UKC

Dan Bailey and family road test a selection of water bottles. What will they find to say about them?

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In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Another paid promotional nebulous UKC gear review, with basic mountaineering use not considered:

Can you fill them with boiling water (if you have been boiling to sterilize), or if you are improvising a hot flask wrapped in spare clothing.

Are they taint resistant enough not to retain an iodine smell/taste?

Will they resist being frozen.

Are they leak proof enough to fill with hot water and use as a hot water bottle in your most expensive down sleeping bag? and does that handle make it uncomfortable  at the bottom of the bag?

Is the lid secure enough to withstand racks being pushed and pulled past in a rucsac.

How do they hang on a harness, and will the lid pop on a chimney pitch/thrutch.

Does the colour tint prevent spotting floaters or squirmers when filling from streams.

Can you piss in it easily?  and with a stream quick rinse without hot water would you drink from it afterwards?

UKC must try harder, or is the target audience now a bunch of ramblers, this is a (or was once a) climbers website after all.

0/10

In reply to ScraggyGoat:

"Reviewed by Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com"

In reply to ScraggyGoat:

Paid promotional..? That's not how it works.

You want in-depth critical reviews? We've got plenty. Some products merit more attention to detail. These are water bottles. I was already surprised at how much I found to say about them.

You're asking some pretty specialist questions of what are very clearly mass market products for general outdoor use. 

That's a fair question, and not one I thought about (it's spring, too warm for hot drinks. And I rarely streilize water in Scotland). I've just tested the Shute Mag with boiling water and it seems fine. I wouldn't suggest using boiling water in the models with a bite valve though. I'll add this to the review as it's useful info

Pass. Probably? I filter, when I treat water at all - iodine is foul toxic stuff

As in not crack, or pop the lid, when frozen solid? Will any bottle do this if it's full? I'll ask CamelBak

Clearly. But again, only the screw top.

That handle would be less comfy than a Nagene - that's obvious from the pictures, no?

Yes. But I'd normally take my bottle out before removing the buried rack as it's easier

They hang fine. I've literally never done this in anger, but go for it. I doubt the lid would pop: that'd have been hard to test for certain though

What do you think, from the pictures? No

If you can piss in a Nalgene then you can piss in these. I would probably want to wash it properly after, but sure why not have a go

The target audience is pretty wide, and includes many who sometimes go hillwalking, as well as all shades of climbing - plus of course this content is shared across UKC and UKH. Call us all ramblers if it makes you feel superior

You raised a couple of useful points, so 2/10

In reply to ScraggyGoat:

Can you post a photo of the view from up there on your high horse? I bet it looks amazing.

Seriously this level of elitist bile for a water bottle review? Not sure how you cope with life in the 21st Century if you can generate this level of opprobrium for a review. If it offends you then just skip it and enjoy taking the elements from UKC that you want for gratis. 

Is your preference to consider asking Alan to create a subscription model and paywall to keep the ramblers out?

In reply to TMM:

Piss Bottle Group Test, coming to a semi-reputable climbing website near you

In fact, maybe the word semi isn't overly appropriate within this context...

UKC is a specialist forum, I thought that was its whole point?

If reviews don't put items through their paces in the ways mountaineers, climbers and hill-walkers use and abuse their gear, there isn't really any point to the review(s)?

Using bottles as hot flask's, sleeping bag warmers, sterilizing water via a variety of ways (yes I too occasionally filter, but at times others may use or be forced to different approaches on occasions), checking for floaters, and getting shoved in and out of sacs with their assorted contents, are hardly 'specialist' applications, or eventualities. 

Maybe I've got out of bed on the wrong-side today, and it was phrased unduly critically, but UKC reviews  need to be very good, to encourage users to read them, particularly for items as mundane as a bottle, and need to demonstrate they understand and considered how forum readers (who as noted above by default are / or ought to be a specialist audience) use such kit in the real world.

My point about ramblers is that their water bottles commonly sit upright in a nice side pocket, and don't have to suffer the ignominies of the above type of use, and for such a user group the review would be perfectly adequate, acceptable and good.

I'm essentially being cruel to be kind, as I quite like UKC and its mix of characters, and would like it to prosper.  If I hadn't given this article a broad-side I guess the views and comments would probably have negligible...so in a way I've done UKC a favor, if a bit of a harsh one.

Rob, a rogues photo gallery of piss-bottle use the morning after the night before on an alpine bivi, would definitely have comedy value!

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

Extra points for a lightweight low-volume women's-specific pink version with cut down features...

In reply to ScraggyGoat:

I think you made a fair point tbh but as you said yourself worded it more harshly than necessary.

I am a huge fan of hydration systems for walking / backpacking (sorry Dan) but usually carry a water bottle for extra water or as part of my sterilisation kit - the bottle screws onto the steriliser. In winter or.for cragging I'll ditch the bladder and just carry a bottle instead.

My go to here is a nalgene for exactly the reasons you have listed in your checklist so reading the review I was comparing the pros and cons of each bottle compared to a nalgene. I wouldn't expect the reviewer to do that as we all have different criteria for our bottles beyond the obvious does it carry water? My nalgene doesn't fit in a cup holder in my car which bothers me very little but might be a deal breaker for someone else.

Case in point, I recently bought a collapsible nalgene bottle to save space backpacking. I used it as a hot water bottle camping a few weeks back and the plastic went suspiciously soft. I was pretty concerned it might burst and soak my down bag. It didn't but I'd have been happier if I'd known the outcome in advance. Sadly no reviewer is going to cover everything I might have concerns over as my criteria are as individual as my uses.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

I've not got the adult bottles but the Kids Eddy is great. Had a couple over the years and they are definitely robust and long lasting. The first one was only replaced because my daughter placed it on top of a lit wood burning stove to warm up her juice...

One thing is that the bite valve can rip at the top and start to leak after long term use if your child likes to chew it. However, it is replaceable which I think is another plus that might be worth mentioning in the review. I assume likewise for the adult version if it is the same valve.

Unfortunately I can't shed any light as to how easy it is to get your child to wee in it

On a more general note, I think the child outdoor gear reviews are very useful, thanks.

In reply to icehockeyhair:

Thanks for that, very useful - I'll add it to the review

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Maybe the running forum would be a better place to ask, but...

Does anyone make a water bottle that's rigid on the outside (so sits nicely in a belt carrier) but has a bladder inside (so it doesn't slosh around irritatingly when half full)?

Seems like such an obvious thing but so far I've yet to come across one.

In reply to ScraggyGoat:

This test should definitely be featured in all future UKC water bottle reviews.   

Maybe after Brexit the British Standards Institute could be persuaded to adopt it for kitemark testing.

In reply to Rob Greenwood - UKClimbing:

If doing this, don't forget the most important metric is the 'TA' value.

(Todger Aperture)

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

The ones with straws are good for a swig in the car* on the way home without crouching behind the wheel to avoid the roof. The urge to tilt is fairly hard-wired though, as Dan's pic shows.

*Is car drinking illegal now? I never do that.

In reply to tom_in_edinburgh:

I'm starting to feel sorry for Dan, who is going to have to wee in all his water bottles to quench the forum's thirst for information. What did the poor guy do to deserve this?!?

Again, pardon the phraseology... 

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

I'll go the extra mile for reviews, but I've really got to draw the line at peeing in bottles... though there are some staff members (see what I did there?) who make a habit of it 

In reply to ChrisBrooke:

This is why I have to use an oil drum.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

I have had two CamelBak Eddys and found that the bite valves quickly become discoloured inside with black mould and are impossible to clean. I reported this to Camelbak twice and they kindly sent replacement bite valves which suffered the same fate. In response to an enquiry regarding compatible lids, they sent me two Chute type tops which are much easier to manage.

In reply to Dan Bailey - UKHillwalking.com:

Never borrow the guy’s water bottle!

I tuck my Chute into a mesh side pocket and use a gear Krab to secure the handle to a strap.

if he pisses in his water bottle, why worry about floaters?

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

Maybe I'm considered older generation these days, but I find this hilarious. Why would anyone fork out so much for a bottle (unless you're looking for something to spend your money on). It won't make you climb or walk any better. No-one needs this.

A recycled old bottle works just fine, and costs nothing. Got me up all the Munros, a dozen 4000m peaks and 30 years of classic rock climbing anyways.

In reply to jon massey:

You're right, it is an unnecessary expense... But surely someone from an even older generation could say the same about modern boots, Gore-Tex etc? They managed to do all those things fine in an ancient pair of hobnails, a felt hat and a woolen jumper. 

I guess the theory here is that you buy just one decent bottle every few years, rather than churning through endless disposable plastic bottles that just go to landfill or end up floating in the sea...?

Sure, you could buy a cheaper multi-use bottle but in my experience they end up leaking, or tainted. Not to mention the potentially harmful chemicals leaching into your squash.

In reply to UKC/UKH Gear:

My and families experience is that the eddy bite valves fairly rapidly get full of mould and are not particularly cleanable to prevent this. This build up is not obvious on the non-clear ones (dont ask me how I know) and replacements around £10 for 4.

When the hinge on the 'straw' then fails shortly after you have decided (after much deliberation over the merits of sustainability/irritation over the cleaning vs. that they do work quite well) to buy 4 new valves (replacement lid about £8 for a £10-£14 bottle)) you may be somewhat disappointed. The hinge failing happened on all 4 of the bottles owned by my (extended) family within 2 years of use. I bought a solid lid to get some further use of the bottle (more expense) and have reverted to Nalgene's or the in theory biodegradeable elite corsa cycling bottles which can had for about £3.

In reply to sidewinder:

There's a simple solution to the mould problem - store the lid in the freezer. I do that with all hard-to-dry water containers (e.g., bladders) and never had mould in years of use.