BACtrack Breathalyzer: The Life Of Your St. Paddy's Party?

Breathalyzers have traditionally been expensive contraptions that were strictly the domain of law enforcement officials. But there's a new device on the market, and not only is it incredibly easy to use, it slips into your pocket and remotely sends results directly to your mobile device.

It's called BACtrack, and here's how it works: you download the app to your smartphone, sync the device to your phone via Bluetooth, wait 15 minutes for your body to process any alcohol in your stomach, and blow. Your blood alcohol content is calculated in seconds. The app lets you save your results over time, take a photo or notes, and share your results should you feel so inclined. The law enforcement-grade fuel cell sensor can pick up even the smallest amounts of alcohol, down to .001 of a percent BAC.

BACtrack is an incredibly useful tool when you're out with friends and want to see how close to the limit you are, and a fail-proof way to make sure that you don't drive while intoxicated. It's also fun to use: if you're having a St. Patrick's Day party, for example, and you're curious to see what two pints of Guinness and a shot of Jameson will do to your BAC, this will tell you right away (obviously, don't be downing Guinness and shots if you have to drive anywhere).

At about $150 it's not cheap and certainly isn't a toy, but for a device that could potentially end up saving lives, it's a small price to pay.