
For those of you who don't know me, I have developed a slight fetish over the last 10yrs of purchasing different drinking bottles and flasks.
I have had possibly 20-30 odd different bottles, over this time I have developed favourites and have also had a few disasters, there are some things I would like to tell you to save you time and money. In my opinion the old saying buy cheap, buy twice definitely applies to drinking flasks.
I would first of all like to point out the basics when looking for a good bottle.
- It must keep my water chilled, my smoothies icy cold and hot drinks hot. This straight away eliminates single layer flasks, as they do not do this at all. If you put hot water in one of these containers it will be too hot to handle, and the reverse, your cool water will quickly warm while gaining condensation on the outside of the bottle.
- It must be made of a non-toxic, or non leaching material. This means food grade stainless steel, or glass, definitely not any plastics or aluminium.
- It must have a rating that tells you how long it will keep cold drinks cold or hot drinks hot for. These will typically be double insulated and carry a guarantee, as they should. A reputable company will stand behind their product.
- It must be functional, for example a flask used for the gym must be large enough to carry sufficient water but not too large to become an obstacle to carry. Although I do love glass, it tends to lose points on functionality.
Ultimately I have come to consider my drinking water similar to a exquisite glass of wine.
At home I like to keep chilled water in the fridge in glass, I have two 1 litre miron glass bottles, miron glass is a violet colour that keeps the water fresher, it was first developed by the egyptians and now I believe the best to come out of Italy(Venice). It is a little pricey and normal glass will still do a great job.
To satisfy all four above I recommend Stanley. I also like Yeti and Klean Canteen but Stanley is my favourite. They just seem to be continually improving their game!
My first Stanley, a classic 1.25litre came with a lifetime warranty. When I arrived home, I took the lid off, filled it with really hot tap water then left it on the sink. The next morning, I went to pour the water out and almost burnt myself. It was still extremely hot, yet it had been sitting with the top off all night.
They have now improved them to the point they have four layers, this enables them to boast that some of their flasks can keep drinks cold for over 120hrs. Its practically a fridge, that doesn't need power.
They have also changed their look from the classic hammer tone green to a mat black. This is a pretty cool flask indeed, excuse the pun.
Typically a proper flask will set you back about $70-$120 from a quality camping or kitchen shop, you can however pick these up online for about half the price. This may seem a little on the expensive side but remember they last for life, and have a lifetime warranty.
I would lastly like to point out I have a range of sizes, I use a 631ml for my car, it fits perfectly in the cupholder and has a drinking lid. This never seemed to be enough at the gym and I was always refilling it, so have opted for the 1 litre. When travelling far I use the 2 litre and for a small smoothie, coffee or hot chocolate at the movies I take the 530ml.