Author Topic: Water Bottles  (Read 4684 times)

Glenstache

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Water Bottles
« on: September 01, 2016, 10:12:25 AM »
A mustachian take on water bottles (and funny too, as Semi-Rad often is):

http://semi-rad.com/2016/09/review-water-bottle/

Hotstreak

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2016, 01:38:23 PM »
Nice!  Re-usable water bottles are the way to go :).  Sort of surprised he paid $29 for that water bottle though, since they are frequently available at garage sales or thrift stores for around $3. 

I get mine for free at the local sports park or soccer fields.  Monday morning after a tournament someone has always left a bottle as litter on the ground, just waiting to be picked up and reused by its new owner!

ketchup

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2016, 01:41:39 PM »
Nice!  Re-usable water bottles are the way to go :).  Sort of surprised he paid $29 for that water bottle though, since they are frequently available at garage sales or thrift stores for around $3. 

I get mine for free at the local sports park or soccer fields.  Monday morning after a tournament someone has always left a bottle as litter on the ground, just waiting to be picked up and reused by its new owner!
I like to use a quart-sized mason jar, but people keep asking me if it's moonshine.

Hotstreak

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #3 on: September 01, 2016, 02:54:42 PM »
Nice!  Re-usable water bottles are the way to go :).  Sort of surprised he paid $29 for that water bottle though, since they are frequently available at garage sales or thrift stores for around $3. 

I get mine for free at the local sports park or soccer fields.  Monday morning after a tournament someone has always left a bottle as litter on the ground, just waiting to be picked up and reused by its new owner!
I like to use a quart-sized mason jar, but people keep asking me if it's moonshine.

I have some of those as mugs for at home, but I'm worried they would break if I dropped them on the trail or sidewalk or something.  Do you take any precautions?

ketchup

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #4 on: September 01, 2016, 02:59:43 PM »
Nice!  Re-usable water bottles are the way to go :).  Sort of surprised he paid $29 for that water bottle though, since they are frequently available at garage sales or thrift stores for around $3. 

I get mine for free at the local sports park or soccer fields.  Monday morning after a tournament someone has always left a bottle as litter on the ground, just waiting to be picked up and reused by its new owner!
I like to use a quart-sized mason jar, but people keep asking me if it's moonshine.

I have some of those as mugs for at home, but I'm worried they would break if I dropped them on the trail or sidewalk or something.  Do you take any precautions?
Not really.  I usually use one at home in a carpeted room, in the car, or when outdoors but on grass.  If it does break, they tend to break into big pieces that are easy to clean-up, and they aren't expensive (I have a bunch).  Haven't broken one yet.

Miss Piggy

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #5 on: September 01, 2016, 03:04:32 PM »
I'm in love (okay, that may be a bit extreme) with my new Camelbak Podium water bottle. It's insulated and is the opposite of everything I hate about most bicycle water bottles: the mouthpiece.  In other bottles (I'm talking to you, Polar), the mouthpiece pushes back in toward the bottle the moment it touches your mouth. With the Podium, this problem doesn't exist. The mouthpiece doesn't push out or in at all; rather, it twists to open or close, and even when opened, it stays sealed (not in a "safe to carry in my bag" sort of way, but in a "dirt and bugs won't get in" sort of way). I don't have a Camelbak backpack, but a  hiking buddy said the seal is like those. I love it! 

https://smile.amazon.com/CamelBak-Podium-Insulated-Bottle-Cobalt/dp/B015DJF6HO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1472763557&sr=8-1&keywords=Camelbak+podium

GreenSheep

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #6 on: September 01, 2016, 05:20:39 PM »
Aw, that looks exactly like my Kleen Kanteen, which was last seen on the counter at a hotel breakfast buffet, where I forgot all about it while I was getting my breakfast. :-(

I have since discovered S'well bottles, which keep things hot for 12 hours or cold for 24 hours (or is it the other way around? I can never remember). I've never been very particular about the temperature of my water, but having an ice cold smoothie in the middle of a day of kayaking is a thing of beauty.

No Name Guy

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #7 on: September 02, 2016, 02:18:45 PM »
Meh.

Article is kind of silly IMO, at best only semi-mustician since it's advocating spending a ridiculously large amount on a purpose made product - yeah, I know...supposed to be snarky and poking fun at the consumer sukka's, but still........ 

1)  "Saves money".  False choice.  Assumes only alternative is to constantly buy pre-bottled water.  It's called a fountain.  Or, see below for an even more economical choice than spending large amounts on purpose manufactured bottles.

2)  "I don't have to dispose of it every time I empty it".  WTF?!?!?!  Are you a dense, consumer sukka?  Why is it again that you have to toss a perfectly good water bottle that you bought for a buck-twenty-nice, that comes free with a liter of water, soda or sports beverage?  Hello....McFly.....you can reuse a plastic bottle - peel label, refill from any convenient source (in my case, usually mountain creeks or springs).

3)  "Convenience" / "Sturdy" - Yeah, but you don't need to spend $29 to get that....the same buck-twenty-nine bottles I use have been in use for....mmmm.....about 5-7 years each.  Nice thing about them - no dents when ya drop them.  Squeeze the air out of the empty ones and put the cap back on when you need more volume in the pack.  Clear plastic lets you see when there is "funk" on the inside so you can rinse with hot, soapy bleach water.

The funny thing about reusing sports drink, soda or pre-filled water bottles over as ones "water bottle" is that long distance hikers have figured this out 15+ years ago.  When hiking through the desert, you need greater capacity since the springs / creeks are further apart.  Buy 1-3 additional bottles that come pre-filled with a free liter of sports drink, soda or municipal water- total cost, a few dollars.  Once through the desert and the extra capacity is no longer needed, leave empty bottles in the last hotel you stayed at.

Note - there is only once circumstance where I'd advocate for a purpose made water "bottle".  That would be backpacking in wet conditions where hypothermia is a possibility.  Filling a 1 liter Nalgene type bottle (or equivalent) with boiling hot water makes a nice impromptu hot water bottle (soda bottles melt at this temp).  Put inside a sock, take with you inside of sleeping bag or tuck inside of the jacket - metal or insulated purpose made bottles are either less suitable or unsuitable for this purpose (too rapid or too slow heat transfer, respectively).

moof

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #8 on: September 02, 2016, 03:03:23 PM »
Nice!  Re-usable water bottles are the way to go :).  Sort of surprised he paid $29 for that water bottle though, since they are frequently available at garage sales or thrift stores for around $3. 

I get mine for free at the local sports park or soccer fields.  Monday morning after a tournament someone has always left a bottle as litter on the ground, just waiting to be picked up and reused by its new owner!

I'll cast a bit of a vote of dissent.  Years back our company hit its 25th anniversary and gave everyone in the company a stainless water bottle, and a decent one at that.  During the first week I saw maybe 1 in 4 people using them.  Within a month later it was down to maybe 3-4 people.  After 2 months I a couple collecting dust on shelves, none in actual use.  My guess is that giving these out was about 10:1 worse on the whole for the environment than giving everyone a six pack of non-reusable bottle of water.

Glenstache

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #9 on: September 02, 2016, 03:09:27 PM »
Nice!  Re-usable water bottles are the way to go :).  Sort of surprised he paid $29 for that water bottle though, since they are frequently available at garage sales or thrift stores for around $3. 

I get mine for free at the local sports park or soccer fields.  Monday morning after a tournament someone has always left a bottle as litter on the ground, just waiting to be picked up and reused by its new owner!

I'll cast a bit of a vote of dissent.  Years back our company hit its 25th anniversary and gave everyone in the company a stainless water bottle, and a decent one at that.  During the first week I saw maybe 1 in 4 people using them.  Within a month later it was down to maybe 3-4 people.  After 2 months I a couple collecting dust on shelves, none in actual use.  My guess is that giving these out was about 10:1 worse on the whole for the environment than giving everyone a six pack of non-reusable bottle of water.
Is it to heavy handed to say that you can lead a horse to water, but.... ?

Syonyk

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #10 on: September 03, 2016, 07:57:40 PM »
I bought a gallon jug of water when we moved earlier this year, and deliberately got one of the heavy plastic ones (not the normal thinner milk jug plastic).

It's been going for 6 months now...

MrsPete

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #11 on: September 05, 2016, 09:17:57 AM »
Meh.

Article is kind of silly IMO, at best only semi-mustician since it's advocating spending a ridiculously large amount on a purpose made product - yeah, I know...supposed to be snarky and poking fun at the consumer sukka's, but still........ 

1)  "Saves money".  False choice.  Assumes only alternative is to constantly buy pre-bottled water.  It's called a fountain.  Or, see below for an even more economical choice than spending large amounts on purpose manufactured bottles.
I thought the same thing.  I carry a water bottle to work every day, but it "saves" absolutely nothing.  Why?  Because if I didn't carry it, I would not purchase commercial bottled water.  I'd drink from the water fountain or the sink. 

This "you saved X amount" is one of my pet peeves -- it's often a marketing technique rather than actual savings.

MoneyCat

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #12 on: September 05, 2016, 09:20:21 AM »
I don't think I've ever actually paid for a reusable water bottle. Companies are always giving those things away as promotional items.

Debts_of_Despair

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #13 on: September 05, 2016, 09:42:53 AM »

2)  "I don't have to dispose of it every time I empty it".  WTF?!?!?!  Are you a dense, consumer sukka?  Why is it again that you have to toss a perfectly good water bottle that you bought for a buck-twenty-nice, that comes free with a liter of water, soda or sports beverage?  Hello....McFly.....you can reuse a plastic bottle - peel label, refill from any convenient source (in my case, usually mountain creeks or springs).



Bad idea, not perfectly good at all.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5671681

MrsPete

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #14 on: September 05, 2016, 10:22:57 AM »
I don't think I've ever actually paid for a reusable water bottle. Companies are always giving those things away as promotional items.
I have.  The free ones tend to have screw-tops, and I much prefer the type with a drinking spout or a straw-top.  Since I'm more likely to actually use a water bottle I like, and since it has a multi-year lifespan, I don't mind paying. 

But, yeah, I have 5-6 freebies in the cabinet.  My kids, who are less fussy about type of bottle, use them.

No Name Guy

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #15 on: September 05, 2016, 12:02:30 PM »
Yawn.  Germ-o-phobe scaremongering at it's best.  "Don't use this perfectly good alternative to buying an expensive consumer good....buy an expensive consumer good since there may be germs....oh, never mind that we didn't show actual harm, there are a few more, in some cases, than an arbitrary level." 

Besides - it takes about 3 drops of bleach in a fill to sanitize the interior.  Let sit for a bit, dump n rinse. 

Heck, mine, in the context of how they are used are sanitized with every fill since I use chemical water treatment when backpacking - fill bottle directly from "dirty" mountain source, add chem, let sit 15 minutes, drink perfectly good water from bottle that also happens to have been sanitized as well.

Again, consumer sukka behavior to not reuse.  And, as stated previously, clear is ideal since you can see when the funk is growing and give a more thorough washing.


2)  "I don't have to dispose of it every time I empty it".  WTF?!?!?!  Are you a dense, consumer sukka?  Why is it again that you have to toss a perfectly good water bottle that you bought for a buck-twenty-nice, that comes free with a liter of water, soda or sports beverage?  Hello....McFly.....you can reuse a plastic bottle - peel label, refill from any convenient source (in my case, usually mountain creeks or springs).



Bad idea, not perfectly good at all.

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/5671681

guitar_stitch

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Re: Water Bottles
« Reply #16 on: September 06, 2016, 05:34:51 PM »
For what it's worth, I did spend a hefty chunk of money on a Brita filtering water bottle.  This decision was made on 2 factors:

1) Getting away from drinking GALLONS of sweet tea at $3 each, plus the long term costs of the growing potential for diabetes and obesity;
2) I work for a public water utility company and our office sits right near the water plant, leading to an unpleasant amount of residual chlorine and other bad flavors in our already hard water.

By getting the filtering water bottle, I was able to successfully quit my tea habit cold turkey and increase my daily water consumption to around half a gallon a day.  At 32 ounces, I can fill it up and keep it at my desk while working and not be distracted by constant refills.  The flavor of the water is substantially improved, making the transition from glucose bliss to water a non-issue.

For me, the cost is worth it.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!