I admit I never liked drinking from a tube. Images of old fogies and hospitals didn’t fuel me to hike just a little farther.
I switched to palm sized, 6 oz. containers that held gels and complex energy drinks and my visions shifted to Ironman athletes cruising through 100+ miles. But the elastic waist belt holding the bottles is cumbersome and expensive protein/carbo loaded drink mixes often freeze on chilly days.
And what’s the ticket for hauling plain old water or electrolyte drinks? A nifty solution is the Vapur bottle bag. On ski days, I slip this handy little water bottle in my pant pocket or inner jacket. Once it’s empty, simply fold it up, slide it into the attached carabiner, and it’s reduced to the size of two Slim Jim’s. Gone are frozen tubes, clunky slush bottles, and stomach-pain-inducing bottle holder corsets. And in summer I clip it on my pack or freeze it for a refreshing drink.
Best part: no black mold to clean out with pipe cleaners. Available in .7L and 1L, BPA free, constructed with durable 3 ply construction, easy-to-open flip cap, and made in the U.S.A.
This little bottle is sticking with me.
Joseph Risi was raised on pasta and meatballs in the “backwoods” of Long Island before seeking higher education in the mountains of Vermont. Always looking for adventure, building treehouses, working too many odd jobs around the world he now lives in the Aspen area of Colorado.
