> I like to see any of you 'recyclers' drinking from your bottles while mountain biking or running down a hillside. Oops, I've dropped my lid, I'll catch up...
I use 'sport caps', so don't need to take the lid off. And we tend to stop fairly frequently, to get our breath back, to admire the view, to have a chat, to eat our butties. So, plenty of time for hydration. Maybe I'm not hardcore enough...
I've dropped PET bottles from my MTB, and whilst walking quite a few times, with no problem.
> Fizzy juice ones aren't [designed to an industry standard size to fit bottle pockets, cages]
Lucozade Sport (and many other) bottles fit perfectly into bottle cages. Just as well as nasty-tasting polythene 'cycle bottles', such as SIS...
None of this is to say that I don't have four water bladders and an MTB 'borg pack'...
Indeed some bottles do fit in the recepticles. It's marketing ploy to make make people feel sporty. How many adventure racing teams, expeditions, track athletes do see drinking out of old volvic/lucozade/diet irn bru bottles because they're just as good as a specifically designed to be reused and abused product? That'll be none then.
Another thing, why do British people have to be just one thing, "I'm a hillwalker, I stop and look at the view while I drink my water, oh yes". I'm a hill walker, runner, climber, biker, camper, so anything I use has to work well in all those situations. This attitude makes me Scandinavian, European or American because they just do "Outdoors" and don't put themselves in a box.
And in conclusion, I have many times carried water bought out of the garage on the way to a hill and no issue with it whatsoever.
> It's marketing ploy to make make people feel sporty.
Great, isn't it? It means I get cheap water bottles that fit my cages, rather than spending silly money on 'proper' bottles... Oh, and my bottles come filled with a pleasant fizzy drink (at least to start with).
> How many adventure racing teams, expeditions, track athletes do see drinking out of old volvic/lucozade/diet irn bru bottles because they're just as good as a specifically designed to be reused and abused product? That'll be none then.
Because they're provided by their sponsor, whose logos they are emblazoned with.
Or because they've fallen for the hype that they have to have 'proper' bottles if they want to be 'proper' athletes...
> I'm a hill walker, runner, climber, biker, camper
Ditto. Although I'll trade running for sking and snowboarding... And, in all these activities, I tend to stop now and then. As I said, I'm obviously not hardcore enough.
Because they're provided by their sponsor, whose logos they are emblazoned with. No sponsorship at best gets you a discount off of trade. Very few get anything free. Or because they've fallen for the hype that they have to have 'proper' bottles if they want to be 'proper' athletes... No again, you need something that works. (This is something I'm involved in and like a Vulcan I am incapable of lying)
As I said, I'm obviously not hardcore enough. No again (again), you've found a comfortable line and stopped at it.
the way you folks are arguing has gotten me all confused now. all I wanted was some simple suggestions. I think i must be "hardcore" enough, as not only do I possess every type of water container mentioned above, but I also have all THREE types of British army water bottle. The old green one, a black s6 and an s10 surely thats "hardcore". And if not, then maybe the old cross country runs carrying one 25 litre army issue water container in each hand, plus rucksack, might count towards it. I also accept that when running, I can drink from my cycle bottle if I want to. But cant drink from it on my bike while riding, as it sits on the underside of the dual suspension frame, and so I would probably lose a finger in the process. I also accept that most of you are "outdoor" types, and take part in more than one hobby!. So to add to that one as well, fizzy bottles also can be used when parachuting, and stand up to it well. Do I also need a special sports top for my bottles, I thought not, as I have drunk from them day and night (pitch black, in caves, on boats and kayaking, and yes even while running, and have never lost a top yet. As for sports hype, my wife and I use any bottles (commercial or not) while her sister uses only logo'd stuff, but then being sponsored, all her clothing, bottles, and even her bike were free, due to sponsorship!
A great book I am reading (the title of which I forget, billed as the "backpackers bible", written by 2 old guys in the US) did some testing using cola bottles vs proper bottles.
The result was that all it takes is a bad fall onto a hard surface and the cola bottles leaked. That can lead to a very dangerous situation, therefore they did not recommend them at all.
I have to ask, is you sister in law manufacturer sponsored, or distributer, or shop chain? To get the lot like that you've got to be good :o)
Anyway. The way you carry the water is only half the story, the amount is more important. I always carry too much on camping trips instead of filling up before I pitch. For day trips I carry two 750ml bottles or a 2 litre bladder (Source). I have yet to find the perfect compromise, I almost always camp high above any usable water and I've never been caught short yet. This weekend I'm going to carry less, so we'll see.
Thats a good point Ray, lemonade bottles are useless as pee bottles when camping :p
I re-use a lucozade pull top bottle for the gym and it is plenty tough enough.
THe sports bottle issue, where athletes are concerned do they not regularly use a lot of energy/recovery powder drinks i.e. High Five and SIS which has the dosage graduations on the side.
Aye, but the energy stuff come with a measuring cup in the tub anyway so that's another pointless gimmick :o) And I hope you all drink proper isotonic in the summer and not that Lucozade crap...
sloth you had me worried then, talking of peeing into a bottle, and then mentioning a lucozade bottle, I was wondering what was coming next, after all, I'd imagine it tastes about the same either way!
ptc, she is sponsored by a shop, and yes she is good (well she say's she is). As a benchmark she has always come home in the first 5/6 women in any marathon/half marathon she does, I have never seen her in a bike race, so cant answer on that one.
God, here comes the agony aunt bit, Jason D, see posts above, no one here has had a fizzy bottle break, including parachuting, and falling off a ridge in the Brecons. you may also ( I think)find that one of the above poster's, whom is wisely staying quiet, used them for over 3000 miles, one year with no probs.
Once again thanks for the replies, and re-assurances, and yes, while a very hard knock could break any bottle, I might be a bit more worried about my destroyed camera/stove/binoculars first.
And for the benefit of anyone who liked the snake/Brecons tale. I have another equally stupid one for you. I was once out on a multi day with a girlfriend, whom was new to outdoor stuff. We stopped at a shop and bought 2 litres of beer in a plastic bottle for the nights ahead. I said I would carry the beer in my pack, and went off to get some chocky or something. All was well until we stopped that night, only for me to find, that in order to keep the beer safe, she had emptied my nalgene bottles of water, and put the beer in them! Of course, not being pressure vessels, they had leaked all over everything in my pack, and had gone a bit balloon shaped. ho hum.. had to drink all the beer, so that I could re fill them with water. And it brought a whole new meaning to your waterproof feeling sticky in hot weather.
I came across a discussion on an American forum about the whole "leaking Pepsi" bottle thing. They ended up doing all kinds of tests. Squashing them with heavy things, throwing them off things. They couldn't get bottles that were made for fizzy things to leak. Bottles made for non fizzy drinks were weaker (not surprisingly).
I experimented by jumping on one with my boots on (I'm about 78 kilos - umm thing that's about 12 ish stone I think). Couldn't get it to leak.
I read somewhere (can't remember where) that plastic bottles containing still water needed to be stronger than those containing fizzy water, because the additional pressure on the inside of the bottle with fizzy water helped the bottle resist external pressure. Red Yeti and other posts here seem to suggest the opposite.
Anyone have any convincing arguments/evidence either way?
Hi Red yeti. I can see you doing that "all in the name of science". and knowing you, I bet you remove all traces of the label to reduce weight further. But being serious, one of my "test's, was to play football with a fizzy bottle for ten mins, no problem there either. One use of a fizzy bottles that has not been discussed (read on and you will see why) is their ability to "suck" by compressing them, and them re-forming them. Is that of any use, I hear you ask.... Well not really. In over twenty years of outdoor stuff, the only use I saw of it, was sucking "horse leeches" out of water waiting to be treated, to avoid touching them!
Interesting thread, would make for a good article - fizzy drinks bottles vs sigg/laken alu type vs nalgene etc.
I've not known fizzy drinks bottles to break easily either. Not quite "bulletproof" lexan but managed to deflect air gun pellets. Have also previously done the football "test" without problem.
As Matt C suggests, Platypus flexible bottles are a good buy in terms of weight and ability to fold them flat, although at a cost of durability perhaps.
I use a roll-up 1.5L Nalgene Cantene as a drinks bottle & another as a pee bottle in winter - they weigh 64g each. My overnighting water container is a wine-box bladder at 42g.
I may take a look at the collapsible platys MattC suggests. I have their bladder & tube (104g) & it's great except for the zip-lock seam which can be a pain.
I'd certainly consider a recycled bottle for day walks when there's a bit more space in the sac. I drive a lot & often buy drinks from garages & have seen some great bottles - going to hang onto a few now!
I don't know if they've changed the material since but a good few years ago I had a Nalgene water bottle disintergrate. It was one of the rigid whitish semi-clear ones. It developed a strange pattern & then one day I gave it a hard squeeze & it was in a lot of pieces.
Good morning all. I'm glad I started this thread now, many of us seem to be happy to use gear that works, as opposed the "top brand" gear, such as the "wine-box bladder" or "fizzy bottles" quoted above. I know some of you use Hydration bladders, but I don't personally like them (even though I have two)> the problem I have with camelback's etc is that I can't accurately judge how much water is left, or accurately measure water for food preparation. Also As I usually carry my wife's water on day walks, it's impossible to split it 50/50 between us (I run hot, and so get very thirsty) When purifying water, I can pump treated water straight into my bottles, but can imagine it's not so easy with a bladder inside your pack. So back to the fizzy/commercial debate, another thing a saw recently were commercial drinks bottles (about 400/500ml) that had a crushable inner core so that their contents could be frozen, what a waste of money and weight. Surely just take your nalgene/fizzy bottle, don't overfill them, and whack them in the freezer overnight. I used this method last year (daytime temp 35 degrees celsius), and just wrapped the frozen bottles in a few plastic carrier bags, and they stayed cool until about two PM during the day walk (nine AM start) Must stop typing now, if this gets any longer, it will be a novel
Your right Ray - I remove all the labels but as much to stop them disintegrating as anything else!
Top tip: Meths removes the thermal label glue nicely.
As to the fizzy/still strength debate. My evidence for that (apart from what was said on the American forum above) is a couple of things. Glass fizzy bottles have to be stronger than still ones (saw it on a documentary years back). And, take one of each bottle, empty it and give it a good folding. The mineral bottle tends to develop white lines and eventually crack much sooner than the fizzy.
Amazing how much interest this thread's generated eh? I suppose water's quite important. If you like your comfort ;)
