Vito ValentinettiI wanted to review the Platypus SoftBottle during last year’s 100 Nights of Summer Tour, but managed to lose it within two days of being on the road. This time around I got serious, and when I saw the 0.5 liter model on sale for $4.99 apiece, I snagged two. The classic Nalgene water bottle has two big problems for my type of festival flashpacking: it’s bulky and it’s too heavy. These softies from Platypus are much better, as they just roll up when empty.
Find at Backcountry.com for $7.95
Because of their light weight and packability, these are supremely useful festival tools. I usually filled one with water and the other with whisky. Because of the soft plastic design, they can fit into pockets where security would not be expecting a half liter of booze.
After a full season of festivaling — 100 days across Europe to 15 festivals — this water bottle has held up much stronger than most of my other gear. It’s held nine different types of liquid, but still smells fresh after cleaning and I never had any lakeage. It’s also BPA free.
And yes, of course, I did end up losing one of the two bottles. I last saw it in Poland leaving me in the company of a girl. Why wasn’t I with her? Well, that’s another story, and well out of the scope for gear reviews.
As far as I’m concerned, a solid investment of $5
Photo Credit: Platypus Official Website