KineticShift.com concludes our hands on test of water bottles.
All good things come to an end, including our hands on test of water bottles. We wrap things up with the Nalgene bottles, which use Tritan copolyester plastic. The line includes the All-Terrain Bottle made from low density polyethylene, the On the Fly (OTF) and the On-the-Go (OTG). Here is our test.
Nalgene Bottles Made from Tritan Plastic Description: Each of the bottles tested (unless noted) are manufactured using Eastman’s Tritan copolyester plastic.
Everyday Tritan
BPA-Free High impact resistance
Resistant to staining
Won’t retain odors
Withstands sub-freezing to boiling temperatures
Dishwasher safe away from the heating element
Max temperature: 100 degrees C/212 degrees F
Min temperature: -40 degrees C/-40 degrees F
Bottle Sizes: Varies – 16oz to 32oz
Plastic: Eastman’s Tritan copolyester
Country of Manufacture: USA except for the flip tops – those are made in China
Retail Price: Varies – $6.75 to $14.99
Basic Standards:
- None of the bottles leaked
- Again, no leaks when turned upside down
- BPA free
Taste test and manufacturer’s claim test: All of the other bottles that I have evaluated up to this point were cycling specific including the Nalgene All-Terrain Bottle made from low density polyethylene. When I spoke with the Senior Business Manager at Interbike and mentioned that I was going to evaluate a bunch of cycling water bottles, he suggested that I also look at the main line of outdoor bottles containing Everyday Tritan. This is a more rigid type of plastic similar to polycarbonate, but is BPA free.
Nalgene has been manufacturing the infamous HDPE wide mouth bottles since the 1970’s and have always been a favorite of hikers. During my first multiday hike through the Grand Tetons in the 1990’s I carried a few of the classic wide mouth bottles manufactured from polycarbonate. In the last few years with the discovery that BPA may be a health hazard, most bottle manufacturers have switched to BPA free plastic. Nalgene followed suit and dropped polycarbonate in favor of Eastman’s Tritan copolyester.
Though the narrower bottles from Nalgene will fit in some bicycle water bottle cages, I decided to evaluate these bottles for non-cycling activities. Nalgene has a proven track record for producing bottles that do not leak and this was true with all of the bottles that we evaluated.
I say ‘we’ because my wife grabbed the green capped On the Fly bottle in exchange for her older N-Gen bottle (the light blue capped bottle). She has used her N-Gen bottle for years in fitness classes and while we hiked. She loves the large loop on top of the cap which she would feed a long piece of webbing through so that she could throw it over her shoulder like a purse. This would leave both of her hands free for negotiating sketchy sections of trails. Her only complaint with the N-Gen was that she would have to stop walking or working out to get a drink. If she did not stop before she drank, water would often splash out and sometimes up her nose. Other than that, this N-Gen bottle has been dropped on rocks and thrown around without ever leaking. The only disappointing issue with her N-Gen bottle is it is made from polycarbonate, not the new Tritan material – we are not sure that it is BPA free. This is not a concern with the current N-Gen bottle as those are made from Tritan. We would not hesitate to buy another N-Gen bottle as our current one has proven itself during the past few years.
She has been using the new On the Fly (OTF) bottle for a few weeks now in her fitness classes. She immediately fell in love with the flip-top lid that positively locks closed with an audible click. With the push of a button the lid unlocks and she can get a drink. With the smaller opening of the OTF lid, she does not have to stop working out to get a drink – the water simply does not splash out of the bottle. The flip-top lid has a rubber gasket inside that keeps water from leaking when the lid is snapped closed. As an added security feature, there is a little metal loop that can be used to lock the lid closed.
When she was picking the On the Fly bottle, she also had the choice of the On-the-Go bottle (the red colored bottle). Both of the bottles are the same size, use the same plastic and have the same size openings. The two differences are the price (OTF is about $2 more) and the locking mechanize of the flip-up lids. Though both bottles did not leak, we both agreed that the On-the-Go bottle was more difficult to open. For this reason, she took the OTF bottle for her fitness classes and I took the On-the-Go bottle to evaluate its use with a sports drink.
The sports drink that I chose to use for this evaluation was orange flavored Accelerade. This is a powder that is mixed with water to create the sports drink. Residue is often left on the side of most water bottles and I expected the same from the Tritan based bottles like the On-the-Go (OTG). I dumped in two scoops of Accelerade mixed with water and drank over the next hour. When I was finished, there was residue left in the bottle. The difference with the OTG bottle compared to other bottles (including the Specialized classic bottle) is that all I had to do was add water to the OTG bottle, close the lid, shake and dump the liquid – the OTG bottle was clean and there was no noticeable orange smell!
During my discussion with the Senior Business Manager, he suggested trying to mix a protein shake inside the bottle. He mentioned that this was not an idea advertised by Nalgene for use with their bottles, but that the Tritan plastic would not retain the taste or smell. This is a great idea for those of you who drink protein or other nutrition drinks on the go. The Nalgene bottles seal well, so the powder and liquid could be added and the bottle could be vigously shaken without risk of leaks. I thought that I would evaluate this suggestion with both the 16oz and 32oz wide mouth bottles. I first tried mixing milk with Jarrow Fomulas Whey Protein (chocolate flavored) inside the 16oz bottle. The total volume was 14oz inside the 16oz bottle. The remaining 2oz proved not to be enough space inside the bottle to dissolve the powder completely when shaken. I tried the same test with the 32oz bottle and had much better results. The powder was completely dissolved since I had 18oz of free space inside the bottle to shake up the mixture. This was actually better results than I have had with a hand blender and much easier to clean up. As a bonus, these bottles both are graduated, so no measuring cup is required when adding exact amounts of liquid.
The last bottle that we had from Nalgene to evaluate was the MultiDrink bottle (the purple bottle). This bottle features three ways to drink – the 63mm wide mouth opening, a 24mm screw top opening (cap connected to the black loop) and a pivoting straw for sipping. There were no leaks detected from any of the openings even when vigorously shaken making this bottle perfect for those of you who like to carry a water bottle around with you at work, school or just about anywhere. There was only one small issue that I had with this bottle. When sipping through the straw, I noticed a slight plastic taste – no worse than a Specialized classic bottle, but it was still there.
Overall, these bottles performed as advertised. Besides the MultiDrink bottle, these bottles do not have a plastic smell or taste when new; plus they do not retain the smell of sports or protein drinks. These bottles are much better suited for general use and activities that both hands can be used when opening.
Likes: The Tritan plastic which does not retain tastes or smells. The graduated sides of most of the bottles for measuring.
Dislikes: None
Kinetic Shift Recommended Use: For years we have liked to use Nalgene Tritan type of bottles for hiking, indoor fitness and general carrying around since they are rugged and do not leak. These bottles really do not work well for competitive cycling or other activities where both hands can not be used to open a bottle; this is due to the need to use both hands when opening these bottles (one hand could be used, but it is difficult). The screw-top models are excellent for all around general water use, hiking and running when you can stop to unscrew the cap and drink. The flip-top models are good for general water use, fitness classes, fitness equipment, hiking and running – activities that you can still use both hands to open, but the liquid does not splash out as easily when drinking.