May 24, 2021/Riley Draper Table of Contents
A good water bottle is the kind of thing that changes your life. Getting a good amount of water into your body during your daily life is integral to maintain a steady, healthy lifestyle.
A good water bottle looks different for everybody, but the most important thing is that it’s easy to carry with you, easy to keep clean, and its capacity keeps up with the realities of your day-to-day use of it. We’re going to keep all of that in mind while we dig through all of the best water bottles specifically for hikers and backpackers and picking out the best ones to hit the market this year!
[amazon table=”23272″]
Here are the top 5 picks (keep scrolling for more details and picks 6-8).
[amazon table=”23273″]
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”19993″]
[amazon box=”B083L8G5CV”]
When you’re hiking and backpacking, space is always at a premium. Whatever you want to bring along with you has to be carried on your back. By that token, anything that helps you save on space and is designed to fit into the tightest crevices of your pack.
This bottle from Hydrapak Flux is all about fitting into your life. If you’ve ever taken a water bottle on a hike with you then you know how annoying it is to figure out what to do with your bottle once it’s empty. If you have space for a deck of cards, then you have space for this water bottle.
It’s an especially useful addition to your backpacking loadout if you’ve invested in a water filtration system. You can prop this bottle up when you need it for a quick drink, and once you’ve hydrated, you can break it back down until you’ve settled down into your campsite with your water filtration setup.
This is the kind of water bottle you pack up when you’re trying to squeeze every single ounce of utility out of every single piece. It has a convenient handle that makes filling it and drinking from it an ergonomic dream. It’s designed to be leakproof as well from top to bottom no matter how many times you collapse it.
It’s made from materials that are ready to stand up to the abuse of constantly crushing and reconstituting the bottle. Best of all, it’s 100% BPA & PVC free. A lot of flexible water bottles or hiking water bladders will give you water a weird taste. It’s a huge bummer to have gone through the effort of making sure your water has been sanitized and filtered as much as possible only to pour it into your bottle and have it taste like the bottom of a shoe.
Read more buyer reviews at Amazon.com.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”19993″]
[amazon box=”B001EGGQB6″]
You want to keep the surface between your water and your lips as clean as possible. We’re all nature lovers here, but that doesn’t mean that you have to totally expose yourself to whatever microscopic menaces are out on the leaves and in the dirt while you’re tackling the trail.
This water bottle from Thermos includes a simple button-latched lid over the valve, which is great for adding a simple piece of protection to your bottle while you’re out there trusting your health to the whims of nature. The body of this water bottle is also a huge selling point. It’s designed to fit comfortably into your hand so you can hold onto this bottle for extended periods of time if you’re not a huge fan of clipping it to your things.
It’s also textured just enough to give you a good firm grip no matter how damp the conditions on the trail are. It’s also impact-resistant and dishwasher safe, so you can head out with this bottle without fearing for its durability and you can wash it and reintegrate it into your regular life without batting an eye.
It’s a simple bottle, but sometimes that’s exactly what you need. It has easy to read Capacity markings along the side of the bottle so you can track your water intake without having to rely on guesses. It’s the perfect partner for hitting the trails.
Read more buyer reviews at Amazon.com.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”19993″]
[amazon box=”B07X88V9LW”]
This is a beautiful and functional water bottle. It’s nice to have a bottle with you that has the kind of build quality and aesthetic joy that pairing glass and bamboo together brings to something as simple as a water bottle. It’s not just a pretty bottle though, there are several considerations taken here that make it the perfect candidate for the environmentally-minded4 hiker looking to stay hydrated on the trail.
First of all, the material this bottle is made from is almost entirely recyclable. The glass and bamboo can either be repurposed or easily given back to the Earth that gives us these trails to hike in the first place. Making the bottle from glass also means that you’re not making the bottle from plastic, so grabbing one of these is an easy way to make an impact.
The lack of plastic in the bottle itself means that you’re also going to be keeping your water pure. There are no contaminants in the glass that are going to be leached into your beverages while you’re hiking. If you’re a stickler for avoiding things like BPAs, PVC, or lead in your drinking vessels, then this will do the trick.
They’ve also gotten out ahead of all of the concerns that would come from taking a glass bottle hiking with you. It comes with a silicone sleeve, making it comfortable and giving you a firm grip. The glass is also way more sturdy than you’d initially expect. You’d have to try pretty hard to smash this on accident, especially if you keep it inside of the sleeve at all times.
Read more buyer reviews at Amazon.com.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”19993″]
[amazon box=”B0842S68B4″]
The YETI Rambler is all about simplicity and function. It’s a sleek water bottle that doesn’t fuss with a bunch of weird features that get in the way of you and your hydration. Yeti is well-known for manufacturing high-quality drink supplies, and this water bottle is no exception.
It’s a water bottle that’s designed to keep your drinks insulated and accessible, and that’s the kind of simplicity that makes for a good water bottle to bring along on the trail. This water bottle features what YETI calls their “chug cap.” It’s a simple cap that sits on top of a glass cup with a wide mouth.
You can remove it with a quick half-turn, and when it’s clipped to your bag, it becomes an easy accessory to bring along on any trip. The stainless steel body of the water bottle and the double-walled insulation also make it a high-quality bottle that feels great to take a long pull of water from.
It’s robust enough to withstand any kind of abuse that might come from intense hikes or long backpacking trips. If you were to take a fall or drop your bag for whatever reason, this water bottle would survive without so much as a ding.
Read more buyer reviews at Amazon.com.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”19993″]
[amazon box=”B01KXHF34W”]
This is another insulated water bottle, unlike the previous water bottle from YETI, this one is great for hot drinks. The big difference lies in the cap. While the YETI Rambler and its glass lid feel like the height of water bottle luxury, it does mean that you’re not going to be able to get as much out of the YETI Rambler as you would with something like this bottle from Hydro Flask. This is a stainless steel water bottle with a colorful powder coating.
The coating of the bottle acts as a built-in grip and a way to further insulate your hands against your hot and cold beverages. With cold beverages, the coating keeps your bottle from accumulating condensation and becoming slick and difficult to hold, and with hot beverages, it dissipates a lot of the heat. When you combine the powder coating with the double wall insulation you have one of the most perfect bottles for drinks of different temperatures.
It’s also a great bottle for keeping the taste of your beverages pure. The stainless steel does a great job keeping your drinks from taking on any of the tastes of the materials making up the bottle. It’s also free of a lot of the nasty chemicals that tend to slip into plastic water bottles while maintaining a high degree of durability.
Read more buyer reviews at Amazon.com.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”19993″]
[amazon box=”B087YHVXTW”]
This water bottle from Nalgene is a real classic. It’s a wide-mouth bottle that does one thing and does it well. It’s designed to be long-lasting and rugged and it’s specifically made to appeal to folks that need a lot of water and very little fuss.
This water bottle features a screw-top lid that’s attached to the body of the bottle, you’re never going to lose it. That lid and the way it’s attached can act as a hook to keep it attached to your bags while you’re out on the trail, and the lid only takes a couple of swift spins to remove it for access to your water.
You’d think that a bottle this simple would be prone to failure and frustration, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Nalgene and their signature wide-mouth bottle have been around for so long because of their attention to quality.
The lid meets the bottle with a snug silicone ring that keeps it from leaking no matter how rowdy you are with it. It’s dishwasher safe, so it won’t warp when exposed to mildly hot water. In fact, Nalgene says this bottle is suitable for warm beverages up to 212 degrees.
The bottle itself is also just incredibly durable. The plastic is thick and strong. The same method it uses to withstand drinks of extreme temperatures is the method it uses to make a strong bottle that will withstand pretty much anything you can throw at it.
Read more buyer reviews at Amazon.com.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”19993″]
[amazon box=”B01N5NK3LY”]
This sleek aluminum water bottle is always ready to go when you are. It’s strong and modern-looking, and leak-proof. The large loop on the screw top makes this bottle easy to attach to any bag or hook any finger through comfortably.
You can carry it for long stints of time without it getting in your way and making your hike uncomfortable. The aluminum is lightweight without sacrificing durability, you’ll be able to hang onto this bottle long after a plastic bottle of similar quality.
The lid on this water bottle is a godsend. It screws directly into the threaded mouth of the water bottle, creating a tight seal that not even a carbonated beverage can undo. If you’ve ever had a spill in the middle of a long trail you know how important it is to keep your water under lock and key.
Read more buyer reviews at Amazon.com.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=”19993″]
[amazon box=”B07CG5CKBZ”]
This water bottle is futuristic-looking and infinitely useful. It’s a BPA-free water bottle that’s built with a wide mouth for easy drinking and a specialized loop that’s just for attaching your bottle to your bag for easy carrying. This is a nice bottle to own. It’s a beautiful-looking water bottle that’s powerful and structurally reinforced so you won’t end up on the wrong side of water bottle disasters.
The Embrava water bottle is designed to go anywhere you do during your everyday life. They focused primarily on making it as ergonomically superior as possible. Picking it up and drinking from it is always a delight and it’s leak-proof as well. It’s a strong bottle that’s meant to hold up against the repeated stress of everyday life. This translates to a water bottle that’s durable enough to go on the trail with you.
Read more buyer reviews at Amazon.com.
[amazon table=”23272″]
This water bottle is a little bit of a strange one, but it’s undefeated when it comes to utility and portability. It’s a water bottle that you can jam into some pretty tight spaces without sacrificing any space in your pack, and it’s extremely easy to use.
It’s also a great way to get clean and refreshing water while you’re backpacking. You’re not constantly being subjected to the taste of the material when you’re drinking from this water bottle. The utility granted by being able to smash this bottle down into the size of a deck of cards can’t be overstated.
This water bottle doesn’t offer much in the way of insulation or multi-use, but it makes up for it by getting out of your way when you don’t need it. It’s nice not having to worry about where you’re going to store your bottle once it’s empty, and it’s that kind of relief that puts this bottle above the rest.
Bonus tip: If you’re going to be bringing along a water bottle, you’re going to need to figure out how to get clean water. This video is an excellent resource when it comes to learning about purifying your water on the trail!
See more: [wpbb post:terms_list taxonomy=”category” separator=”, “]
Riley Draper is a writer and entrepreneur from Chattanooga, Tennessee. As a world traveler, he has been to more than fifty countries and hiked some of the most elusive trails in the world. He is the co-founder of WeCounsel Solutions and has published work in both national and global outlets, including the Times Free Press, Patch, and Healthcare Global. When he’s not writing, he’s probably on a hiking trip or climbing in the mountains.
When the cold weather sets in, staying warm becomes a top priority. Heated clothing comes…
In the heart of the rugged and diverse landscapes of Utah, a collection of natural…
Nestled amid the rugged landscapes and arid deserts of Arizona are some of nature's best-kept…
California, known for its diverse landscapes and natural wonders, also boasts an impressive collection of…
Virginia is home to a remarkable array of geothermal springs that have drawn visitors for…
Life is an adventure, a journey filled with countless opportunities for thrill and excitement. For…