Klean Kanteen insulated water bottles are the best for hot drinks
Choosing the best water bottle for yourself or your family can be tricky. With millions of disposable plastic water bottles ending up in landfill each year, we encourage you to find the best reusable water bottle for your daily needs so that you are more likely to carry your water bottle with you everywhere. When choosing the best water bottle these are the key things to consider (generally in order of how we find people priortise the criteria):
size -- A one litre bottle full of water can be very heavy to carry around all day. Will you be able to fill it up during the day? Is it just to sit on your desk and help you monitor how much you are drinking? How much will the child drink during the day? For children, a large bottle when full can be quite dangerous should they drop it on a small toe!
leak-proof lid -- most metal bottles and hard plastic bottles (which cannot be squeezed to force water out) do not allow a leak proof sports sipper top because there needs to be a very small hole for air to escape and allow a strong flow of water to your mouth). Will your bottle be tossed around in a bag without any water leaking on to your phone, iPad, text books, or other contents. Or, will you be able to keep this bottle upright, such as on your desk or in a backpack that has a drink bottle holder or in your bike's bottle holder. Note that some water bottle ranges do offer interchangeable lids, so while the original bottle may be sold with a lid that leaks if it falls over, there may be other options to add on. With Klean Kanteen, you can simply choose the lid that you prefer: sports top that is not leak proof, but very easy to drink from; or a screw top lid.
material -- Many people already have an idea of whether they prefer glass, metal or BPA free plastic. Each has its benefits. Our strong, thick quality plastic is light, robust and does not dent (and you can see contents clearly). Glass is absolutely the safest (no toxins) and best for not tainting the flavour, particularly for smoothies and sports drinks. Metal is also robust but it can dent and the paint can scratch off. SIGG bottles are as light as strong plastic, while stainless steel is a little heavier. However, stainless steel is less likely to dent than a SIGG bottle. Even though a SIGG bottle may dent, the lining never cracks and they remain taste-free and non-toxic for many, many years. We've recently added the BPA free plastic ranges from Contigo water bottle & Camelbak to our shelves & we love them!
cost -- You do pay for quality and all bottles sold at Biome are great quality and backed up by the guarantee of the manufacturer. Our manufacturers are not nameless or faceless. They are companies like Klean Kanteen where you can check their website and read all about their track record and approach to manufacturing. For kids, you might also consider whether the child will be at risk of losing the bottle (therefore a quality BPA plastic bottle might be the way to go as these are generally more inexpensive to replace)?
appearance -- Does the look of the bottle matter to you? Will an attractive bottle make you more likely to use it?
mouth size -- Do you wish to put ice cubes inside your bottle? In that case, you will need a wide mouth bottle (not a SIGG style bottle with a small opening). For example, a standard Klean Kanteen and Nathan are big enough for ice. Mouth size is also important for the ease of cleaning. If you are just putting water in the bottle, you only need to rinse out the bottle and occasionally use a long handle bottle brush on the inside. However, if you are carrying milk drinks or smoothies, you want to have good access to scrub the inside. In that case, choose a Lifefactory glass bottle or a Klean Kanteen wide mouth insulated bottle.
insulated or not -- If you wish to use your water bottle for hot drinks, you must have a double walled insulated bottle. Plastic mouth pieces such as straws and sports tops are also not suitable for hot drinks. Never choose plastic bottles for hot drinks - only ever choose stainless steel double walled insulated bottles for hot drinks (to prevent risk of burns, etc).
Check out our ideas on how to choose the best water bottle.
