52 Things We 💙: Hydro Flask

Wirecutter picks that have withstood the test of time Sarah Kobos Skip the waste of bottled water with a [Hydro Flask](. by Eve O'Neill I have a work-from-home morning ritual. I wake up, go downstairs, and make my morning coffee in a specific white mug. Then I attend to plant mom duties. I water the tomato plant. I water the ficus. I don’t water the succulents, but I poke at them to check in. When I’m happy with the hydration status of my quarantine plant family, I grab my own water bottle—a simple, clean-lined Hydro Flask. It has to be those things, in that order, and that bottle, or I can’t start my day. The [Hydro Flask 21 oz Standard Mouth]( water bottle has been a favorite since we began testing water bottles in 2013. It doesn’t leak, unlike many bottles we’ve tested. The lid takes no more than a turn-and-a-half to remove, and the lip of the bottle is thinner than most. The flexible handle accommodates your hand without getting in the way. These little things make it a stand-out product. The Hydro Flask stays put in a shallow backpack pocket and a car’s cupholder. People are maniacs for cold water, and as humans [we even perceive it to be more thirst-quenching]( than room-temperature water. And that’s one of the big things a Hydro Flask—which is a double-walled, insulated bottle—changed from the days of plastic Nalgenes. It’s even changed since 2013, when we began testing bottles at Wirecutter: Our first top pick was made of single-walled aluminum. We’re devotees of the 21-oz version. Less capacity feels too small; more capacity (especially in the 24-oz range) and the proportions feel off, resulting in tall and top-heavy bottles. In the 21-oz size, the Hydro Flask Standard Mouth stays put in a shallow backpack pocket, remains stable in a car’s cupholder, and has a deeply satisfying fit in the last remaining space along the inside of a full tote. Wirecutter is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. [Learn more](. How it works A double-walled thermos works by eliminating solid conduction between the inner wall and the outer wall, according to Wesley Johnson, a cryogenics research engineer at the [Glenn Research Center]( in Cleveland, Ohio. A vacuum between those walls stops gas convection from occurring, and so it helps keep cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot. Other water-bottle manufacturers advertise a copper lining that they claim improves hot/cold retention, but that lining doesn’t actually do much. The Hydro Flask doesn’t have a copper lining, yet our cold water warmed only 9 degrees over 6 hours in our tests. When to buy Although we see the occasional sale every other month, the best sales are during springtime and during REI’s Anniversary Sale. The numbers $33 Average street price $17 Best price we’ve ever seen Make it last Dishwashing is the scourge of double-walled insulation. The heat can damage the vacuum, so it’s best to handwash this water bottle. This is where simplicity reigns supreme, since bottles with fewer moving parts become easier to scrub. Copyright © 2020 Wirecutter, Inc., all rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you signed up for our newsletters. You are free to unsubscribe at any time.‌ Our mailing address is: Wirecutter, Inc. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018‌ [View this email in your browser]( [Unsubscribe from this list]( | [Update subscription preferences‌](