Bindle Bottle

A big bottle which will keep your drink cold. And then there's the "secret" compartment.

I was looking forward to trying out the Bindle Bottle, so when it arrived a couple of weeks ago, I wasted no time in giving it a try.

This hefty insulated bottle comes in two sizes—a 20-oz size and a 24-oz size (which is what I am reviewing). Upon opening the top lid for the first time, it didn't look big enough to fit 24 oz of water. But I used a pyrex measuring cup to test it a couple of times, and it does indeed hold 24 oz.

The insulating properties are excellent. On a couple of recent warm-weather day hikes, I filled it with cold water plus a few ice cubes to keep it cool. After a couple of hours of driving to the trailhead, and several hours of walking and sipping from it often, there was still a LOT of ice in the water, and it stayed cold until I emptied it.

We've all had those bottles where the lid handle or strap, can be uncomfortable to carry for very long. This handle is fairly ergonomic, and I had no qualms about carrying it all day long. The Bindle is also pretty sturdy. On my second hike with it in the Sierra, I accidentally knocked over and it went rolling down some granite and bounced to a stop. No dents or scratches... just a little dirt. The lid fits nice and tight with no leaks.

The special sauce in the Bindle though, is the small storage compartment on the bottom. The storage lid unscrews easily, and there is a little room for a few items. I had hoped it would be big enough to hold a tube of Nuun hydration tablets, but it just wasn't quite enough. But I found an old prescription bottle which fit the tablets perfectly, and it did the trick.

My only negative (slight) is, that at at a little over a pound empty, it is a bit heavy, and some might not want to hand carry it for a long period of time. The sleek black matte finish looks very cool, and the Bindle has become my go-to water bottle for work and trail.

Background

I have used it on a couple of warm-weather early summer Sierra hikes, and at work as well. I even used it while working with a one-hundred voice choir, preparing for the consecration of our new Bishop (that's got to be a Trailspace first)!