After my last plastic water bottle (Nalgene) took on a smell (and taste) of a riverbottom as a result of sitting 1/4 full in my jeep for a week, I attempted to clean the bottle with a variety of methods, all of which failed miserably. After a valiant effort to save the bottle, it was, alas, sent to the trash this evening.

As it turns out, plastic bottles can be pretty bad.

In 1998, Dr. Patricia Hunt of Case Western University in Ohio discovered that plastics made from polycarbonate resin can leach bisphenol-A (BPA), a potent hormone disruptor. BPA, a chemical found in epoxy resin and polycarbonate plastics, may impair the reproductive organs and have adverse effects on tumors, breast tissue development and prostate development by reducing sperm count. (whole study here: http://scholar.google.com/url?sa=U&a...ia_oocitos.pdf)

Um....that's bad, right?

As I set forth on a mission to find a METAL replacement (for health reasons as much as anything else), and having read the thread on the SIGG water bottle, I found myself in a bit of a "goldilocks" situation.

First, there was the one that was TOO EXPENSIVE:

That's a titanium flask for $104.90 at Backcountry.com. YOW.

Then over at 4imprint.com they had this interesting bottle:



But it only holds 24 Oz - and they required a minimum order of 75 pieces - $549.25! - Maybe if we could get 75 equipped folks to buy.... but 24 oz? Useless.

Then, finally, I found this:
The Kleen Kanteen, from Greenfeet.com.

40 Oz - enough for a whole can of Malt Liquor or, perhaps, some water.

So I got a few of the metal bottles, they are a tad heavier than the plastic ones (not much really) but I can thow them in a pot of boiling water and sterilze the suckers.

Can't freeze 'em but you CAN melt snow and ice in them over a fire.

Cool.