Blacks Water Bottle

[mark a.]

Blacks (the outdoors shop) is selling British Army-type water bottles (with cup), reduced from £10 to £5. I doubt they're the "real deal" (they're made in Taiwan), but seem pretty solid.

Are they worth getting, or are the proper bottles better? I don't really need any yet, but I was wondering if it's worth picking some up if they're cheap. Or are there places to get the genuine article for similar prices?

Thanks,

Mark

[lostplanet]

http://www.strikeforcesupplies.co.uk/stock.php?page=bigpic&item=2001
if you need a cup i'd go for one of these
www.sasskit.co.uk products/ food and water utensils / Non stick NATO metal mug

or even get waterbottles from the same place, im sure if you spoke to them they would do bottles seperately.

[mark a.]

Ah, good stuff, thanks - if I can get the genuine article for the same price, then might as well go with that.

Are there any actual differences between the real and the copies? Or is it just that they're not quite as trustworthy (quality, ruggedness etc)?

[scanker]

Thanks lostplanet for the link to the bottles - I'd been looking for some bottles for a while.

I bought the teflon cup with the crusader cooking unit (like this one (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CRUSADER-COOKING-UNIT-Fits-58-PAT-BOTTLE-Gel-Fuel_W0QQitemZ6555744392QQcate goryZ36077QQssPageNameZWDVWQQr dZ1QQcmdZViewItem)) for a tenner plus postage from ebay - the one I had came with some gel fuel too.

I'm currently experimenting with pop can stoves to make one to fit.

[lostplanet]

water, to me, is very important so i wouldn't trust a copy, the original issue bottles are pretty much unchanged since 1958, so it goes to show they got something right.
get one from blacks and see how they compare with the real thing, then get your money back.

[lostplanet]

nice buy scanker :)

[Mikey P]

Have you tried the Nalgene wide neck bottles? I can't understand the fascination with army bottles - overfamiliarity perhaps...

The Nalgene bottles are excellent - they carry a litre of water, are see-though so you can check how much you have left, or check the 'visual quality' of the water. And they don't take the flavour of any drink you put in them.

The wide neck is useful in Winter. Despite a insulating carrier, I have had them freeze on occasions when climbing but the wide neck means you can chip water/ice out of the bottle. Oh, and I've also used them as hot water bottles (they don't deform when you pour boiling water into them).

They cost a bit more but I believe it's worth it. I've had one for 4 years now and I'm well pleased with it.

You can also get a little attachment that stops all of the water dripping down your shirt when drinking from the bottle.

Does this not sound a better idea than the trad black army water bottle?

Or am I just a heretic?

[bikething]

I've seen the ones in Blacks, and I also own 2 genuine sets.
The sets in Blacks are about 1/2 the weight of the real thing, and the bottle can be flexed in your hand - something you can't do with a genuine 58 pattern bottle. - wasn't convinced by the seal in the lid either.

HTH

Steve

[mark a.]

Ah, that sounds pretty clear. I'll be studiously ignoring the Blacks bottles then... ;)

Cheers all.

Mark

[lostplanet]

nothing wrong with nalgene, it's just my kit all fits together nicely with surplus gear, it's cheap and works for me...for extra water carrying i use an ortilieb 2L soft water carrier that packs way nicely when empty.

[falling rain]

Car boot sales are great for picking up kit. I've got 6 nato bottles which I've collected, ranging from £1 - £3.00 at car booters and they are genuine not the cheap copies. I filled them with water and a splash of bleach when I get them home to steralise them. I go out a lot with my lad and we carry 3 each and they fit of course into the crusader with the cooking unit then we've enough drinking water and water for cooking for a night out

[TwoFourAlpha]

Anchor are selling the real deal for six of your earth pounds:

http://www.camo.co.uk/accessories.htm

- bottom of the page.

Why go for cotton, when you can have silk?

[maddave]

Must admit, I'm Ex Mob and I prefer Nalgene these days to the old 58 patt bottle. As pointed out however, the 1ltr one won't fit inside a crusader cup, so I now store my 1st aid kit in the cup :)

[j.roberts7]

ive had lots of different bottles inc allum ones they split when they do freeze
i now have two 58 bottles and a us bottle with mettle mug and pouch because they fit together in the pouch without having to remove everything to get to the water plus i find the us mug more pleasnt to drink from