Holy Grail of Water Bottles

The quest: A water bottle that isn’t toxic, doesn’t break, doesn’t spill, is easy to carry, is easy to find in a grassy lawn, amongst shrubs, against a log.

In the hotter, drier weather of summer it’s even more important to stay hydrated while working out in the garden. Faced with this challenge year after year, I’ve somehow acquired too many less-than-perfect water bottles. There’s one that got too old and now smells too scary and plasticky, one that has toxic BPAs, one made of taste-free but breakable glass, one that I have to tip awkwardly whenever I take a swig. These now all sit idle in my kitchen cupboard because I’ve reached the impossible dream: The Camelback Better Bottle.

This gardener gets nothing in return for this full endorsement, not a single penny, not even an empty bladder – sorry to disappoint, Camelback fans. I’m just so much in love with its quiddity, its sippy-cup-ness that I just have to spout praise for its clever design: the no-spill, taste-free Big Bite valve that neatly snaps back into the cap, the long internal straw that allows you to suck up practically every last drop, the loop that lets you clip it with a carabiner to a belt loop or backback, the eyeball-searing colors like Barbie doll pink that make it easy to find when it’s time to quit playing in the dirt and pack up. Plus it handily fits in a cup holder in the car/truck. It's a thing of beauty for the gardener, hiker, or toddler at heart.