Like a lot of people, I hiked for years using disposable PET water bottles (a PET bottle is the kind of plastic you buy at a supermarket or convenience store). Sometimes I would go weeks with reusing the same 1 liter PET bottle. The problem is the whole time I was taking a big risk, gulping lukewarm water and quite possibly damaging my health.
Once I got a proper drinking bottle, I never looked back. Here are the five reasons why you should get one too
Durability
So you pick up a PET water bottle from the gas station and plan on using that. But before any hike, you need to ask the question “what if something goes wrong” and prepare accordingly. And the simple fact is a PET bottle gets punctured very easily. e.g., The knife in your pack, bursting when you drop your pack and sit on it, forgetting yourself and crushing it with your hand when finished.
So what will happen if your cheap water bottle gets punctured halfway through your hike?
PET bottles can leach chemicals
Various some studies have shown PET bottles can leach potentially toxic chemicals over time.
Polycarbonate can leach BPA
BPA s a synthetic hormone which has also been shown to leach from regular polycarbonate bottles over time and has been linked to some cancers. This is why you may have noticed ‘BPA free’ on a lot of water bottles for sale. It is something best avoided. BPA free bottles usually have a dark tinge instead of being clear.
Usefulness
You can get a cheap thermal layer for your water bottle that can retain heat/cold for longer. Which you’ll appreciate a couple of hours into your hike.
Saving You Money
When you own a good quality water bottle to tend to fill it from free water sources, so the money you save on buying disposable water bottles pays for the good quality water bottle very quickly. And then you’re into profit from there.
So grab stainless steel, aluminum or BPA free plastic bottle. They’re cheap, and it should pay for itself real quick.