The highest scoring bottles, like the Iron Flask Insulated, Hydro Flask Wide Mouth with Straw, and the Klean Kanteen TKWide, all had hard plastic lids with rubber gaskets that produced a tight seal.

Yet, unlike grandma's boat, the bottle that many of us grew up lugging around in the backcountry has been up upgraded with some environmental considerations. As with plastic bottles, it's best to keep the glass out of the sun if you want your water to stay cool. This year, the Iron Flask Insulated takes the prize as our go-to in terms of value, though the Nalgene Wide-Mouth remains a top consideration as well.If you find a hydration bladder is a good fit for your activities, it's hard to beat the Gregory Hydro 3D. The soft plastic, collapsible bottles--like the Nomadr Collapsible--heated up the most under the sun. Sip on this — when the National Park Service banned the sale of single-use plastic water bottles in just 19 parks, they eliminated the purchase of up to 111,743 pounds of PET (plastic), prevented the emission of up to 141 metric tons of carbon dioxide, and saved up to 419 cubic yards of landfill space per year. These varying situations have provided excellent opportunities to test the portability, durability, ease of use, and overall performance of the water bottles seen in this review.

We examined all of their compositions and moving parts to determine their weak points and their strengths.In this test, we measured the insulative quality of the bottles under the hot California sun during midday. The Iron Flask Insulated stood out, with an easy-to-grip carry handle with a carabiner clip and a flip-up straw. It weighs less than a smartphone and fits in a pocket, making it a great emergency option if you run out of water but come across a stream. That being said, the quality of materials, superior insulation, and ease of use make this our first choice for our two-wheeled adventures.

Likewise, the Lifestraw Go has a carabiner attached to the lid by a nylon strap, making it easy to clip on a bag and a convenient flip-up bite straw. On the flip side, the Speedfil Speedflask lost some points because the flip cap's mechanism is a rubber band, which is definitely a weak point on an otherwise well-constructed and durable bottle. Since 1968, Paperchase has been spreading joy through its cornucopia of smile-inducing stationery, cards, gifts and more. It massively improves the original LifeStraw design from a decade ago, mainly intended to drink from streams.

The soft plastic bottles were the most lightweight, and they also heated up the most in the sun, lending an undesirable plastic taste. We have tested nearly 80 unique water bottles in the last eight years, with 18 top contenders in this review alone.

The straw seems to be made of a cheaper type of plastic, and the filter does not do enough to remove that particular chemical taste (although we did find this bottle to be effective at removing chlorine from municipal sources). Because that means that you'll have to be more careful with how you handle it than other, more durable plastic and metal containers. If taste and insulation are a higher priority for you, the Klean Kanteen TKWide Recycled Insulated scored higher in those two metrics and just a point behind the Hydro Flask, overall.

The Brita Stainless Steel Filter Bottle bottle was also extremely easy to operate one-handed, simply with the push of a button. We purchased these bottles to compare them all side-by-side, so you can rest assured that you're getting the most unbiased and thorough review. The large-threaded cap whirls on and off in a smooth and satisfying way and has a super comfortable finger carry loop. The second part of this test was how easy the closure, whether it be lid, straw, or cap, was to use. The Brita Stainless Steel Filter Bottle is an award-winning option most suitable for professional settings and is the most inexpensive of the filter bottles.