Insights For Success

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Bottle

Kleen Kanteen is the king of water bottles for good reason

GeneralEdward Kiledjian
27 oz classic Kleen Kanteen 

27 oz classic Kleen Kanteen 

I recently completed a 3.5 day survival training camps and it reiterated the importance of a "good canteen". now good means different things to different people but in my case I was looking for:

  • a chemical free canteen without a liner coat on the inside of the bottle. The Klean kanteen is made from 18/8 stainless steel which is chemical free & doesn't require a liner (like aluminium).
  • a bottle I could boil water in if I needed to (sanitize questionable water while camping or in a survival situation). Kleen Kanteen is great for this as long as your get the non-insulated versions.
  • Something that is easy to clean (even in the backcountry). The Klen canteen is nice and rounded (no sharp impossible to clean corners) and the threads of the cap are large and generously spaced out which means they are easy to clean (even in the field).
  • flavour free bottle. Some Kanteens (made from other materials) leave a metallic flavour in water. Not the Kleen Kanteen. 
  • easy access. I recommend the wide mouth models because they make working with liquids easier.
When travelling, I still use my Vapur bottles because once the content is consumed, they roll up into a very small footprint.
— http://kiledjian.com/main/2014/4/21/best-travel-water-bottle

Why not use disposable 500ml water bottles?

When I write about water containers, the question I receive the most often is why not just use cheap 500ml water bottles that can be easily thrown away. Because these easily disposable water bottles use foreign oil (to make the plastic and ship it), cost more and often contain filtered city tap water (report on why bottled water is just expensive pre-packaged city water http://documents.foodandwaterwatch.org/doc/MunicipalWater-IssueBrief.pdf). 

From a simple cost perspective, using disposable water bottles will costs hundreds of times more expensive than buying a reusable container and refilling it. 

 

So why Kleen Kanteen?

Because it meets all of the requirements I mentioned above. It is extremelly well sized (27oz version) because it can easily fit into any car cup holder or into the bottle holder compartment of any luggage or hiking backpack. 

When out under the sun all day, I add ice cubes to my kleen kanteen and they slide in very easily (whether refrigerator made or created using plastic freezer moulds).  I have owned several dozen Nalgene bottles. They are great for certain uses but I find their openings too big which makes drinking on the go challenging. The Kleen Kanteen seems to have found the perfect balance. 

The Kleen Kanteen is easy to fill, easy to drink and easy to Kleen (I mean clean). 

cap.png

In addition to the drinking spout cap, you can buy a traditional hook style cap. The hook style cap is great when I need to hook the bottle up via a carabiner. 

Overall this is king of canteens for me and the one I recommend the most. The only time I recommend another type of bottle is for Travel (the Vapur) and the insulated Kanteen (for people who want to keep liquids hot or cold).

 

Don't use a water bottle, drink a water blob

GeneralEdward Kiledjian

We all know that water bottles are problem for the environment but you need hydration and can't always carry a reusable water container with you. Some London based students (industrial design students to be exact) came up with a water blob. 

This creation is called the Ooho and is a thin edible membrane made from brown algae and calcium chloride. This membrane can hold water thus removing the need for disposable plastic water bottles.

We’re applying an evolved version of spherification to one of the most basic and essential elements of life–water. The double membrane protects the inside hygienically, and makes it possible to put labels between the two layers without any adhesive. The reality is that more and more, when we drink water we throw away a plastic bottle. Eighty percent of them are not recycled. This consumerism reflects the society in which we live.
— Gonzalez, One of the creators