In a sea of water bottles it’s hard to stand out, but in my experience the ones from Innate are rugged and work well for travelers.
With a kid and a personal trainer wife in the house, I have tried out more than my fair share of water bottles over the years. The Innate ones haven’t let me down. I always carry a water bottle with me when I travel internationally and use it in conjunction with a Steripen to avoid fouling the Earth and oceans with more single-use plastic. (For more on that nastiness, see the 5 Gyres Project site.)
For any traveler who cares even a little bit about the destruction of the planet, a water bottle is essential gear. It is worthy of a decent investment, especially if you want to avoid the potential effects of BPA, found in many hard plastic bottles. The science is not all that convincing on the dangers of BPA for adults, in my opinion, but better safe than sorry and besides, one of these stainless steel water bottles from Innate could last you for 20 vacations or a trip around the world—not bad for something that lists for $12-$20. When you’re done, you recycle it.
I especially like this Vite Plus V2 version pictured top left. It holds 22 ounces, has a vented drinking spout, there are indentations on the sides for your fingers, and a loop on the top for holding it or pulling it out of your carrier (like this Cruising Caddy I reviewed before.) Plus it has something you don’t get from some brands like Sigg: a large opening at the top so you can use a Steripen purifier. For me, this is the complete package, leaving me wanting for nothing.
Innate makes a variety of other styles though, like the Mizu one pictured on the right and a few monster bottles like the Mega Fresco that hold 40 ounces. Plus there are some smaller kid-friendly versions. All are made from food-grade stainless steel sourced from Korea for high quality consistency. They also make some double-walled vacuum versions for keeping hot coffee hot or cold wine cold. I wasn’t real thrilled with the placement of the handle and button on the Kaze vacuum mug I reviewed last year, but without the handle it works great and keeps coffee hot for 10 hours.
You can get Innate products at your local gear shop or online at REI and Backcountry.com.