Carrying a reusable water bottle is advantageous – for your health, the environment, and your wallet. However, it is also easier said than done. You want a well-constructed model. Otherwise, it will degrade (gross) or break (annoying). More importantly, you want one that matches your lifestyle – if it doesn’t, you’ll either forget to bring it with you or decide it’s better to leave at home.
If you commute with your goods jumbled in a tote bag, for example, you should pick a vessel that will never leak. If you go hiking, you may want a bottle that you can attach to your bag. If you’re purchasing one for your child, be sure they can easily handle it on their own. I spoke with many people who are passionate about their own reusable water bottles in order to locate the ones that best meet all of these scenarios and more.
What we’re looking for
Volume: The majority of the bottles on this list come in a variety of sizes that store varying amounts of water. In some cases, I’ve included further information in the description. If you’re going to be carrying your water bottle around all day with no place to refill it, you’ll want something bigger. If you simply intended to use it for a few hours, a smaller device should suffice.
Lid type: The style of lid on your reusable water bottle affects how you drink from it. Some have larger mouths than others. Some lids completely detach, while others twist off but remain attached to the top. Some open and close with a flip, while others have a “sport” cap that allows you to suck out the water. It’s worth noting that many of the manufacturers listed below sell different types of appropriate lids in addition to the ones included with the listed bottle. Again, if that’s the case, I’ve made that clear in the description.
Material: Some of the bottles on this list are made of insulated stainless steel, which keeps your water cool for extended periods of time. Others, however, are made of plastic, glass, or non-insulated steel, as numerous people I spoke with like room-temperature water.
Best lightweight water bottle
Nalgene Wide Mouth Ultralite Bottle
32 ounces | Attached screw top | Plastic
Classic Nalgene bottles are also popular among those I spoke with, particularly this type made of HDPE, a lightweight material. According to the Nalgene website, it weighs 3.75 ounces when empty, whereas Tritan plastic Nalgenes weigh 6.25 ounces. Jessie Sheehan, a recipe creator and soon-to-be cookbook author, enthused about hers, emphasizing its large size. “It’s not glamorous at all, but it contains a lot of water, which is great for those of us who are obsessed with drinking eight glasses of water a day,” she adds. “And it’s still so light.” It’s not insulated, but I prefer room temperature water anyhow.” In this piece, a couple of Strategist staffers mentioned Nalgene as their favored brand, including Builder, who owns the HDPE version. “Those three extra ounces make a difference whether you’re carrying a bottle of water around all day, hiking, or schlepping through the subway,” she says. This smaller-mouthed variety, which is “simply easier for sipping,” has also entered her rotation.
Best vacuum insulated water bottle
Zojirushi Stainless Steel Mug
16 ounces | Fliplock lid | Insulated stainless steel
Since contributor Lara Perciaspe waxed poetic about it in 2016, this Zojirushi mug has been a Strategist favorite – with both writers and readers. “Once, my boyfriend loaded up the Zojirushi with ice, vodka, and soda and drove it to the beach,” she recalls. “The Zojirushi dropped out of our backpack and laid on a towel for a few hours, exposed to the blazing sun.” When he went to get a drink, the ice clinked together – it hadn’t melted.” New York deputy editor Alexis Swerdloff swears by it, calling its ability to keep cold “mind-boggling.” This is due, in part, to the insulated stainless-steel inside, which is shared by several bottles on this list. The vacuum-sealing lid, which adds additional layer of temperature protection, is the feature that takes it over the top (yes, the Zojirushi also works beautifully for hot liquids). In addition, the cap ensures that the bottle is totally leakproof.
Best water bottle for kids
Yeti Rambler Jr. Kids Bottle
12 ounces | Straw cap | Insulated stainless steel
“Our kids are rough on water bottles, so we’ve recently switched to these durable Yeti bottles for them,” says Erin Gleeson, a cookbook author with three children under the age of eight. “I purchased one for each of them, and thus far so good.” (She did add that her 1-year-old has difficulty opening the straw spout on her own, although the other two have no trouble; Yeti’s website states that the bottle is intended for children aged 3 and up.) According to Gleeson, they’re on the heavier side but yet manageable (and sturdy) for children to tote. Another kid-friendly feature? Gleeson describes the stainless-steel interior as “not filthy,” and both the lid and the bottle are dishwasher safe.
Best water bottle for families
Klean Kanteen Classic Water Bottles
Klean Kanteen Kid Classic Sport Water Bottle
18 and 12 ounces | Sport cap | Stainless steel
Klean Kanten makes bottles in three sizes — the 18-ouncer mentioned above, a larger 27-ouncer, and a child’s 12-ouncer — with universal lids that may be simply combined and matched. “My family has around a dozen of them,” says Mei Lei, co-owner of Boston’s Mei Mei and author of Food Waste Feast. “They come in a variety of colors (essential when you have opinionated kids) and are quite easy to clean.” “I like how they don’t have a lot of finicky small components that are easy to lose.” The various lid designs provide versatility, which means you may buy a bunch and choose whichever ones you need for yourself or for your family member, such as a sippy cap for a younger youngster and a loop cap for an older one.
Best large water bottle
BuildLife Motivational Water Bottle
One gallon | Attached screw top | Plastic
If you want to push yourself to drink a lot of water, we’ve heard great things about this massive BuildLife water bottle, which not only holds a full gallon but is “stamped with inspirational and vaguely threatening phrases encouraging you to keep drinking at every hour of the day,” as contributor Caroline Goldfarb puts it. In fact, the markings urge you to move down to the next level every two hours – if nothing else, it’s a quick (and visually appealing) method to keep track of how much you’re hydrating. Anderson Paak is another fan who has been using it since he quit using disposable gallon jugs.
Best water bottle for hiking
Sursip Glass Water Bottle With Time Marker
Madison Powers, co-founder of the Los Angeles Hike Club, adores her Sursip for a variety of reasons. “There are a lot of metal bottles that keep your water super-cold, but that’s actually awful for trekking,” she says. You want room temperature water to save electricity.” While Powers prefers it this way, she does mention that the bottle comes with a silicone tray for making ice that will fit into the opening at the top, in case you want to start your hike with cold water. Its big capacity allows you to go from start to finish of a lengthy walk without needing to replenish, and the loop top allows you to hold it by the tag or hook it into a backpack.
Best water bottle to use one-handed
ThermoFlask Travel Mug Two Pack With FlipLock Lid
17 ounces | Fliplock lid | Insulated stainless steel
“I don’t have it on my dining table, but my Thermo Flask is always in my gym bag,” explains cookbook author and recipe creator Lukas Volger. “I like about it is that it can be opened and closed with with one hand.” The mechanism here, like that of a sports cap, making it particularly appealing to use when exercising because you can take a small pause without having to worry about tightly unscrewing and rescrewing a cap. Volger likes how it “doesn’t have thousands of little gaps in the cap that make it impossible to ever keep fully clean.” It’s on the tiny side at 17 ounces, but that makes it easier to transport.
Best foldable water bottle
Vapur 1-Liter Wide-Mouth Anti-Bottle
16 ounces | Fliplock lid | Plastic
The Vapur Element is another activity-friendly alternative, particularly for bicycling, trekking, or simply jogging around the city all day, as writer Caroline Bankoff describes. When empty, the flexible plastic scrunches up, significantly reducing the amount of space it takes up in a carryall (or even your pocket). It comes with a handy carabiner if you wish to carry it that way as well. It’s also portable and dishwasher-safe.
Most stylish water bottle
Lund London Skittle Bottle Original
17 ounces | Detached screw top | Insulated stainless steel
If aesthetics are important to you, look no further than these Lund London bottles, as recommended by Strategist writer and self-proclaimed “hydrating obsessive” Ambar Pardilla. Its unusual and endearing appearance does not detract from their practicality: Pardilla informs us that the lid screws on tightly and that the water stays cool. It’s smaller than the ThermoFlask, but she doesn’t mind because it fits neatly in a tote and she considers refilling her bottle a satisfying excuse to take a break from work. She observes that the aesthetic is, in some ways, diametrically opposed to that of the larger Nalgenes and Hydro Flasks. “I fell in love with the design the moment I saw it,” she says. “It appears to be one of those ridiculous tiny sculptures you’d find in a toddler’s bookcase.” And the color combinations are out of this world – they shouldn’t work together, but they do. Every time I sip from it, it makes me happy.”