While proper hydration is important year-round, it’s especially important over the summer. If you’re active or working outside in the heat, or spending a lot of time just being outdoors, you need to drink more water.
I’ve had different preferences over the years, but Naglene’s 32oz wide-mouth bottle, shown above, is a good “standard” for me. I bought a couple of individual bottles over the years, and then I stockpiled a bunch more during good promotions. I’ve been using Nalgene bottles for maybe 16 or 17 years now.
Nalgene bottles are durable, and I’ve never had one leak. A friend’s bottle leaked once, after he tried to deliberately break his bottle. He replaced the cap and all was well.
Nalgene 32 oz bottles are 8.25″ tall, 3.5″ in diameter, and weigh 6.25 oz. The new ones are BPA-free and made from “Tritan” plastic.
You can replace the cap, there are inserts to reduce splashing, and there are a bunch of 3rd party accessories.
The new Tritan plastic bottles do tend to absorb and retain odors easily, or at least more easily than I remember their polycarbonate bottles doing. Other than that, I don’t recall having any specific issues or disappointments.
My first 32 oz bottle wasn’t a Nalgene, it was a Coleman of similar styling, because the Nalgenes were a little too pricey at the sporting goods stores and I didn’t know how much use I’d actually get from it. Now, you can get a 32 oz Nalgene for as little as $10 online.
I can absolutely recommend these water bottles, at least for water. For anything that has a natural smell to it, such as lemonade, you’d be better sure you’re okay with that smell lingering. And if you drink from the bottle while eating lunch or snacks, you’ll need to wash (and not just rinse) the bottle at the end of the day or it’ll smell funky fast.
These bottles can also be used as water-tight protective containers, something I’ve used one for a few times.
Price: ~$10+
Pricing can vary depending on the color or pattern.
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Buy Now(More Colors via Amazon)
I’ve also had great experiences with Camelbak (plastic) and Klean Kanteen (stainless steel) bottles, and my wife likes Lifefactory (glass). Before the Lifefactory bottle, she used a Nalgene N-Gen (~$8-12 on Amazon), which has a solid loop built into its non-tethered cap.
What has your experiences with these or other reusable water bottles been like?
