Well. Not quite. But I did get “fed” up recently with the idea of ingesting plastic and associated chemicals. So we’ve been acquiring a variety of bottles that are either stainless steel, or aluminum lined with high grade plastic guaranteed not to taint. We use these more for indoors hydration, driving, and summer hiking than we do for winter backcountry skiing as they just don’t feel that great on your lips when it’s 10 degrees F (though they do work in frigid weather if you fill with hot stuff and use a bottle jacket).
Stainless food storage box and drinking bottles from New Wave Enviro.
Today’s recommend: New Wave Enviro Products stainless bottles and food boxes are made from food grade #304 alloy. Both the 1 liter bottle and 40 oz. jug have stainless stoppers so your delicate water contacts no heinous plastic — zilch, nada, nein BPA. Or, you can get the 1 liter version with a sip top that’s plastic (probably BPA free, but who knows for sure without a gas chromatograph in their kitchen?) The sip top is a good thought, but without squishy plastic for a pressure squeeze it’s not an easy gulp like the traditional bike bottle (even though the top does have a small valve to relieve back pressure.) These bottles are all fairly beefy, so they’ll hold up to a modicum of abuse rather than turning into a crumpled mess like thinner bottles. Interestingly, the 1 liter stainless only weighs seven tenths of an ounce more than a Lexan Nalgene.
I also like the Enviro Products stainless steel food boxes. These don’t seal like Tupperware, but they close fairly tightly and work great for picnic food or items you don’t want crushed. We loaded ours up with Newman’s Ginger cookies for our last outdoor repast. What a huge relief not to worry all day about my cookies getting crushed! I mean, life is hard enough anyway without crushed cookies! Where to buy? Around here, they’ve got them at Vitamin Cottage. The New Wave Enviro website has a store locator.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain.
