Short of breathable air, potable liquid is just the best thing there is. It’s so good, you really should bring it with you everywhere. Each of these seven reusable bottles will ensure that you never die (from thirst; other caveats apply).
Sure, you could fashion your own container out of a clay-lined wicker basket, or make one out of an animal bladder, but what a mess! Instead, all of these popular modern bottles will do a better job of holding your precious liquids, and a couple will even keep them at some of your favorite temperatures: hot, cold, etc.
And, look: Everyone needs to carry around some liquid (water, specifically). It’s not an option. We humans are not unlike water bottles ourselves, but we constantly leak, and those lost liquids must be replaced. If we lose too much of our liquid without replacing it, well, it doesn’t bear mentioning here what might happen.
Best to play it safe and keep one of these backup fluid containers handy, then.
A Quick Note on BPA
Bisphenol A—or BPA—is an industrial chemical found in lots of materials that are in contact with food: cans, plastics, etc. Although it is purportedly safe to ingest in normal quantities, the standard practice is for manufacturers of reusable bottles to leave the chemical out of their materials. As such, all of the bottles in this list are categorized as “BPA-free.”
Best Overall: Healthy Human Water Bottle
The Healthy Human bottle tops our list as the best overall bottle because it’s a jack of all trades when it comes to features. It’s made of stainless steel, which combines the strength of steel with the stainlessness of, uh, nickel. And chromium.
Also, it has double-walled, vacuum-insulated “Temp Max Technology.” The branding here is curious; while it will keep your favorite liquids at “Max” temp (i.e., hot-to-warm) for up to 12 hours, it will also keep said liquids cold for up to 24 hours. Which, to a stickler, sounds more like Temp Min technology. But who cares? This bottle functions as both a baseline water bottle and as a thermos.
Imagine all the liquids one might keep warm or cold in this bottle. Hot coffee. Iced coffee. The list goes on and on.
And, my god, the colors. You’ve got your blacks. You’ve got your whites. You’ve got your Orange Sherbets and your Midnight Oaks, and all sorts of other colors that make your steel bottle look like it’s made out of wood, or space, or even desert-induced psychosis (Mirage). You can also get bottles in a range of sizes: 16, 21, and 32 oz. It also comes with a carabiner and woven bag, as well as a “Hydro Guide,” in case you’re not clear on how water bottles work.
