Camelbak Performance Bottle

My walking buddies all went nuts for the Camelbak water bottles. Why? Because you don't have to tilt them up to drink out of them. You just suck on the bite valve and the bottle's interior straw draws up your water. That means you don't obstruct your view while walking, biking, driving, keyboarding, etc. The original Camelbak Better Bottles were made of clear polycarbonate, but now they are made of BPA-free materials.

My biggest gripe with cheap water bottles is leakage. The Big Bite Valve prevents leakage while you are walking and the bottle is mostly upright. You can twist a seal to Open or Closed for extra leakage protection when storing the bottle or carrying it in a tilted position. The label warns against filling it with carbonated beverages, which I assume would build pressure, causing a leak or eruption when the valve was opened.

The wide mouth of the bottle makes it easy to add ice cubes or powdered sports drink mix.

The Performance Bottle has graduations on the side for 8, 12, and 22 ounces and 150, 300, and 650 ml so you can judge how much you are drinking. A clear strip down the side also allows you to see the fluid level better than through the semi-opaque plastic which covers the rest of the bottle.

Cleaning the straw and bite valve will be a bit more cumbersome than cleaning a simple bottle and lid. You can wash all parts in the top rack of your dishwasher. But if you see build-up on the straw and bite valve, you may want to use denture cleanser tablets.
Cleaning Your Camelbak

The top of the Performance Bottle has a loop you can use to hook the bottle on a clip or hook, or dangle it from your finger. The bottle itself is shaped for easy gripping. I don't recommend carrying a water bottle in your hand for walks of more than a few minutes, as that can lead to repetitive stress injuries.

The bottle fits into the cup holders of most vehicles. With the straw's design, you don't have to obstruct your view of the road, sidewalk or trail to drink while walking or driving.

Many walkers are concerned over reports that damaged clear polycarbonate water bottles might leach bisphenol A (BPA) into the water. While many research studies show the polycarbonate bottles to be safe, manufacturers are moving swiftly to provide BPA-free versions.

Many water bottles have always been BPA-free, as they are made of opaque or semi-opaque squeezable plastic rather than the rigid, clear polycarbonate. If your clear plastic water bottle has a 7 inside a triangle on the bottom, it might be polycarbonate, although it could still be BPA-free.

The 2008 version of the Camelbak Performance Bottle is BPA-free and has a numeral 5 inside the recycling triangle on the bottom of the bottle.