Water bottles

Water bottles have become very fashionable. I mean the smaller sort that people carry around in their hand, or stuff into a backpack pocket, especially in warm weather. You see them at any tourist spot. Of course, it's become standard good-health advice to stay hydrated, so there's nothing odd or remarkable about this. Water is free or inexpensive, and a better all-day bet for (say) a day out in London than relying on rip-off restaurants and coffee sellers, or cans of saccharin fizz sold at outrageous prices. 

With a camera to wield, I rarely walk around clutching a water bottle myself, but for donkey's years I've had one in the car, regularly replenished with fresh water from the very source of the Severn or Wye. (Or thereabouts. OK, it might be the Burgess Hill water treatment plant) 

Here, for instance, is the red Sigg water bottle that I've been using until very recently, in the Honda CR-V that I drove before Fiona was ordered from Volvo. The picture was taken in May 2010.

I bought that red Sigg bottle on 14th January 2010 for £14.99, and it has given me faithful service ever since. Here it is in Fiona, in shots taken in January 2012, February 2017 and September 2021:

It was a very satisfactory bottle in most respects. You simply unscrewed the cap and took a swig. A closer look, in pictures taken in September 2021 and March 2023:

That Sigg bottle was very durable. But had three issues, none of them of supreme importance, but niggles all the same. 

First, the finger ring in the cap wasn't a comfortable way to carry it about. Second, it was single-skinned and couldn't keep the water ice-cold for long. It was no kind of thermos flask. Third, unscrewing the cap, taking a swig, and screwing it tight again took many seconds, and it was difficult to do one-handed. So if I was driving along, and felt thirsty, I'd have to wait for some stoppage, at traffic lights perhaps, and hope that I had enough time for a quick drink. Traffic lights often take an age to go green, but too often they'd change to green before I'd screwed the cap back on. 

Anyway, by mid-2023 I was thinking of a replacement bottle. I'd seen all kinds of fancy bottles in other people's hands. It was clearly a thing. 

So I was in Wroes department store in Bude on 25th September, two and a half weeks ago. They had more than one display of water bottles. I had a jolly good look. Hmm! Bottles had become rather sophisticated! There were plenty in fancy colours and designs, to appeal to Young People no doubt. These bottles by Built, for instance:

They seemed well-made, but a trifle expensive, especially the ones with elaborate patterns on them. Well, I didn't need to make a fashion statement. 

However, the other side of that display was thankfully geared to Fuddy-Duddies. More muted colours, but extra features. Ah, I saw exactly what I wanted. These bottles by Judge were just what I needed. 

I bought one in a colour I liked - it cost only £15.00 - and took it back to the caravan for a ceremonial unpacking.

It was taller than the old red Sigg bottle, and double-skinned, so it could keep liquids cold (or hot) for much longer. It had a silicone rubber carrying loop, which could of course be attached to a bag or backpack strap. The large cap unscrewed to allow filling, but was actually a kind of cup, containing a stainless-steel button that clicked open or shut by pressing it. That mean I could - one-handed - unseal the bottle while driving along, raise the bottle to my lips and take a refreshing sip, then pop it back into its recess in the centre console, resealing it once it was seated there by pressing the button. All done by one hand, all done by touch. I didn't have to unscrew or screw up anything, nor take my eyes off the road, and I couldn't drop the cap into the footwell, to roll around under my feet. So much safer.  

Here are some more shots of my new bottle.

And these are the Judge web pages.

The £22.00 they ask for online obviously does include something for delivery, because I paid only £15.00 in Wroes, and it wasn't on special offer or anything. Nevertheless, one for walkers and ramblers to consider, I'd say, although I wanted mine only for the car. I think it looks good there. And it works as intended.

Hmm. The driver's seat has a well-used appearance! That's not surprising after thirteen years and 194,000 miles. I'm definitely going to treat Fiona's interior to a professional valeting in the coming months. That'll restore her.