User Review: Liberty Bottleworks Custom Collection Bottle (Big City Mountaineers edition)

Summary

This is a wonderful bottle for casual use: around town, at work, or in class. It's easy to open, the cap protects the drinking surface (big pet peeve of mine!), and it seals tightly. Unfortunately, there is a liner, made from a rather mysterious plastic that tends to retain odor. Also, the cap requires less an a quarter turn to open, which would make me nervous in the backcountry.

The Liberty Bottleworks bottle is great for casual use. It has all the things one wants in a water bottle for work, driving, and around town use. Its gorgeous design is eye-catching. The lid makes it easy to carry and unscrews easily for a simple sip.

In two weeks of regular use, it hasn't leaked once, and seems to keep water cooler than room temperature too.

The bottle is made of extruded recycled aluminum. Because aluminum is a reactive metal, it needs to be lined in order to prevent it from ending up in your food and beverages, where it can cause odd metallic flavors. To solve this problem, Liberty Bottle works has lined it with a thick white epoxy of some sort. 

Exactly what this plastic is is difficult to determine, a definite issue in these days of BPA-fear.  The liner also seems to retain flavors. An EmergenC packet I dissolved in the bottle last week still flavors my water with an orange tinge, despite frequent washing with soap and water.

The cap is quite wonderful. With a quarter-twist, the bottle opens easily and closes up, tight as a drum, with no problem. Better, the threads of the cap protect the surface you touch with your lips from getting dirty in the bottom of a gym bag or in the water bottle cage of your bike. This thoughtful feature makes the bottle worth serious consideration.

Unfortunately, the features that make this bottle so convenient for front-country use make it less practical for backcountry use. The ease with which the bottle opens could be a serious liability while hiking in dry areas.  It could open and leak without your knowledge, with potentially disastrous consequences. Also, the plastic liner means that the bottle can not be used to cook in, a useful feature for backcountry travel.

I highly recommend this bottle for front-country use, but recommended that backcountry travelers seek out lighter, more functional bottles for backcountry use.