Police found a booze and drug-fuelled man with a homemade petrol bomb in Clevedon.
Miles Stewart claimed three men jumped him and tried to steal his push bike, Bristol Crown Court heard.
After he allegedly stole cider from a garage shop, police spotted him and found he had a rudimentary petrol bomb.
His barrister said his client was "out of his mind on drink and drugs" at the time.
Stewart, 30, of no fixed abode, pleaded guilty to being in possession of an offensive weapon on March 14.
Judge Julian Lambert told the court: "The root cause of his troubles is drink."
He adjourned the case until April 29 to investigate the possibility of handing Stewart an Alcohol Abstinence Monitoring Requirement.
That would mean him wearing a "chemical tag" which would flag up if he had a drink - resulting in jail.
Simran Kamal, prosecuting via video, said Stewart had been drinking when he went out in the early hours and returned to tell his girlfriend three men in a dumper truck had tried to steal his cycle.
The court heard Stewart went out again, and a few hours later police responded to a report of an intoxicated man taking cider from the Shell garage shop in Clevedon.
Miss Kamal said: "Police saw his push bike outside a newsagent.
"Mr Stewart was under the influence, unsteady on his feet and had glazed eyes.
"He was arrested on suspicion of theft from the shop."
When police searched Stewart they found him with a crude petrol bomb which analysed by a "sniff test", Miss Kamal said.
'This was the absurd act of man out of his head on drink and drugs'
Alun Williams, defending, said: "He was talking absolute nonsense.
"He was at the garage because of an urgent desire for cider.
"This was the absurd act of man out of his head on drink and drugs."
Mr Williams said Stewart had lost work as a ground worker, due to the economic downturn.
He also said bereavement his meant Stewart had "gone off the rails" and self-medicated through drink and prescription drugs.
