Hydro Flask 32oz Water Bottle
Location: Green Lake, Inyo National Forest
Is a Cold Drink "Worth the Weight"?
While I have learned to accept that lukewarm water is a fact of life when spending long days outdoors, that doesn't mean that I don't dream of having a cold refreshing drink on hot days at the crag or on long summit approaches. Unfortunately in Southern California cool refreshing mountain streams are hard to come by. Always trying to be conscious of weight… I contemplated the pros and cons of an insulated water bottle.
Weighing in at 14oz, the Hydro Flask is 2x heavier than a 32oz Nalgene bottle (only 4oz heavier if you put your Nalgene in an insulated cover), I had to decide if my 32oz Hydro Flask was “worth the weight” to bring along.
Test A: At home fill the Hydro Flask with ice cubes and then add water. Throw the insulated Hydroflask in the pack along with another bottle of cold water. Spend a day at the local climbing crag with temps in the triple digits… yes that’s right over 100 degrees
Result: I used the Nalgene for the first part of the day. At lunch I pulled out the Hydro Flask, which still had a huge chunk of ice floating and ice-cold water. Popped a couple of Nuun tabs in there and chugged a refreshing electrolyte drink. Not wanting the remaining chunk of ice to go to waste I emptied the lukewarm H2O from the Nalgene into the Hydro Flask and had a second round of cold water! This strategy has now been repeated successfully multiple times.
Test B: While backpacking in the Sierra, fill Hydro Flask with cold mountain stream water before long days in the backcountry.
Result: Nice cool drinking water later in the day. The bottle helped keep the cold water cold... not as cold as the ice filled bottle, but much better than a regular bottle.
Pros: No condensation from icy water to dampen everything in your pack.
Cons: If left in the sun the metal gets really hot and if the lid is off the part that you sip from can burn your lip.
Worth the Weight? Definitely
Product Highlights: For more details on this Hydro Flask go here.
MSRP: $33.99
Full Disclosure: I was given this product for free to test, with no obligations to review.
Summary: My summer/warm weather hydration plan for days trips and short backpacks will always include include my Hydro Flask!