Stainless Steel Water Bottles
We’re making a switch from Nalgene water bottles to stainless steel water bottles, to prevent drinking water with plastic leached into it.
Have any of you made the switch and got a great deal?
My research so far is leading me toward Klean Kanteen water bottles. I also considered Sigg, but they have an enamel coating. The coating is considered food safe, but someone online somewhere mentioned it chipping off into the liquid.
I have looked around online for Klean Kanteen bottles. They come standard with poly-propylene caps, unfortunately. So one has to purchase a stainless steel cap separately. The price at amazon for a 27-ounce bottle with stainless steel cap (purchased separately) is about $20.
I would like to find them for less. Any ideas?
On the other hand, God just brought me an order for 15 tote bags, paid up-front. So there’s the money to buy the water bottles. Would be nice not to have to spend it all. If I do have to pay $20 each, I will console myself with the fact that they should last a lifetime.
Update: I’m updating to say that I bit the bullet (two months after writing this post) and bought Klean Kanteen bottles for all of us through greenfeet.com. We had been using glass, which was a pretty good option but it had drawbacks — the jars leaked and my only options for lids were non-stainless steel metal or plastic, and I wasn’t happy with either of those choices. The jars being heavier and less portable than stainless steel also was a drawback.
The stainless steel water bottles arrived today. They are awesome! I’ll be evaluating them over the next few days and I’ll come back and post. I chose the “Greenfeet” labeled Klean Kanteen bottles. They were around $16 each for 27 oz size. I even got that size for the kids. That includes the upgrade to stainless steel lids. That is a much better deal than anything I saw on Amazon. I also got a little 12 ounce colored ss water bottle for Jeff’s lunch serving of Kombucha. It will fit in his cooler.
My disclaimer (because I never want to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes): If you use that link above to go to greenfeet.com and then make a purchase, I’ll get paid.
Our family made the switch at the end of last year, and we ended up going with the Thermos FUNtainer and Foogo beverage containers. We liked the idea of solid stainless steel interior (no aluminum with stainless steel or enamel coating, like we had been told Sigg featured). They are a little less expensive than some of the other options ($14.99 online for the 12 ounce bottles). I liked the structure of the lid for hygienic reasons: My kids simply press a button and the lid pops open. Then they drink from a silicone straw and don’t have to touch it with germy hands. The only issues: The FUNtainers are not dishwasher safe (the Foogo is), and the lid and bottom exterior decorative base are plastic, and the base on several of our bottles has chipped and cracked after being dropped on a couple of occasions. A friend of mine has the Klean Kanteen and really likes it. That probably is the best way to go. As an engineer friend of mine said when we were discussing all of the options and variables, “Maybe we should all go back to drinking out of gourds.”
Keep us posted on what you learn!
Sonya
Thanks for your thoughts, Sonya. It is so good to hear from the voice of experience. Along the line of gourds, for the time being we are packing our water around in Mason jars!
Love, Wardeh
Hi, after a long break!
I have been considering Klean Kanteen too. (with the stainless steel lids). It does have quite a few good reviews on Amazon. Any particular reason that you are going with the 27 oz versus a smaller size? And I wonder if the lids seal real tight? It would be nice to hear from someone who has used them because they are kind of expensive. You do get them on ebay. I do not know how much of a good deal they are though.
I read on Nalgene’s website last month that they are discontinuing use of BPA in their bottles, and are now removing all old products from shelves that contained BPA. Also, if you like that style of bottle, Camelbak has a new line of BPA free bottles as well.
We have been using Sigg bottles for about 5 years and haven’t experienced any problem with the coating. Our small children use them daily and they’ve been great. I also purchased the Sigg bottle brush that cleans them very effectively and without scratching the coating. I’ve never used Klean Kanteen so I can’t speak to that, though you might find some good deals on eBay.
I like the idea of gourds… or Mason jars! If only my 4-year-old and 2-year-old boys could handle glass bottles!
Kelly,
I appreciate hearing that you’ve had no trouble with the Sigg bottles. When I saw them on Amazon, I thought they were so pretty!
Thank you for the information about the BPA-free bottles. I’m really glad to hear that BPA plastic is being discontinued. The bottles they make now, I think I have heard of them — are they the cloudy plastic bottles? I saw a couple reviews that mentioned plastic-y tasting water from the cloudy plastic bottles, which is why I thought to stay away from plastic entirely.
About the glass… that is my thought with Mikah. And he’s 7! So I let him drink out of my jar.
Love, Wardeh
Hello, Sangeeta! How are you? I have missed you.
Jeff and I like the 27 ounce size (to replace our 32-ounce Nalgenes), but I will probably go with smaller for the kids. I can’t remember the smaller sizes of KK offered, but whatever is closest to the 16-ounce Nalgene size the kids have now will be their size.
You know, I looked on ebay, too. The KK bottles there have the PP lids, so the SS lids would have to be purchased separately which I thought would make it more expensive in the long run due to shipping.
I saw reviews that talked of leaking and reviews that mentioned no leaking, so I’m like you… I don’t know what to think about that. They are expensive, but they do have a guarantee, so I assume the bottles could be returned if we weren’t satisfied.
Love, Wardeh
After reading about the dangers of plastic water bottles, we switched to glass about 3 months ago. For less than $2 each, I bought glass bottles of organic tea. We drank the tea, washed the bottles, and now fill them with water for our daily use. I, too, was concerned about my children breaking the bottles, but it really hasn’t been a problem. My oldest son, who is 14, broke one bottle when he dropped it getting out of the car. My other children, age 9 and 11, have done fine. The children have smaller bottles than my husband and I, and I’ve bought a few extras for the especially busy days. At less than $2 each, it didn’t break our budget, and the bottles are easier to handle than mason jars.
Melinda,
Thank you so much for sharing this! I am very encouraged by your resourcefulness, frugality, and creativity!
Love, Wardeh
Wardeh,
I was just on http://www.mercola.com reading and they will be offering glass bottles, that have an outer coat to better protect it from breaking. They said they should have them within the next 6-8 weeks.
You might want to check it out.
love,
tiffany
Hi Wardeh, We still like our KK bottles alot. We have dropped them a few times, but the husband just pops out the dents with something. the carrier strap and the bottle insulator is great also. I still need to purchase some for the children. Our local food store sells the KK bottles and the Siggs, but I haven’t been back there in a while, so don’t know the prices.
It is now in June. Have you purchased anything or are you still using the jars?
So good to hear that you’re liking your bottles. I’d like to know what “the husband” has to pop out the dents.
We’re still using glass. I’m not planning to change it up at this point because those SS bottles are so expensive. So we’re making do. I’m watching for sales and thrift stores so perhaps over time, we’ll build up to having SS.
Will you let me know your prices when you go back and check? Just for comparison.
Love, Wardeh
Well, that was quick. LOL
William uses a long handled wooden spoon with a cloth at the end. It is pretty easy to pop out the dents, but there is still wrinkle. It isn’t perfect, but at least the bottle will stand up again.
I went looking at amazon and couldn’t find the ss tops. Are you talking about the flat tops that you screw off and then drink straight from the bottle? I noticed that KK has come out with some colored bottles. I wonder if the color will scratch off.
Michelle, we must be “on” here at the same time!
I like your husband’s simple tool. I will keep that in mind should we have dents in bottles one day.
The tops are listed in the choices of how you build your KK bottles. There are flat, loop and sport tops — each offered in PP and in SS. The SS tops are also offered separately and it is cheaper to purchase the two separately. Well, that’s the conclusion I came to when looking into it.
Love, Wardeh
I’m updating to say that I bit the bullet (two months after writing this post) and bought Klean Kanteen bottles for all of us through greenfeet.com. We had been using glass, which was a pretty good option but had drawbacks — the jars leaked and my only options for lids were non-stainless steel metal or plastic, and I wasn’t happy with either of those choices. The jars being heavier and less portable than stainless steel also was a drawback.
They arrived today. They are aweseome! I’ll be evaluating them over the next few days and I’ll come back and post. I chose the “Greenfeet” labeled Klean Kanteen bottles. They were around $16 each for 27 oz size. I even got that size for the kids. That includes the upgrade to stainless steel lids. That is a much better deal than anything I saw on Amazon. I also got a little 12 ounce colored ss water bottle for Jeff’s lunch serving of Kombucha. It will fit in his cooler.
My disclaimer (because I never want to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes): If you use that link above to go to greenfeet.com and then make a purchase, I’ll get paid.
Love, Wardeh