I finally found my go-to water bottle…has everyone already seen these?

[DGoggins]

Every time I’m at a gas station I look at their soda bottle selection….usually I’ve been using smart water bottles, but since switching to a steripen, I don’t want the small mouth bottle anymore. Yes, the smart water bottle is great b/c its slender, tall, and smooth, so its easy to get in and out of side pockets, but the small mouth makes it slightly harder to wash, fill, pour things into, use a bandanna to filter water through, etc.

So, I’ve been looking for a tall water bottle with a wide mouth. Finally….at a random gas station I saw that Pepsi was putting their sodas into basically an Aquafina bottle, but with a wide mouth. So I bought 4 of the A&W (I don’t usually drink soda, but when I do, its root beer)…check it out ->

 

I couldn’t find them in other gas stations though….the pepsi products were still in narrow mouth versions (mountain dew, 7up, etc).

Anyway, as you can see from the picture, its taller than the other wide mouth bottles, though not as tall as the smart water bottle.

True….would I like to see the smart water bottle size in a wide mouth? Sure, but I’ve found my new go-to.

[Kevin Babione]

Go back to that gas station and buy as many of them as you’ll need…Pepsi changed their bottle styles a couple of years ago (check the date on the soda) away from the big-mouth “gulper” back to the narrow mouth.

[Curt Peterson]

That Snapple bottle is the perfect bottle for the Steripen Freedom. It’s sized just right to hold the ‘pen in it without it sliding down into the bottle and just the right depth to hit the little water sensors. Hands-free zapping is where it’s at!

[Russ W]

I have the Steripen Ultra, a purchase from Massdrop. It has a small stopper that fits in the Smart Water bottle and gives you a little happy face after 90 seconds, but I’ve always wondered if it was zapping everything given the height of the bottle. Any fact or opinions?

[DGoggins]

I’m currently using the steripen classic 3. It has a stopper…and I think its supposed to fit narrow mouth bottles…..but it DOES NOT fit inside it well enough to realistically used…only about 1mm or so fits in the mouth…I wonder if the ultra has a smaller rubber on it?

The bottles though have a date marked as ->

306

0515UT07126

But….after google research, there is supposed to be a sell by date marked on the cap, but there isn’t one. Soda is supposed to have a shelf life of 6 months, and its a well traveled gas station so I don’t think their stock is years old or anything….

I wish I could go back, but I was traveling home from the high uintas (utah) back to boise. If anybody cares, it was in this sunmart in tremonton Utah ->

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Sunmart/@41.6829897,-112.1395821,2106a,20y,175.32h/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x38e5b18938be00c4!8m2!3d41.6826415!4d-112.1404606

 

[Jim C]

Russ,

(edited to fix a bunch of errors)

I have no facts, but plenty of opinions. ;)

I only got one trip out of my Ultra before it died, but here’s what I did on that trip: I’d fill my Smartwater bottle a little less than full, put the Ultra in like a stopper, turn the bottle upside down, and slosh it around during the count down.

By leaving some room in the bottle for the water to slosh about, I at least felt like the UV light would reach all the nasties. This is completely unscientific, and who wants to take advice from a guy whose Steripen failed on one trip, right? :) But it seemed reasonable to me.

[David Thomas]

I agree with Kevin: Stock up on those.  Aquafina water used to come in the same wide-mouth bottles and now is only in the narrow-mouth bottles.  Same with Mountain Dew and other Pepsi products.  I’ve still got a few around and I prefer them for easier filling* and drinking.  They weigh a little more (the reason, I suspect, for the new design – to save plastic), but are sturdier – they don’t collapse when you hold them by squeezing the sides.  Aquafina water used to come in wide-mouth, 1-liter bottles and also a 1.5-liter both of which I really like.

*TMI, perhaps, but when caving, all water bottles are bi-directional.  You drink from them on your way into the cave and fill them a few hours later so as to “Leave No Trace”.  The wide mouth makes the, er, “refilling” much easier.

I’d guess that those old-style, wide-mouth bottles are being produced at some bottling plant, perhaps a smaller facility, that hasn’t switched over the new design yet.  Sometimes, you can find an old design in a second-world country when the old equipment gets sold off (e.g. Russian Ladas being produced in a re-located 30-year-old Fiat factory).  Or if you want something without some safety feature like child-proof lighters, look at options overseas.

[DGoggins]

I checked out a few more local gas stations…couldn’t find the wide mouth pepsi models.

Which is odd…b/c the current pepsi posters in the gas station show both types ->

 

I did however find this in the gas station ->

A 40oz tall, wide mouth bottle. I don’t drink, so the contents were actually poured down the toilet.

Its the exact same cap as the pepsi products (interchangeable). And the 40oz is just as tall as the smart water bottle ->

(the above pic is Gatorade, narrow mouth Aquafina, wide mouth pepsi, steel reserve alcohol, smart water bottle).

The plastic is also a bit more strong than the A&W as well.

Unlike the Gatorade bottles, the bottom is tapered so it should be easier to slide in a side pocket.

[Erik G]

Straight into the toilet is the only place Steel Reserve should ever go…that is, hands down, the worst “beer” on the planet.

Nice bottle though  :)

[Jim C]

I found Tropicana Cranberry juice in a 32oz bottle with a wide opening like those a Gatorade bottle, but the bottle itself was narrower and taller. Probably not as tall and narrow as a Smartwater bottle, and the bottom is not tapered, but still might be easier to get into a side pocket than a Gatorade bottle.

Unfortunately, I didn’t think to keep or photograph the bottle. (I was performing a different test, which failed, and that was to see if the bottle works with a BeFree filter. It, like the Gatorade bottle, do not).

[ben .]

russ,

i actually asked steripen this exact question. their reply:

“We [tested the steripen inverted in a smartwater bottle] around 2006-2007, and it works just a well. Just for fun, put a few drops of food coloring in the volume of water (NOT FOR REAL-WORLD USE, as the will prevent the <span class=”il”>SteriPEN</span> from purifying water), and gently rock the bottle back and forth. You’ll be amazed how a little agitation can create such a mix.”

[Russ W]

Thanks for the update Ben.  I’ve had 0 issues with the Ultra and I’m looking forward to using in on my Sierra trip next week.  I hope the problems Jim C had above were only a one-off, and now I feel better that I haven’t been just lucky with the nasties.

All of that said, some of these bottle possibilities are interesting. Wish they sold Sierra Nevada IPA’s in one of those wide-mouth 40 oz. chug-a-lugs!

 

[David Thomas]

“I have the Steripen Ultra. . .  wondered if it was zapping everything given the height of the bottle. Any fact or opinions?”

Russ,

The response Ben got from SteriPen and the instructions that come with it indicate that you should agitate the container to mix the contents.  Doing so brings most of the water closer to the filament at some point and into the “brighter” regions of the UV light.

That said, a more spherical container would use that UV light more efficiently.  More water would be closer to the filament at all times.  The worst-case packet of water would receive a higher dose of UV.  The amount of the agitation being equal, you could treat a liter of water in less times.  Since the time is fixed on the SteriPen, every bit of water would receive a higher flux of UV during the allotted time.

I apply that myself – using a more spherical container holding somewhat more than a liter but with liter timing.  Or if I have a tall, skinny container, I use more time than its volume (half liter, liter) would suggest.  And I agitate tall containers more continuously than I do a shorter, squatter containers.

If you had a short, squat container with a UV-reflective coating on the inside; your exposure time could be much less.

[DGoggins]

I found an interesting bottle at an Albertsons today…..a core hydration bottle. Tall and slender, just like a smart water bottle but with a wide mouth. Its even more slender in the middle so its easier to hold.

The cap is interesting….it can double as a 4oz cup, though I don’t know what you would do with such a small cup. You can remove it if you screw the lid on and pull on the blue cap vertically. Its thankfully not glued to it.

The cap is not interchangeable with the pepsi/steel reserve wide mouths….different threading though same diameter.

Now, this looks great, right? Not quite….the greedy company sells this in 900ml bottles instead of 1L bottles. It was so close to being a great option!

Oh, and let me give you some weights ->

Smart water bottle 1L – 38g

Gatorade bottle 1L – 50g

core water 900ml – 51g

Pepsi widemouth – 43g

Steel reserve 40oz – 62g (if it was 32oz, it would have weighed 50g)

I thought the steel reserve one would weigh more than it did…it does feel a good bit stronger than the other bottles (besides the Gatorade one)

If you had a short, squat container with a UV-reflective coating on the inside; your exposure time could be much less.

Now that would be cool…..or if we could MYOG them. I still wouldn’t want a short/squat container b/c those are harder to pull in/out of pockets but ….if necessary exposure time was half, I would probably live with it. Does anybody know what materials reflect UV well? Is there a spraypaint that you could possibly use on the outside of a container that would do it or would the inside need to be lined? Just thinking…

 

[Jeff Patrick]

Evian bottles have a wide mouth that fits a steripen jouney perfectly.

Do you guys carry a “dirty” bottle and one or more clean or just not worry about putting your drinking bottle in the water? Is there a way to sterilize the mouthpiece? I suppose a pop up top would work if you could find the correct size.

[David Thomas]

“Is there a way to sterilize the mouthpiece?”

Works a little better with chlorine / iodine treatment (since the chemical residue will continue to treat the raw water), but I’ll leave the cap a little loose, invert the bottle, and squeeze some treated water out to flush the threads and cap.

The solution to pollution is dilution, as we say in my line of work.

[Barry P]

“Does anybody know what materials reflect UV well?”

They may be hard to quantify. Remember steripen says “Adventurer Opti may be used in glass, plastic, ceramic, or metal containers, as they all absorb or reflect UV light, thereby shielding the user from UV exposure.” I’m thinking a metal container would reflect well. But I want clear so I can see if there are floaties.

-Barry

[Jeff Patrick]

“Is there a way to sterilize the mouthpiece?”

Update: I cut a hole in the Evian cap and hot glued a Crystal Geyser sport cap on top. Seems to work well. Evian makes a sports cap but couldn’t find any bottles with them.

[DGoggins]

So…. I was able to go to the same gas station on my way down to Utah and buy a few more bottles.

I’m just throwing it out there… But I’ll be passing by the same gas station and if anybody wants some of the Pepsi bottles…. Let me know. They are 2 bucks each and then I can ship several of them to you for 3 bucks first class (empty bottles of course but in a box)

 

[Scott Kilcoyne]

I’ve been wondering if a Katadyn BeFree filter will work on those Core bottles, i think each size has a different size mouth.

[DGoggins]

Oh… Now I’ve been seeing the bottles in quite a few Utah gas stations…. And some shell stations have 2 2 liters of mountain dew for 2 bucks so only a dollar each. Come in harder to lose bright tops of green and red too.

 

So if anyone wants some for a dollar each let me know.

[Eliot]

Scott, were you able to try the core hydraion bottle with the BeFree? Curious about the threads. I saw a newer looking version at a store today and hopped on here to see if it’s been tried before I buy one!

[DGoggins]

Dang it…I had a core bottle, and I just put it in the recycling last week….

[Scott Kilcoyne]

The BeFree doesn’t work on the Core. I work at Whole Foods and have bought every wide mouth bottle available in the store to see if one works haha

[Eliot]

That is a massive bummer.

[Author]

Posts