Klean Kanteen 27oz Classic

Summary

After four years of hard use, indestructible and indispensable.

In Canada this is the 800ml bottle. Mine's tan, except where it's been scratched, scraped, gouged or dented. It's pretty bashed, actually. It's been rolled down cobble beaches, kicked over barrens, and knocked off boulders. Onto other boulders. Never has leaked and I'm still on the original loop cap. (LPT: don't overtighten caps in general, the seal gets stressed and the threads deform.)

This 27oz size is Goldilocks: I always found a litre a bit much and 500ml not enough. With the wide mouth, it makes for a stubby bottle that stands stable. Well, except near my feet and elbows, but that's not its fault.

Water tastes good for many days, no slimy sourness, just a mineral clean, which is an advantage on longer trips. True, a steel bottle will heat up fast in direct sunlight (I drape a bandana over it in a side pocket), but it also stays cool in the shade or inside the pack. It only takes a few minutes immersed at a beach or stream for even a full bottle of warm water to chill completely. I've never put mine directly on a stove or in a fire, which apparently you can do. I have however used it in a double-boiler setup to expand my kettle capacity.

That pretty much justifies the extra weight already, but really the main reason I went for a steel bottle in the first place was so I could make animals run away. I can't vouch for universal truth here, YMMV, but in the areas I hike, most animals are not human-habituated, and I was taught to keep metal to hand in the woods. The ringing clang of steel on rock or another metal object scares the bejeepers out of moose and black bears (and squirrels, the true threat), because it's a sound never heard in nature. Then the bear spray is the second line of defence, if ever I need one.

So at least for my use and environment, that makes the 2 extra ounces over a 32oz Nalgene well worth carrying.

Pros:
-BPA free
-Doesn't make water taste funny
-Looks cool
-Should last a long time

Cons:
-Heavy (not something to take hiking IMHO)
-Cap can be hard to remove if it's on tight
-Dents if dropped on a hard surface

Overall I like this bottle for taking to school/work/general everyday use--no concern of chemicals leaching into the water and no funky flavors if the water is in the bottle for a day or two.

I would not use it on a hiking trip as my Nalgene HDPE bottles are much lighter and will hold up better if they happen to get dropped down a talus slope like I once did with a Nalgene Lexan bottle on Mt. Jefferson in NH. The Klean Kanteen already has a dent at the bottom from being dropped on the pool deck while filled with water, so I'm sure bouncing off rocks would bang it up pretty well.

The weight and the fact that it dents fairly easily if dropped on a hard surface are the reasons I only gave it 4 stars.

Great for motorcycle camping.

I have been using hard plastic Lexan bottles and soft plastic Gator-Aid bottles for several years but recently decided to investigate metal bottles partly because I wanted a large, durable, BPA-free bottle.

The primary reasons I chose this particular bottle were: 1) its small diameter makes it easy to fit in my saddlebag guard bags and daypack side pockets and 2) it holds more water than many other bottles. I also noted that its weight is about the same as similar sized aluminum bottles. The large mouth allows you to put in ice cubes easily and the water tastes fresh with no plastic aftertaste.

The only thing that would make it better is a valve that would allow you to drink without having to unscrew the top. But as is, it is the best water bottle I have used.