I’ve been using these things for years, and they are rugged and wonderful.

REI, btw, is a good resource for both the Platy bottles you mentioned if there is one near you(although who can beat free shipping from Amazon, when you combine your purchase with a book, CD, DVD, or other item to hit the “$25 and shipping is free” mark?).

Nalgene, famous for the classic round, hard plastic water bottles, also makes some flexible water bottles –

http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com.....egoryID=42

They don’t have nearly the variety of Platypus, which pretty much “owns” the flexible water bottle market, but if you need a wide mouth you pretty much need the Nalgene version(AFAIK the Platy’s all have “sport cap” tops or narrow screw tops). The trade-off is that the Nalgene flexible bottles never compress as small as the Platy’s, since the bottle cap alone is enormous.

My favorite Platy is actually the small pint bottle. It is a more convenient size than the 1 quart, which is my second favorite size. Don’t ask me why, but I prefer to carry two pint Platy’s instead of a single quart bottle – maybe it’s because the quart bottle is much longer, while I can pack the pint bottles side by side, head to toe to save packing space since the spout end is thinner than the base.

Another item I like from hiking sources are the small, screw top Nalgene storage bottles – perfect for carrying liquids and gels until the TSA relents on their ban on larger bottles. Unlike some accessory bottles sold at drug stores, the Nalgene bottles don’t leak, crack, or squash down. They are really rugged, and a “kit” of medium and small travel bottle kits go for about $9 and are shown HERE:

http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com.....tegoryID=5

Thanks for providing the Amazon “click through” link. Amazon is a pretty consumer-friendly operations – unlike some websites they don’t “mark-up” items if you click through on a referral website such as yours.

BTW a couple of “hard learned” water bottle tips – first, while the “leash” on the bottle cap on typical Nalgene style water bottles (which also comes with their flexible botttles) seems like a Good Idea so you won’t lose the cap, it can also lead to water bottle leaks, if the “leash” gets whacked or shoved. Yeah, I know the cap is supposed to rotate free of the leash, but somehow it happened to me.

The other “happened to me” item was failing to press the spout cap on a Platy bottle all the way closed. The last part of the movement is a little “snappy” and if you don’t close it all the way, it will leak. I think it is a little more of a problem with the flexible Platy than a hard sided bottle since the flexible Platy is more subject to compression on its sides.

I have never, ever had a Platy burst a seam or develop any other kind of leak in over 8 years of usage, however. These things are tough.