TGJoe started out much like your ordinary tailgate. Before the trailer, the 6 ft commercial grill, the kegs, their was a handful of friends, 4-10 on any given day. The first tailgate toy purchased for these game day get togethers was the Coleman PerfectFlow Grill. At the time, the PerfectFlow was really all Coleman offered as far as portable grills. Since then they have followed up with a Whole lineup of “tailgate grills.” I have had the chance to get in front of a few of these grills, and even with all the bells and whistles of the new ones, I still think there is no better small grill than the PerfectFlow.

Some of the things I like about the PerfectFlow:

1) Most importantly, I like that it has a grate and an actual fire poking underneath. A lot of the newer tailgate grills kind of seal the top, with the burners heating a griddle plate from underneath. I find this leaves a large amount of cold space on the cooktop and leads to slower cooking, especially in the colder weather.

2) 11,000 btus, not a lot of heat compared to the 159,000 btu behemoth we use today, but plenty of heat for this small grill.

3) It will fit in any car, no suv needed.

4) The perfect size for small groups of 2-10. The grate is the perfect size to grill up 4 large burgers, a bunch of dogs, or a thin Italian sausage ring. We never found capacity to be an issue for our small group.

5) Compact fuel cannisters. No need to lug a bag of charcoal, lighter fluid, a chimney starter, newspaper and lighter fluid, or large home bbq propane tanks. Two or three of the compact Coleman fuel cans is all you need.

And here are specs from the Coleman site:
•    •  Open-flame grilling on a Family Sized – 180 square inch cooking surface area
•    •  BTU: 11,000 BTU tube burner
•    •  PerfectFlow™: Pressure-control system
•    •  WindBlock™: Wind shielding system for maximum heat
•    •  Spacious 180-square-inch cooking surface
•    •  Easty to clean, removable porcelain coated grill grate
•    •  Grease-management system with removable dishwasher-safe tray
•    •  Color: Black
•    •  Dimensions: 21″L X 12.5″W X 5.6″H

Now don’t get me wrong, this is not the grill to throw huge thick steaks on, and if you are regularly larger than 8 people I would suggest something bigger, but for its intended purpose, there isn’t a better mini tailgate grill, and for the price it can’t be beat.

You can take a look at the Perfectflow on amazon here!

I just got in from the Jets game in Denver where I was able to use my Fanvision for the first time and thought I would share my experience with it. For any of you wondering whether it is worth the money, the short answer is HELL YES!!

Fanvision, what is it?

Fanvision is a portable display device that enhances your gameday experience. Most people will agree that there is nothing as great as the gameday experience seeing an NFL football game live at the stadium surrounded by fellow fans cheering on your team. While this is the ultimate way to watch such a physical sport as football, there are some things that I enjoy when watching the game at home. I would say there are 3 things I miss when at the game:

1. Checking other team’s players for fantasy stats
2. The commentators calling the game
3. The replays shown on tv that aren’t always shown on the big screen at the game

Well, enter Fanvision to bring me those missing aspects of football gameday! With Fanvision, you can get all that info that I miss on gameday at the game and even more! Some of the features you can enjoy with this device are:

• The video and audio feed of the tv broadcast
• Alternate live video feeds from cameras around the stadium
• Replay of the last play from multiple angles
• NFL Redzone channel showing all the NFL scoring plays live as they happen
• Fantasy player tracking
• Access to out of town game broadcasts
• Exclusive in game highlight reels
• Live in depth analysis showing stats and trends
• League wide scores, stats and standings
• Pre and Post game coverage

That is a LOT of info packed into a small device you can wear around your neck.

So How Does It Work?

In a word, AWESOME!

I like to travel to away games every season, check out different towns and different stadiums, and support my Jets. One of the great things about Fanvision is that it works in any stadium that offers the service. Right now that includes the Jets, Dolphins, Bills, Broncos, Cardinals, Bears, Browns, Vikings, Eagles, Seahawks, Rams, and Redskins. The device uses a closed circuit broadcasting system that works in the parking lots surrounding the stadium and within the building.

I have only used it at Denver so far so I can only comment on the signal there, but it was perfect there. We were going into the late game, so there was plenty of football to watch while we tailgated in the lot. The out of town game broadcast and Red Zone channel were great to have. Once inside the stadium, I went to the fantasy screen and input my starting lineup. Once your roster is entered, it updates the stats live and will even show an alert on screen letting you know one of your players scored a td. Everyone will have their own way of using the Fanvision during the game, the way that worked best for me was to tune in to the live network tv broadcast of the game, plug in the included earbuds, and listen to the broadcast audio through one ear while watching the action on the field. For me that was the best of both worlds. Then, during any timeouts, I would flip to the Redzone channel and watch what was going on around the league. In this instance, I was able to keep an eye on division rival Patriots and their overtime game.

So if you are into fantasy football, or bet on games or just really like to keep track of what is going on around the league, or you like to hear the audio broadcast of the game being called, the Fanvision is a no brainer. I actually have a few friends who put in a lot of time helping me throw these tailgate parties and made the trip with me out to Denver. I thought it would be a cool gift to thank them for all their help so I grabbed a few of these as gifts. Every one of them thought it was awesome and really enhanced the game day experience. I couldn’t agree more.

You can buy a Fanvision at the Jets Shop at the stadium or on the fanvision website.

Other Fanvision articles:

• NY TIMES
• Engadget
• Sports Business Journal
• CNN Money
• Philly Daily News
• Fanvision

We all know that the grill is the centerpiece of the tailgate (unless you have a kegerator! Stay tuned for a post on that). But sometimes you need fried food. Think about it, it gets cold starting in October, and you are drinking a few beers, what warms you up and goes great with a few beers? Well, yeah ok, maybe I can think of one or two things better but escorts don’t make out-calls to parking lots and they definitely are not awake before 5pm. No, what I am talking about is hot wings and fries. The only problem is frying in a tailgate environment is tricky and can be down right hazardous, especially with the crowd I roll with. Enter the Coleman FryWell….

I bought one of these last year on Amazon along with a few other items and had it at my front door in no time. We used it a few times last season to make batches of Sal’s hot wings (recipe coming soon), cheese sticks, onion rings, and fried pickles (recipe coming soon). The FryWell is gas powered and runs on those cool little Coleman tanks that they use for all of their gas equipment. This is great because you can use the same fuel source with any other Coleman products you have. The fryer very much resembles a beefier version of the indoor fryers you probably already own. You give up a few of the features of the indoor fryers such as digital thermometers and temperature settings to pick up the convenience of portability, but with the included thermometer you can get by just fine. The tub that holds the oil and food is a little smaller than I would have liked, but we were able to make 50 wings in a few quick batches rather easily. If your group average size you should be just fine with its capacity. I found that it did keep its temperature and had a fast recovery, which helped negate the smaller cooking volume.

Overall, I would definitely recommend the FryWell. It gets pluses for:

• Sturdy build quality
• Ease of use
• Portable fuel source
• Good temperature recovery time
• Allowing me to make hot wings at the game the way God intended them to be made, in a vat of boiling oil!

You can find it here on Amazon, along with a lot of other great bbq toys.