

Gareth Bale

Where else could we honestly start but with the one player that has without a doubt set the entire season alight? All those goals, that little love heart celebration (someone please tell me, why does he do that?) and how he has basically pulled Tottenham through the season and out of so many sticky situations by the scruff of their necks. The only sad thing now is that we worry he won’t be here next season as the likes of Barca and Real come calling and empty out sacks of money on to Daniel Levy’s desk (because that’s how it happens, right?) Do you think he’ll be heading away from White Heart Lane this season? We hope not.

QPR

Flipping over to the other end of the scale, QPR’s season has been memorable to say the very least. We know they’re no longer going to be in the Premier League next season but when Bale’s old boss Harry Redknapp turned up hanging his head out of car windows on Sky Sports News there was a moment where we thought there was hope over the horizon. Lousy play, Bosingwa troubles, some ludicrously large money signings and a whole feed’s worth of Joey Barton tweets later and it wasn’t to be… Goodbye QPR.

No more Fergie Time

Talking of goodbyes, possibly one of the main reasons this season will be remembered is that it was the end of Sir Alex Ferguson’s 26 and a half year tenure as the manager of Manchester United Football Club. Whether you loved him (you’re a Man U fan, then) or hated him, you have to respect him as being quite possibly the best manager there has ever been. 38 trophies with 13 of them being the Premier League (which he of course just won again), we salute you Fergie…

Special mention also goes to other big names that have called it quits at the end of this campaign. Wave goodbye to the playing days of Michael Owen (oh that goal against Argentina), Jamie Carragher (oh those crunching tackles against everyone), Steve Harper (oh those safe hands) and of course Paul Scholes, who deserves a standing ovation more than an ‘oh’ and some brackets!

RVP

All these farewells are making me misty eyed so let’s swiftly move on to something a bit more upbeat shall we? Would Fergie have had to stay on for another year if he didn’t get Van Persie in his squad to win the title? Possibly not but no matter what Piers Morgan or any Arsenal fan says, RVP came for silverware, he saw the Old Trafford faithful embrace him and he conquered – getting that Premier League title in his first season and maintaining that blistering form he had shown in the 2011/12 season… while Arsenal, well we’ll get to that in a second.

That Bite

From one great player to another, but while one was getting set to lift the title, the other was sinking his teeth the arm of Branislav Ivanovic. There… are… no… words. If you’ve read this blog this far then I’m going to guess that you’ve already seen it – but for your bemused viewing pleasure, here it is again:

The 4th Place Race

Something that is still incredibly fresh in the memory as it only all came to a head yesterday. I’ll admit it right now and say that I’m an Arsenal fan (go on, start booing) and had completely written them out of it and was calling this ‘the season Arsenal don’t make the Champions League’. Right now it feels the title race was sewn up from the offset but in the campaign’s fleeting weeks things were blown wide open for 4th spot. How did it all end? With Arsenal celebrating their ‘trophy’, Tottenham ruing missed chances and Chelsea sitting pretty in 3rd. Maybe next season ey, Spurs? (Sorry I couldn’t help myself).

… Aaaaaaand that rounds things off for another year – there is a lot more, but to be totally honest, we’ve just started discussing David Beckham’s 5 Best and Worst Moments for another blog now that he has retired, so keep your eyes peeled for that one, because there is a lot of memories packed in to that one.

America – Bachelor Party

It is well known that in America you have a Bachelor Party before you get married, and thanks to The Hangover if you didn’t know before you most certainly know now. There isn’t much difference here, although the weekend concept is still fairly alien in the US, at least to American groups. You’ll most likely find a UK stag party in Las Vegas whenever you’re there, thanks in part to The Hangover which has paved the way for overseas stag weekends.

Recent years have seen the American Bachelor Party move away from its ‘traditional’ setting and more towards reflecting with friends, foregoing the rowdiness of bachelor parties of years gone by. Instead, the party is an enjoyable event, with the best man arranging an activity in secret that the stag will enjoy.

France – Enterrement de Vie de Garcon

In France the stag night is called enterrement de vie de garçon, which translates as ‘the burial of the life as a boy’. While the name appears a little over dramatic, rest assured that the party itself is definitely more akin to what you’re used to experiencing in England. Although when you think of it, the name is quite literal!

Germany – Junggesellenabschied

You’ll find much of the same again over in Germany, where the event is called Junggesellenabschied. The type of party that entails has become more like the great British stag do in recent years, becoming a celebration of the stag’s upcoming nuptials and moving towards the inclusion of activities and clubbing.

Hungary – Legénybúcsú

In Hungary the event is called Legénybúcsú, which means farewell to bachelorhood and is a pretty good name for it! Budapest has become incredibly popular for stag groups in recent years, and we’ve seen plenty of groups book a weekend in Eastern Europe. So when we think about it there must be something that Hungary and other such countries offer that the UK can’t, right? Right!

You know you must be in the right place for your stag weekend when your airport transfer shuttle includes a stripper, and then you go a shoot a bunch of guns for the afternoon before catching a bit of naked mud wrestling then onto a club!

So, it doesn’t matter where in the world you are, the stag do is alive and kicking!

After spending a good couple of hours watching most of his stuff I thought I would pick out my top five videos, and I recommend you watch all five from start to finish!

Slam Dunk Basketball Freestyle

This was the first video of Devin’s that I found and it is an incredibly impressive montage of the Hungarian Acrobatic Sport team, Faceteam. Take a look to see some of the crazy shots these guys manage to pull off. Devin’s editing and his music choice for the soundtracks really take these videos to the next level.

The Most Insane Rope Swing Ever

Second up is the most insane rope swing ever (I’m unsure how true this statement is, but it seems pretty insane!), suspended over a huge canyon. This looks insane; I’ll bet the adrenaline rush you get from doing this jump is off the chart! Definitely something I don’t think I would enjoy until I was actually swinging through the air! I’d quite happily do this on my stag do if it was something The Stag Company could offer!

Cliff Jumping in Hawaii

This is something some of us may have done on a holiday, but in Hawaii? Probably not. All manner of jumps into water below that sometimes seems a little too close to the rocks to be safe. Still, nobody got hurt so proves what I know!

Wingsuit Racing

Now we’re talking, wingsuit racing is incredible and I think it could quite possibly be my new favourite form of racing. What’s not to like about people plummeting to earth in a race to the finish line, getting up to speeds in excess of 100mph. I haven’t even been that fast in a car! The race for the finish line had me chuckling away long after the video had finished. Wouldn’t it be great if we could do this on our stag weekends?!

Digital Orchestra performing Beethoven’s 5^th

Something a little different for the fifth and final video, which is a digital orchestra performing Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony. As soon as I saw the title I wondered just how this would sound, but it sounds incredible. Who could’ve thought that you could recreate something and make it sound so good using just tablets and smartphones?

View more of Devin’s videos on his YouTube channel, and if you’re looking to book a stag weekend then click here. Awesome!