Why Nalgene?

I will drink bottled water if is put in front of me, especially Evian, but I'm a tap water guy. Yeah some tap water tastes better if run through a carbon filter but I don't wory about taste too much. At home I have an RO filter more for the wife than for me. Anyway I don't care to buy my drinking water one plastic bottle at a time. I am old enough to remember what a church key is for and also when pop tops were a problem. Nowadays I find water bottle caps everywhere. Same for the labels. Any log jam will have plastic water bottles jammed in it.

For a winter pee bottle the scouts use a 20oz Pepsi bottle wrapped in duct tape. The distintive shape and feel should prevent errors in the dark. Some scouts wrap duct tape around their Nalgene so they always have a supply, I don't care for the practice. In fact one problem I have had with some boys is that they don't want to drink any water other than bottled water. The wealthier the family the less likely a boy will drink tap or treated water.

BTW the 1L Camelbak bottle, which I really like, doesn't fit into the side pouch of a Camelbak BFM. The Nalgene fits fine.
 
I bought a Nalgene Lexan / PC bottle after the Nalgene HDPE bottle I originally acquired refused to stop making my water taste like plastic. The taste was really, really bad. I ran the bottle through the dishwasher 3 or 4 times. Filled it with lemon juice and let it soak. Filled it with hot soapy water and let it soak. Tried some other things. Emailed Nalgene and asked for advice, but I'd already tried everything they told me. I eventually gave the thing away to a homeless dude along with some other little-used gear. Did I mention the plastic taste? NASTY.

That being said, I was horrified to put the Lexan version on a scale and discover it weighed *half a pound*. That's insane for a 32 oz. container. I use mine in the car or when weight otherwise doesn't matter. I will eventually get an olicamp cup to go with it, and make a survival kit. For backpacking I use bottled water bottles, and a Nalgene widemouth bladder for the Sawyer filter, so I can squeeze it and express the filtered water into my bottles, or hang it upside down and let gravity do the work. If I'm in the desert I wrap the bottles in a layer or two of duct tape for durability.
 
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