Classic Nalgene or Stainless Steel - which do you prefer?

[74 or more]

If you could only bring one which would it be and why? Or do you carry both?

I've never owned a Guyot bottle and I love my Nalgene(s) so much it would be hard to leave them behind. I do like the fact that you can boil in a Guyot but wouldn't owning a Jetboil, for example, be almost the same thing?

[Red_Snow]

What do you boil water in once the JetBoil is out of fuel?

I own an equal number of nalgene, klean kanteen, and guyot bottles.

[74 or more]

What do you boil water in once the JetBoil is out of fuel?

I own an equal number of nalgene, klean kanteen, and guyot bottles.

Good point on the Jetboil.


So how many different kinds of bottles do you carry at once? Does it just depend on how long your going to be out?

[TheFishinMagician]

The title is kind-of confusing. Guyot bottles are being produced and sold by Nalgene now. Maybe Lexan/Tritan vs. Stainless Steel would be better?

Anyway, I prefer my stainless bottles. More versatility than plastic.

[BullOnParade]

Nalgene + Nalgene cup. Unless I'm feeling tacticool, then I rock my Nalgene canteen and canteen cup. I also carry a filter, if I needed to drink water I was unsure of, or didn't have time to build a fire/boil water on it.

[74 or more]

The title is kind-of confusing. Guyot bottles are being produced and sold by Nalgene now. Maybe Lexan/Tritan vs. Stainless Steel would be better?

Anyway, I prefer my stainless bottles. More versatility than plastic.

Ah, I didn't know that. I'll change the title

[foxx]

I had Lexan bottles for years(backpacking) and just got tired of the plastic smell/taste. If you keep drinking from the same bottle, the bottle walls will bet slick(bacteria). I want to be able to sanitize my bottles in the field(long trips or PAW)
Mostly, I worried about the pores of the Lexan opening up from environmental heat, allowing bacteria to grow, even more than SS. I may be paranoid, but I switched to SS Guyot bottles. I can put them in the dishwasher or just use bleach and soap. Boiling water in the Guyot makes me feel like the bottle is more sanitary. I may not have bleach and my dishwasher with me at all times.

[Jungfrau]

While I own a variety of bottles but I find I often gravitate towards to Tritan/Nalgene bottle much more often than SS types. For daily carry they are much less noisy, both in carrying/moving and in standing/falling (yes my bottles get dropped and fall). I also like being able to see how much liquid I have left and I have zero problems cleaning out my Nalgene bottles. I don't put them in the dishwasher nor do I put boiling water in them (I do have other containers that do a much better job for that) so they work wonderfully for my needs. I only use wide mouth bottles though as they are much easier to clean and fill with ice.

If I'm going out in the woods I may bring my SS bottle or just my Nalgene(s) and some form a metal cup/pot to boil in if I think it is necessary. I do always have my SteriPen with me so boiling isn't always something I consider necessary. As a side note I also always have extra batteries and some chlorine dioxide tabs for the just encase.

[Niblick]

I mainly stick with my classic Nalgene's...I don't have anything against SS, but i have a greater variety of sizes in tritan.

[AcidGambit]

Just like my taste in girls...
I take what I can get.

I've been using a brunton stainless waterbottle for the last two months.
I got three for eleven bucks.

I had a nalgene sport bottle but the pos kept popping open inside my messenger.

I still have a 32oz nalgene I got when I purchased a brita filter.

I usually for the bottles that are bpa free.
Just because its stainless, or aluminum, doesn't mean its bpa free. Sometimes they'll ad a liner that is composed of bpa.

I had a couple of camlebak flip bottles. But they seemed to overly complicated for something that holds water. Plus it retained its taste. I made some butterfinger hot cocoa and poured it inside and no matter how many times I washed it, it still retained its taste.

The one I liked the most was a thermos plastic waterbottle, picked up at work for 2$, it had a button flip top. You pressed a button on the front and the lid popped up and you could drink on the go. It also had a little metal ring that held the lid down so it would accidently flip open.

[Lynn LeFey]

I've used a pretty low-budget sub-zero water bottle for about 4 years now, and I'm very happy with it. I think the versatility of the stainless is nice.

I have nothing against Nalgene bottles.

[Woods Walker]

I have both Nalgenes and prefer the plastic in the real world but would much prefer the stainless in an internet inspired fantasy involving me with just one canteen and a sycamore friction fire standing between myself and death. But let’s look at some of the pros and cons.

The plastic Nalgene is better to drink hot liquids from. Try picking up the SS with just your hands. I prefer the lid on the plastic canteen because it just seems a bit easier to work when not paying 100% attention to detail or just beaten down. I have used the good old hot plastic canteen in the sleeping bag trick but that would be more problematic for the stainless given the scalding hot nature of the outside when the inside is hot. The plastic canteen won’t get bent if dropped. Some of my stainless canteens look like they have fallen off a cliff after just a few drops. This is more of an OCD thing and doesn’t seem to be an issue in actual use aka they all still hold water. The Stainless canteen is more expensive than the plastic and is much heavier. Tha last one is a big negative that gets bigger if you pack two. Hardly anyone packs just one canteen unless they have a Platy etc.

During extreme cold weather the single walled stainless canteen is just a PITA. Almost instantly it develops an ice shell inside then just a bit after instantly the water turns to slush. Not too long after that it will freeze. Handling a single walled stainless canteen in cold weather without gloves sucks. I have an old USGI double walled SS canteen for cold weather and it works much better.

The stainless could work as a cook pot to boil water etc. I have always preferred the taste of liquids from a stainless container even if the type of plastic won’t transfer odors etc. The stainless just looks cooler. When filled with cold liquids from a spring or spring feed stream the colder metal feels nicer in my hands during a hot day. SS has no BPA not that I buy into that risk for adults. The newer Nalgenes are BPA free but what's next? Guessing nothing but still that's a pro for the stainless.

[tony d tiger]

I prefer stainless steel - but then, I don't have any cool gear. I think a nalgene canteen would be nice.
I like to take a 1/2 liter ss thermos along too - boil once, drink twice. (cuts down on the stove time for morning coffee)

Question for you all that are using bleach in an SS bottle - doesn't the bleach cause problems? I brew beer, and we use iodifor (iodine based) sanitizer because bleach will cause pinholes. :shrug: haven't used the iodifor in my SS bottles, just clean 'em out w/soapy water.

[masayako]

Nalgene, because:
1. I like to see what I drink
2. Lighter weight
3. Canteen cup (fit 32oz nalgene bottle perfectly) can do direct fire

[foxx]

I prefer stainless steel - but then, I don't have any cool gear. I think a nalgene canteen would be nice.
I like to take a 1/2 liter ss thermos along too - boil once, drink twice. (cuts down on the stove time for morning coffee)

Question for you all that are using bleach in an SS bottle - doesn't the bleach cause problems? I brew beer, and we use iodifor (iodine based) sanitizer because bleach will cause pinholes. :shrug: haven't used the iodifor in my SS bottles, just clean 'em out w/soapy water.

I use very little bleach when I do use it, and it's not in there for long, but also only have owned my Guyot's a year and a half or so. So far, I have no reason to think I have any pinholes.

[Lycosa]

Stainless all the way. I don't carry much in the way of gear when I'm out in the bush so the gear I do carry needs to be indestructable. I carry a stainless canteen with a stainless cap and a fitted GI cup on the bottom that is also stainless. I can boil water, make stew, dig with the cup, and one time I got a nasty cut from a saw palm and used my bandana, which also has multiple uses, as a dressing. I built a makeshift pressure cooker by making a dakota fire hole and then digging another hole really close to the fire and buried my canteen in it with only the cap sticking out of the ground. I then grabbed a 10-15 pound log and laid it over the cap which was turned upside down so it would lay flat and seal it. After cleaning the bandana by boiling, I folded and tied the bandana so that it remained about 1" above the water line to receive pressurized steam and sterilize it. I let it stay in there until I boiled about 2" of water out of the canteen (maybe 30 mins) and I am pretty confident that my bushcraft 'autoclave' worked well since I never got an infection and it healed up really well. Using that method I was able to sterilize my bandana twice a day for 3 days. I wanted to share this just because it's a good tip to know if you were ever in a position that required sterile technique in a wilderness environment. The only problem I had was, despite the weight of the log, when steam released it sometimes tried to shift the cap and I had to fiddle with it to make sure it kept a decent seal. Since then, I carry a peice of bendable pipe strap that you can get from the hardware store so if I had to make this again, I could wrap the piece of pipe strap around where the cap and canteen mouth meet so the cap could still move vertically to release steam but not shift to the side and create a hole where pressure could be lost. If someone were to think about it, I'm sure there's a better way to use a canteen to make an auto-clave and IMO a worthy project.

I've used my stainless cup for making lamps from animal fat and I've even used that cup to boil a bunch of wax myrtle berries, and after separating the water, used the cup for a wax candle.

One other unique use that I can think of that probably would not work with Nalgene is that I use the cup for a perimiter alarm to alert me if a curious bear is coming into camp. Basically it's a dog-bone trigger trap that releases wound tension in paracord. When the cup is tied to the paracord and the trap is tripped it causes the cap to spin around and strike a well placed object making a hell of a lot of noise. Every time I go camping anywhere that is not a campground, I set one of those perimiter alarms.

Nalgene might be pretty, but my stainless canteen will eventually become a family heirloom. It'll be around long after I'm gone.

[Doctorr Fabulous]

Both. Nalgene with nesting cup and a Kleen Kanteen (rebranded by Dick's) for ultimate drinking pleasure.

[74 or more]

I've even used that cup to boil a bunch of wax myrtle berries, and after separating the water, used the cup for a wax candle.

That's really cool. I know this question is a little off topic but is there any way you could do another thread on your pressure cooking trick and/or the myrtle berry candle? Or is it all as simple as stated above? I'm sure this is one of those thing where I'm the only one who doesn't know how to do it.

[DJH]

I use stainless. I've had BPA Free lexans, but they tend to have quality issues (and yes it could just be brand, these were unknown manufacture, picked up at the Santa Fe Folk Art Market) but the bottles deformed in heat, and the tops cracked and leaked on me. My stainless bottles haven't ever given me that issue and as long as I haven't left them half full after drinking (yay backwah) I haven't had any taste or bacteria issues.

[hutchb25]

I *prefer* stainless steel, because it can be used to boil water, and it doesn't leach stuff in to my water. I also don't worry about them cracking. However, I don't have one I can carry in my BOB just yet because I only have the sport tops, and their air valves will eventually leak a little bit when on their sides.

So I have both. My BOB has a Nalgene and a Platypus bottle in it, and soon enough a water bladder. Eventually I'll replace the platy with a stainless steel. I do EDC a Klean Kanteen, though, so I pretty much always have that with me.


I'm a little biased, because I've become a plastic rebel. I don't like how much crap is made of plastic nowadays and how often things break because of it; or the chemicals we pump in to ourselves through constant exposure without question. So it's sort of a rallying cry for me.

[Woods Walker]

I use stainless. I've had BPA Free lexans, but they tend to have quality issues (and yes it could just be brand, these were unknown manufacture, picked up at the Santa Fe Folk Art Market) but the bottles deformed in heat, and the tops cracked and leaked on me. My stainless bottles haven't ever given me that issue and as long as I haven't left them half full after drinking (yay backwah) I haven't had any taste or bacteria issues.

I had bad luck with plastic canteens from unknown makers aka china junk but never an issue with a plastic nalgene and they get used hard.

[OpelBlitz]

I use stainless. I've had BPA Free lexans, but they tend to have quality issues (and yes it could just be brand, these were unknown manufacture, picked up at the Santa Fe Folk Art Market) but the bottles deformed in heat, and the tops cracked and leaked on me. My stainless bottles haven't ever given me that issue and as long as I haven't left them half full after drinking (yay backwah) I haven't had any taste or bacteria issues.

I had bad luck with plastic canteens from unknown makers aka china junk but never an issue with a plastic nalgene and they get used hard.

Yeah I agree. My 32oz narrow-mouth Nalgene's been through hell and back, including surviving a 18 foot drop onto concrete.

[Marxist]

It depends. Plastic water bottles are definitely lighter, but you can boil in metal ones. I usually go with plastic.

[Fatboy]

I use stainless. I've had BPA Free lexans, but they tend to have quality issues (and yes it could just be brand, these were unknown manufacture, picked up at the Santa Fe Folk Art Market) but the bottles deformed in heat, and the tops cracked and leaked on me. My stainless bottles haven't ever given me that issue and as long as I haven't left them half full after drinking (yay backwah) I haven't had any taste or bacteria issues.

I had bad luck with plastic canteens from unknown makers aka china junk but never an issue with a plastic nalgene and they get used hard.

Yeah I agree. My 32oz narrow-mouth Nalgene's been through hell and back, including surviving a 18 foot drop onto concrete.

Ran mine over with a tractor, not a garden tractor mind you but a tractor with tires as tall, taller than a person. Deformed, yes. Leak, no. Works for me!

ETA

In conjunction with the slide over stainless cup for the pack.