Absolute Lightest 1L Water Bottle

[Frank Steele]

My steripen fits in the mouth of the regular 1L aquafina bottle.

[Pieter Kaufman]

I'm surprised no one's mentioned BPA exposure through most/all commercial drink bottles. I was routinely using Gatorade and Aquafina bottles alongside Platypi until my son was born and I learned about BPA exposure. Now I won't use any of the 'disposable' commercial bottles; only Platypi or BPA-free Nalgenes.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Ummm…because the water bottles don't contain any? ;-P

Seriously…if you are worried about BPA then you need to avoid CANNED foods and pop/beer cans that DO contain a lining with it for most brands.

[Pieter Kaufman]

"Ummm…because the water bottles don't contain any? ;-P"

Sure about that? All of them?

I work off the assumption that they do unless explicitly stated otherwise. And anyway, I don't buy bottled water, as much out of concern for waste and money as anything else. YMMV.

"Seriously…if you are worried about BPA then you need to avoid CANNED foods and pop/beer cans that DO contain a lining with it for most brands."

I do.

Not out of fear of BPA per se, but those kinds of products just happen to not figure in to my life much. That it means that I and my son avoid more BPA exposure as a by-product of avoiding most food in cans etc. is a benefit.

I'm not a BPA/health zealot. I just try to keep waste to a minimum; I keep leftovers in the refrigerator in a normal ceramic bowl covered with a plate, or something like that; and I try to not overcook in the first place. It's not a big ideological thing; it's just a simple habit of trying to live a little more simply; traveling lightly through the world, as it were. You know, sort of like our backpacking.

[John Mc]

I agree with Dale and Tom. I was at Safeway and picked up some mayonnaise, emptied the container, cleaned it and weighed it. It has a large mouth of I'd say 4-inches. This will work well for purifying and as a container.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Ovaltine is coming in jars like mayonnaise. They are PET. Should be easier to clean out than mayonnaise, might be better for you too :)

[Sam Farrington]

Rubbermaid makes a one quart bottle that weighs 2.7 oz, is 8" high, and rounded squarish, 3" x 3.75". The wide mouth is wider than any of the drink bottles, and has a drinking spout with a flip top securely joined to the cover.

Just mention this because it is half the weight of the Nalgene, is squatter and more stable, and is rigid-will sit up fine no matter how much water is in it. It is sold in Market Basket chain stores.

No, not the lightest, but if I hadn't designed the sleeves on my pack to take Nalgene bottles, I would trade them for the Rubbermaids. Sent my plea to Nalgene, but got no encouragement. Will keep looking for a 3 1/2 inch round widemouth quart bottle under 3 oz.

[Mark Mathis]

Older post, but linked from the current bladder post…but anyway…

"+1
2L platy cut over the 1L line, and a small square of bandana to prefilter water into my bottle of choice. Bandana goes inside platy bottom and flatened platy bottom is wrapped around the steripen and held in place with a rubber band. Provides a small amount of protection to the steripen with minimal added bulk."

I like this idea, I may try it. I had thought/planned of using soft Nalgene's, as the 32oz is perfect size for the steripen, just treat and go, no transferring from treatment vessel to carry/use vessel. Also playing around with MSR gravity filter as well, but it is heavier than I expected.

[EndoftheTrail]

When water is low and full of sediments… click for an ultra light and compact "water scooper and prefilter" — then treat with Steripen.

[D G]

"2L platy cut over the 1L line"

Recommend cutting much higher than the 1L line (you can always cut it down more as necessary). If you cut it just above the 1L line it makes it harder to gather a full liter of water from shallow water sources where you have to put the platy on it's side.

[Warren Greer]

Sam, great idea! When I reread this thread, I remembered I had one of those Rubbermaid containers in the kitchen that I'd not looked at in years. Along with the new Opti I'll be using here real soon, this is a sweet pair. The bottles a bit heavy, but its paid for! Now I don't have to try to cut a hole in a Gatorade cap. Was going to do that to have a mixing and water storage solution with a seperate extra cap. -Really, I'd rather not cut up something that will become single use like mentioned in other posts. A vessel with a functioning top has at least two uses in my application. Wahoo!!

[Sam Farrington]

Warren,
My earlier post has become a bit obsolete.
There is a 1L round wide mouth bottle made by Mueller with poly straw out that is under 3 oz without the straw and is 3.75" diameter. With a nylon bolt, the straw hole could be plugged and converted to a cap retainer (OK-that belongs in MYOG).
And John D. ("Newton") has posted a thread on MYOG about his latest pack that incidentally shows a great almost 1L bottle from Walmart peanut jars that is well under 2 oz. Off to the mart tomorrow to see if I can find some.
But the Rubbermaid 1L bottles sold at Market Baskets are still pretty good.

[R S]

My bladder.

[Warren Greer]

Samuel, I did see the peanut butter jars a few days ago when I came across Newtons thread. I appreciate the reminder on that. But I think they hold considerably less than one liter. And for me, I'd rather just do a liter at a time and get it over with. I assume it is probably better in terms of total treatments since the .5 liter treatment time is slightly more than half of the one liter treatment time.

I'd like to use a Gatorade bottle, but the bottle has to be nearly full to get the sensor in the water. I'm not sure if a light shaking is enough to agitate the water sufficiently or not.

Do you know how light the Nalgene 1L bottle is? Is it the milky colored bottle?

[Sam Farrington]

Warren,
I understood John to be referring to peanut, not peanut butter jars, but will go back and check. Checked W-mart yesterday, but all they had were 16 oz jars, not the larger ones shown on John's recent MYOG pack thread. Will be near a "super" W-mart tomorrow, so will check there.

The Nalgene translucent and solid color 1L bottles weigh just under 4 oz. Replacing them with a couple bottles under 2 oz would shave at least a quarter pound off pack weight – worth doing IMO. As noted earlier in this thread, I wrote to Nalgene, and got the brush off, so don't think they will be trying to lighten their bottles anytime soon.
Their totally clear bottles are even heavier. Between the solid color and translucent bottles, I like the latter because you can see how much water is in the bottle when filling and pouring. I like the wide mouth, because it is easy to scrub the inside with a brush, especially if they start to get moldy, which happens quickly if drink mix is used in them.

My water filter outlet hose has an attachment that fits the Nalgenes nicely, so will miss that going to something lighter.

[John Donewar]

Hi Sam,

I think from your description that you had them in your hands and put them back on the shelf! ;-)

Here's some more info. The jar of dry roasted peanuts, not peanut butter, has a net weight of 16 OZ (1 LB) 454g as written on the label. The water volume that the jar/bottle can hold is 26 fluid ounces.

I can post a picture to clear things up later but I am scooting out the door to work.

I hope this clears things up.

Party On,

Newton

[Daniel Fosse]

Curious, why noone talks about just treating water in a cook mug/pot since you may already be packing one. I have tested the Steripen Opti in my SP600 mug and it seemes to work OK. I filled it to about 550ml of water and did the 1/2 liter treatment.

I have one of those Coleman fuel funnels with a screen in the spout to transfer the water to my "pick your favorite bottle".

I'm going on a trip in a few weeks and plan to use this strategy with my SP900 pot. I'm going with my little boy so I'm taking a bigger pot. I should be able to do about 850ml at a time in the SP900.

Is there some flaw I don't see with this strategy? I'm new with the Steripen.

[D G]

A pot will work fine with the steripen. I suspect it's not a popular option though since typically most people store stuff like their stove and other items in their pot so while functionally it works fine it may not be the most practical solution with regards to convenience on the trail.

[Warren Greer]

^^^^^^^

That's how I feel. Plus, my pot won't hold a liter and that's how much I want to treat. It is probably more efficient with the batteries too since it takes less than two times the .5 liter treatment cycle to do a liter.

[John Donewar]

Sam,

Here are the pictures of the bottle/jar that I used.

The picture below gives the detail on the label to eliminate confusion.

I use these on my shoulder strap water bottle carriers. They hold 26 fluid ounces when filled up to the bottom of the threaded portion. I haven't checked but I'm pretty sure that filling one to the top would give you 27 if not 28 fluid ounces of water.

Party On,

Newton

[Christopher Wilke]

I picked one these Great Value peanut jars up after work. I have some immediate likes and dislike. My only dislike so far is the bottle has a fairly sharp lip in the inside so when I take a drink it presses into my top lip. I took a pair of kitchen scissors to break the edge but it's still mildly annoying.

Likes:
– size and shape for shoulder strap mounting
– volume – 828mL (28oz) up to the brim
– wide mouth so you can wash it out easier
– solid feel, no wimpy plastic bottle here
– weight – 1.38oz for the bottle, 0.21oz for the lid, total=1.59oz or 521mL/oz (for comparison my 1L (actually 1.04L to the brim) gatorade bottle is 588ml/oz)

Dislikes:
– inner lip of opening

For me the lip may be a no go but I'm going to test it out some and see if it's bothersome after I get used to it. It's got a lot going for it. All in all a pretty cool find by Newton.

Thanks!

Chris

[Sam Farrington]

John,
Thanks for clearing that up. 28 ouinces is plenty per bottle.
Will try them for sure.

[Chris Lucas]

For all you decigram weenies I found a very easy way to shave 0.6 grams off the weight of a narrow mouth bottle. Grind or otherwise remove the flange just under the cap. I believe it is an artifact of the injection molding process and seems to have no use whatsoever.

Bottle with flange removed via grinding

[Mark Hudson]

"I can't see the need to get much lighter than a wide-mouthed 1L Aqua Fina (or Mtn. Dew) bottle.

Man not me, I'll spend 10 minutes shaving a gram off of anything. Eh, to each his own."

Chris,

Even the fitest person I have met could probably stand to loose say 5 lbs off their body weight, hell many people like me could easily loose 10 or more.

Your shaving 1/56 of an oz off a water bottle?

I am not directing this at you at all, but I swear I think ul has to have limits.

My wife was a long time bike racer and I use to marvel at the folks in her clan (cant think of a better name for them than that) who didnt mind spending 300.00 for some little part that shaved half an oz off the bike, but had a belly on them they never worked off.

[Chris Lucas]

Yes I do understand that view point. I personally flirt with an unhealthy low BMI so my weight savings needs to be with my gear. I have to say that one of my hobbies happens to be backpacking while another happens to be ruthlessly slashing weight out of my backpacking gear. And my favorite type of weight savings is when I can eliminate completely useless mass for free!

So while I know your comment was not directed at me, I offer mine as a means of explaining their actions however seemingly incongruous.

[Author]

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