Field Mag: The Best Reusable Alternatives to Smartwater Bottles
Field Mag: The Best Reusable Alternatives to Smartwater Bottles
YouTube video highlight
In the thru-hiking community, Smartwater bottles are prized for their lightweight durability, but they're still single-use. here are some reusable swaps.
Watch videoField Mag: The Best Reusable Alternatives to Smartwater Bottles
The Best Reusable Alternatives to Smartwater Bottles
The Smartwater bottle is a hallmark of thru-hiking culture—so much so that we’ve written an entire ode to it. In a sport full of expensive gear that often trades weight savings for durability, the Smartwater bottle represents the dirtbag spirit at the heart of hardcore hiking culture: it's incredibly cheap but not imminently disposable, lightweight but surprisingly long-lasting. Smartwater bottles have a useful shape that fits well in skinny pack pockets and, more importantly, they're compatible with hikers' favorite water filter, the Sawyer Squeeze.
A single-use plastic bottle might seem misplaced among outdoor rec philosophies like Leave No Trace. But a closer look will reveal disposability is a core tenet of ultralight hiking—even pricey Dyneema packs and shelters are often only rated for one thru-hike, and ziploc and trash compactor bags are key UL items. This disposability has always been most apparent with plastic bottles, however. Hikers will push Smartwater bottles to their absolute limit, but they were never made to be reused to this degree, especially not for months on end. They crack, deform, leech chemicals, and ultimately contribute to the excessive plastic waste that many of us strive to mitigate in our everyday lives.
The Best Reusable Alternatives to Smartwater Bottles
The Smartwater bottle is a hallmark of thru-hiking culture—so much so that we’ve written an entire ode to it. In a sport full of expensive gear that often trades weight savings for durability, the Smartwater bottle represents the dirtbag spirit at the heart of hardcore hiking culture: it's incredibly cheap but not imminently disposable, lightweight but surprisingly long-lasting. Smartwater bottles have a useful shape that fits well in skinny pack pockets and, more importantly, they're compatible with hikers' favorite water filter, the Sawyer Squeeze.
A single-use plastic bottle might seem misplaced among outdoor rec philosophies like Leave No Trace. But a closer look will reveal disposability is a core tenet of ultralight hiking—even pricey Dyneema packs and shelters are often only rated for one thru-hike, and ziploc and trash compactor bags are key UL items. This disposability has always been most apparent with plastic bottles, however. Hikers will push Smartwater bottles to their absolute limit, but they were never made to be reused to this degree, especially not for months on end. They crack, deform, leech chemicals, and ultimately contribute to the excessive plastic waste that many of us strive to mitigate in our everyday lives.
The Best Reusable Alternatives to Smartwater Bottles
The Smartwater bottle is a hallmark of thru-hiking culture—so much so that we’ve written an entire ode to it. In a sport full of expensive gear that often trades weight savings for durability, the Smartwater bottle represents the dirtbag spirit at the heart of hardcore hiking culture: it's incredibly cheap but not imminently disposable, lightweight but surprisingly long-lasting. Smartwater bottles have a useful shape that fits well in skinny pack pockets and, more importantly, they're compatible with hikers' favorite water filter, the Sawyer Squeeze.
A single-use plastic bottle might seem misplaced among outdoor rec philosophies like Leave No Trace. But a closer look will reveal disposability is a core tenet of ultralight hiking—even pricey Dyneema packs and shelters are often only rated for one thru-hike, and ziploc and trash compactor bags are key UL items. This disposability has always been most apparent with plastic bottles, however. Hikers will push Smartwater bottles to their absolute limit, but they were never made to be reused to this degree, especially not for months on end. They crack, deform, leech chemicals, and ultimately contribute to the excessive plastic waste that many of us strive to mitigate in our everyday lives.
Recent articles
Other categories
You might also like
メディア
We’ve used this filter for over 800 miles in the backcountry and it’s still the best option for clean drinking water.
メディア
Squeeze Water Filtration System by Sawyer
メディア
This popular repellent from Sawyer has 20% Picaridin, which protects against a wide range of insects, including mosquitoes, ticks, biting flies, gnats, chiggers and sand flies.
Built for the Outdoors
see ALL PRODUCTS
インスタグラムをフォローする
アウトドア企業以上の存在
From the trail
アンバサダーをご紹介します。アンバサダーはトレイルのエキスパートで、パタゴニア製品の耐久性を高く評価し、次なる冒険のストーリーで私たちを楽しませてくれます。
meet our ambassadors
