BUY THIS BOTTLE!!!!
We live in the desert of Arizona, and for months we can have high temperatures in the hundreds, and lows in the 90's. We used to go through a Lot of disposable water bottles from the store - two to three cases a week. We were looking to find a way to keep the convenience of water bottles without throwing away so much plastic, when we purchased the first of our Nalgene bottles. We were looking for a "Made in USA" product that would hold up, and they have performed very well. We now own about thirty of the bottles in different shapes and colors and sizes. We fill them up with our water purifier next to the sink. The water tastes just as good or better than bottled water. These bottles don't hold "smells" like we've encountered with other bottles. The 16oz is the most popular in our household, however we do have a few 32oz sized bottles too, and they are handy for times when more water is going to be needed. We do still keep a couple of store waters around, mostly for people to take on the road when that comes up. If you're wondering if they will fit in your fridge, the 16oz wide mouth measures 2 5/8" Diameter by 6 7/8" Tall. The 32oz measures 3 1/2" Diameter by 8 3/8" Tall. I have washed the bottles in the picture over 100 times (saving a lot of plastic in a landfill, I hope) and although they cost more, the bottles have held up extremely well. I'm extremely happy with our decision to go with Nalgene. Yes, you have to wash them and fill them, and keep track of them, and it's not a perfect system. However, these have lasted months without a single failure, and I believe they will last a few years, replacing us throwing away hundreds of water bottles for each of these. Disclosure: I did not get paid in any manner for this review, and these are my own opinions as a customer and user, and I'm not affiliated with any bottle product or Nalgene in any way other than an Customer. You can't go wrong with this. When I was in college, my roommate and I decided to test the structural integrity of a Nalgene. We were, for reasons which I cannot fully reconstruct, irritated at the structural perfection of the thing. Didn't matter what one did to it, it would not break. We were tired of having our flaws and inadequacies sneered at by this inanimate plastic thing, so perfect at it's job, so faithful, so unpossessed of anything even approaching a flaw. Nothing, we reasoned, has any business being perfect. So, we chucked my full Nalgene out of a third-floor window. It landed on concrete with a terrific SMACK!, which startled the hell out of this annoying girl who just happened to be standing close by, and bounced about five feet in the air before coming to rest, entirely unscathed. People seemed shocked, but we were not even a bit surprised. This thing is so solid, it's really kind of incredible. Like Chase Utley, the Godfather, the Hope diamond, Abbey Road, the chicken nugget, I cannot imagine an improvement. It's just so... perfect. If you're not totally thrilled with one of these, I don't know what to tell you. It's just that good. I have three Nalgene bottles and they are by far my favorite water bottle for all purposes. These bottles are the end-all be-all, and are even better when used with a second-party silicone mouth piece. I have gone through at least a dozen water bottles in the hunt for the perfect one, and the Nalgene is by far my favorite because it is the only bottle I’ve found that meets or exceeds all of my criteria listed below. (1) Must be easy to clean (2) Must readily hold ice (3) Easy to drink from (4) Durable (5) Holds between 20 and 40 fluid ounces (6) Easy to keep track of/spot These criteria are listed in order of importance, and I’ve selected these due to downfalls of previous bottles. Past water bottles I’ve tried are often difficult or impossible to clean, and I particularly dislike the metal ones with mouthpieces the size of a nickel. How am I supposed to clean that without a special brush? Small mouthpieces also bar the use of cubed ice, which I particularly enjoy on long road trips. Some bottles hold ice readily—think Camelback nipple bottles—but I find these difficult to drink from and even harder to clean. The rest of my criteria are not as important to me as those listed previously, yet are still desirable in the hunt for a premium water-storage device. I like durable bottles that wont dent and lose their ability to stand upright—think Klean Kanteen. Additionally, I like water bottles that hold just the right amount of water, and are easy to keep track of. After using my Nalgene bottles for over a year I have found they meet all of my criteria. To put my use of these bottles in perspective I use them every day—literally. I use the Nalgene at work, at school, on camping trips, at the gym, and on road trips. I have found the Nalgene to be very easy to clean due to its wide mouthpiece, which also makes it very easy to fill with water and ice. The Nalgene is also very easy to drink from, though this is where my one and only complaint comes in. If you like to drink water with ice, it is difficult to drink the last ~10 fluid ounces of water without having the ice and water spill on your face. I did this many, many times before eventually buying the Nalgene Splashguard (which runs around 2-4$). Although I simply adore the mouth guard in concert with the Nalgene bottle it functions perfectly well without it. I will also note that I own the “narrow mouth” Nalgene water bottle, and find it to work perfectly well. This bottle is easier to drink from, yet can limit the use of ice in your water bottle. As previously mentioned, the last three criteria are less important than others, but I feel the wide mouth Nalgene meets all of these perfectly well. These are incredibly durable bottles. Mine have performed numerous feats of super water bottle strength, but I'll just share two. While at a local climbing gym my Nalgene was knocked from the second story balcony. The bottle fell nearly thirty feet to a concrete surface below and stayed perfectly intact. I had heard of the strength of Nalgene bottles in the past, but this really sold me on the durability of the product. A metal water bottle would likely have been dented beyond use, and a glass water bottle would likely have lead to a closed gym floor—though come to think of it most gyms disallow glass water bottles anyway. Just recently I was in Yosemite National Park and I drove away from a falls lookout with my bottle on the roof. My friends and I discovered my mistake when my Nalgene water bottle hit the ground in front of us going roughly 10 miles per hour. Although a few of my stickers are worse for wear, the Nalgene has survived to fight another day. My last comments pertain to the size and “trackability” of the Nalgene water bottle. These bottles can be purchased in 32 and 16 fluid ounce sizes, and I find the 32 ounce size suits all of my needs. While it may not fit in your average cup holder, I find no issue with fitting it in my car’s door panel. When I'm at work or school I either toss it in my bag or clip it to my pack with a carabiner. Lastly, the wide variety of colors allows one to differentiate their bottle from other peoples’ bottles while adding flare to your every day carry. As you can see my Nalgene has amassed a variety of stickers over the past year or two, and it has become quite personalized. I bring these bottles everywhere, and have yet to find an adventure they can’t handle. I truly don’t think a better bottle exists. Read more
