Stainless Steel water bottles

[FOTH]

This is one piece of gear that I find especially handy because it has multiple uses--with a stainless steel water bottle you can carry water, boil and purify water from the creek, cook your dinner and melt snow, all in one handy vessel!

Here's a review I just posted on another site about my favorite stainless water carrier, and in it I show how I wrap the bottles with "vet wrap" flexible bandage to insulate them in the winter (when not using over a fire, of course) and keep the cold metal out of contact with my hands.

www.squidoo.com/klean-kanteen-for-boiling-water-and-melting-snow

[EdD270]

The stainless bottles are great. Need to be sure not to use the double wall "insulated" bottles for heating water as the air trapped inside the walls will expand and cause them to burst.
Nice mod for the carrier string. Can you use it to hang the bottle over the fire, too?

[thefishinmagician]

I agree...the stainless steel water bottles are indispensible gear. They allow you to gather, purify and carry water all in one piece of kit. It can also be used as a hot water bottle to keep you warm at night...I just slip the sealed bottle (that's been filled with boiling water) into a thick wool sock to slow the radiation/loss of heat and keep the bare metal from burning me.

I personally like the Nalgene/Guyot Designs 38oz. "Standard" bottle. It's practically identical in dimentions to a 32oz. BPA-or-BPA free Nalgene, but carries the additional 6oz.

I painted mine with high temperature BBQ grill paint and added a flexible wire bail to mine, too. The black color helps to absorb heat, making liquids boil a bit faster and saving fuel. The flexible wire bail helps me suspend it over a fire, or dip it into a water source.

Just a safety note to anyone not familiar with these...be sure to take the cap off before trying to boil water in the bottle. A sealed bottle will build up steam pressure and could explode! Also, (as if it weren't obvious enough), be sure to insulate yourself from the bare metal, which may be hot enough to burn you!

[practicalman45]

I noticed in a youtube video about using these type bottles for heating water in on a campfire. This one guy had made a hanging handle from some stiff, springy, single strand wire. It is bent like a "V" or "A" shape with short little feet pointing outwards at the bottom. The handle is squeezed together, inserted into the mouth of the bottle, and when released it grips the inside of the neck of the bottle firmly enough to support it over the fire full of water. Hanging from the top of that "V" it is very balanced and stable. It can be lifted and poured from with just two little sticks.

[FOTH]

That bent-wire handle sounds like a good idea, and easier to use because it's rigid. The wrapped wire handle has worked fine for me, but I may give this idea a try!

[sardoc]

Whatever happened to the stainless steel bottle that Einar had full of coconut oil, seems it never made it off that ledge where he had stashed all his food

[EdD270]

I guess it's still there, sardoc. Maybe he'll think of it and go get it some day??

[grizz]

Feb 23, 2012 11:36:07 GMT -6 EdD270 said:

The stainless bottles are great. Need to be sure not to use the double wall "insulated" bottles for heating water as the air trapped inside the walls will expand and cause them to burst.
Nice mod for the carrier string. Can you use it to hang the bottle over the fire, too?

while I agree with your warning I thought I should share this.
I recently worked on a burnt hiway tractor, it melted most of the aluminum structure, but there was a big thermos brand bottle in the debris with coffee still in it, maybe it some how didn't get too hot, but the insulative envelope didn't appear to swell, it did get hot enough to melt the cup and most of the stopper, I think that I will try making a Kelly style kettle out of it.