Outdoors · Nalgene · 2008
Nalgene Wide Mouth 32 oz
No insulation, no pretence, and effectively unbreakable — the durability floor for everything else.
Overall
8.0
out of 10
Axis scores
Outdoors is scored on these 4 axes. The total is their plain average — nothing is weighted.
- Performance — How well it does the core job
- Value — What the same money buys elsewhere
- Durability — Failure and fade reports past the one-year mark
- Design — Build quality and how it sits in a room
Specs
- Material
- Single-wall Tritan (BPA-free revision)
- Markings
- Volume graduations on the side
- Weight
- Under 180 grams
As published by the manufacturer. We didn't measure these ourselves.
Is it for you
Buy it if
- Weight and cost matter more than temperature
- Measuring water for cooking or for filter systems
- Backcountry use where a dented vacuum bottle is a dead bottle
Skip it if
- You want a cold drink to still be cold in four hours
- Condensation on the outside will be a problem
Mixing electrolyte, dosing a water filter, portioning water for cooking: the volume graduations molded into the side kept this bottle standard for anyone measuring in the field. No insulated bottle offers that, because you cannot see through a double wall.
It does not insulate, and that is not an oversight. Single-wall Tritan shrugs off drops that would flat-spot a vacuum bottle, at roughly a third of the weight and a fraction of the cost.
The 63mm wide mouth accepts ice, powders, and most water filter threads directly, and the whole thing goes in a dishwasher without concern.
The limitations are exactly what you would expect. Cold drinks reach room temperature within a couple of hours, hot liquids are a bad idea, and condensation forms on the outside on a warm day. In a backpack that means a wet notebook unless the bottle has its own pocket.
The attached loop lid keeps the cap from getting lost, and it is the component that eventually cracks after years of use. Replacements cost very little.
For hiking, gym use, travel, or anyone who wants water at room temperature, these are the correct trade-offs, and the bottle still lands mid-table here despite being the only one that makes no attempt at insulation.
Last updated . The scoring method is on how we rank.