NY Times gear test for water bottles

"Health-conscious athletes are choosing alternatives made from stainless steel, aluminum or BPA-free plastics. “Last year at this time we couldn’t pay anyone to take our stainless-steel bottles,” said Sloan Russell, the president of Guyot Designs, in Deer Isle, Maine. Now bottle sales at Guyot are expected to be $3 million this year, up from $60,000 in 2007. " Check out more of this commentary and slideshow of images from the NY Times.

Klean Kanteen vs. SIGG

We asked our friend Chris Jonard of the the Quintessential Quill to help us cover our most frequently asked question: Should I get a Kleen Kanteen or a SIGG?

Here is Chris' review:

With all the media coverage about BPA and its potential hazards, as well as the massive waste generated by disposable water bottles, getting a reusable water bottle makes sense. There are several options out there, but which one works the best?

Reusable plastic bottles are an option, but for those that want to be BPA free, plastic is kind of scary right now. This leads to metal water bottles. The top contenders are SIGG and Klean Kanteen. In a personal trial between the two, the clean winner came out to be Kleen Kanteen for a variety of reasons.

First, let’s talk SIGG. The SIGG bottles have different designs on them, many of which are just too cool for words. There are some seriously beautiful and extremely cute bottles out there. But judge not a book by its cover, as they say, for looks are not everything. I found that with everyday use, the SIGGs dent extremely easily. In fact, my first SIGG dented before it was even used! However, that is cosmetic and can be overlooked—though for the price one would think they would be a bit sturdier. I do have a friend, though, who says the liner on the inside has cracked due to a particularly deep dent. This however, has not been my experience (yet?) Also, the lids leak—thanks to a VERY determined toddler! Overall, I just am not sold on these, which is sad because, as I mentioned before, they are beautiful!

Kleen Kanteen has sleek lines that make them attractive, though not nearly as pretty as SIGG. However, rugged use with my KKs has yet to dent them at all. They are much sturdier (and a bit heavier) and the sports lid, so far, has been leak free. Oh! Another WONDERFUL thing about the KKs is that the mouth of the bottle is wide, so you can fit in a regular cleaning brush to clean it. The SIGG needs a special brush to get in there to scrub. Also, you can easily put regular ice in the KKs. My ONE complaint about the KKs is they are kind of boring compared to SIGG design-wise, but that is a minor complaint. They have spiced things up a bit by adding colors—I can only hope that designs are soon to follow?

So, to sum it up—the SIGGs are eye candy, but for a meaningful, long-lasting relationship, the trusty, sturdy Kleen Kanteens are the way to go.

Klean Kanteens and SIGGs taped for NBC 4

Ellie Merrit, a local Columbus OH news reporter, taped a segment on BPA free kids bottles at my friend Alissa DeRouchie's home office today. Alissa invited me to bring over a SIGG and Klean Kanteen for demonstration. They aired the segment at 4 PM. As soon as I get a link I'll post it here.

Ellie also posted on her blog about BPA.

It's great to have more press on this issue!

Metal Bottle Comparison

After much work and html editing, the metal bottle comparison is finally here! We compared the three major manufacturers of BPA free metal water bottles and condensed their benefits and features into this comparison.

Baying Hound Quick Picks

Alex's Favorite: Klean Kanteen 27 ounce with Loop Top

Rachel's Favorite: SIGG Butterfly Dreams with Loop Top for around the house, SIGG Red Touch 0.75L for when cycling, hiking, or carrying wine to an outdoor concert.

Lillian's Favorite: SIGG Little Cat

Best Baby Shower Gift: Klean Kanteen Sippy

Best for Car Commuters: SIGG Metro Mug or Guyot Designs Commuter

Best for Backpacking: Guyot Designs Backpacker

Best for those who like it hot: SIGG Hot and Cool double walled stainless steel bottle

Best for Those who like it cool: Klean Kanteen 27 ounce filled with ice

Size and Fit

SIGG: 0.75L and smaller bottles fit in most car cupholders and backpack pouches, but larger sizes do not; available in 10 oz /0.3L (6”h x 2.5”w), 13.5 oz / 0.4L (8”h x 2.5”w), 20 oz / 0.6L (8.5”h x 2.75”w), 26 oz / 0.75L (11”h x 2.75”w), and 34 oz / 1.0L (11”h x 3.25”w); 0.75 L fits into bike cage

Klean Kanteen: Smaller bottles fit in some car cupholders and backpack pouches; available in 12 oz (5”h x 2.75”w), 18 oz (7”h x 2.75”w), 27 oz (10.5”h x 2.75”w) and 40 oz (10.65”h x 3.5”w) sizes; must use Klean Kanteen specific bike cage

Guyot Designs Commuter fits in car cupholders, others fit in Nalgene sized bottle pockets; Available in 24 oz Shorty (5.7”h x 3.2”w) or Commuter (7.6”h x 2.55”w), 32 oz Backpacker (7.6”h x 2.83”w) or 38 oz Standard (7.6”h x 3.6”w); none fit in bike cage

Material and Weight

SIGG: Made of aluminum with a superthin baked on epoxy liner and smaller polypropylene tops, Aluminum SIGGs have the lowest empty weights per volume, from 2.8 - 5.9 oz. SIGG thermos bottles are made of double walled stainless steel and weigh more than any single walled bottles.

Klean Kanteen: Made of unlined thin stainless steel with medium sized polypropylene tops, Klean Kanteens come in next with empty weights from 4 oz - 11 oz.

Guyot Designs: Made of unlined thin stainless steel with super durable polypropylene tops, the Guyot Design series weigh the most per volume, from 7.9 oz - 12.9 oz.

Ease of Cleaning

Guyot Designs: Extra wide mouth bottle allows for simple hand washing; can be put in the dishwasher (tops should be hand washed to retain leakproof nature)

Klean Kanteen: Medium mouth bottle allows for easy hand washing with a standard bottle brush; can be put in the dishwasher (tops should be hand washed to retain leakproof nature)

SIGG: Small mouth bottle needs special brush to be hand washed or use cleaning tabs; can be put in the dishwasher (tops should be hand washed to retain leakproof nature)

Opening for Ice

Guyot Designs: Extra wide mouth perfect for all sizes of ice cubes

Klean Kanteen: Standard ice cubes fit in medium mouth

SIGG: Specialty long thin ice cube tray must be used to make ice cubes fit

Manufacturing Sustainability

SIGG: Aluminum bottles are made in Sweden for 100 years by well paid and trained workforce. Cleaning agents and paints are environmentally friendly.

Guyot Designs: Sustainably made in China; materials approved by FDA. Each bottle carries 100lb or more of verified greenhouse gas emissions reductions, making them carbon negative.

Klean Kanteen: Sustainably made in China; bottles are randomly tested in US to ensure there are no hazardous substances such as lead.

Sipping Lip

SIGG: Internal threads with well designed lip at top. No splashing and easy to drink right from bottle.

Klean Kanteen: Small depth external threads with rolled lip at top, can splash because of bigger opening.

Guyot Designs: External threads, performs like nalgene bottle. Splashguard available.

Tops

Klean Kanteen: Best child’s sippy top – no leaks, easy to replace spouts, no dust cover. Mediocre sports top – low flow, makes squeaky noise during use, hard to remove cap. Satisfactory Loop and Flat top.

SIGG: Mediocre Kids top – easy to pour from when open but conveniently attached dust cover. Very Good Active Sports Top – easy to use one handed with decent flow rate and dust cover. Satisfactory Loop and Flat Top.

Guyot Designs: Top comes with cord to stay attached to bottle, durable and leak proof.

Style

Klean Kanteen: Stainless Steel or Colors available

SIGG: Wide range of colors and designs

Guyot Designs: Stainless steel only

Durability

Guyot Designs: Stainless steel is most durable in our anecdotal tests. Top is heafty and durable.

Klean Kanteen: Stainless steel is most durable in our anecdotal tests. Unpainted versions stay looking like new longest, as colored ones can scratch. Gasket on top may degrade over time.

SIGG; Aluminum bottles will dent if dropped. Finish scratches are hard to avoid. Tops and gaskets are durable in our tests, dust cap is easy to break.

Thermal Properties

Guyot Designs: Single walled with no insulation, but you can cook in these bottles. Cannot be frozen or welds will break. Obviously the bottle will be very hot if you cook in it so use proper tools to handle bottle after heating.

Klean Kanteen: Single walled with no insulation, but neoprene sleeves are available. Cannot be frozen or welds will break. Can heat over flame in a pinch but smaller top means heating will be uneven. Obviously the bottle will be very hot if you cook in it so use proper tools to handle bottle after heating.

SIGG: Single walled versions have no insulation. Cannot be frozen or welds will break. Double walled 0.5L bottles and thermoses are available. Cannot cook in SIGG bottles.

Craft your own Klean Kanteen/SIGG holder!

We track blog posts about Klean Kanteens and SIGGs, of course. Sometimes we see posts about hand crafted bottle covers/holders. If you know how to crochet or knit, check these out:

Crochet holder for Klean Kanteen sippy by Miracles & Dreams
Crochet pattern for Klean Kanteen 27 ounce by Vegan Crochet
Knit pattern adaptation by Life with Girls
Knit Water bottle tote by Lana Knits
Knit Water bottle Cover by Flying Sticks
Knit Felted Bottle Cozy by Lion Brand Wool

Two standard disclaimers - 1) I have not knit or crochet the above patterns myself so I can only believe the author's words that they actually fit. 2) As with all patterns, rights remain with the author. These should not be used to produce commercial product without permission.

Don't knit? Check out these Etsy sellers offering handmade covers for sale:
GretchensCreations (pictured above)
PhunkyThreadz
Kasanika
PracticalTrends

If you need the bottle first, check out our Klean Kanteens and SIGGs in stock.

SIGG restrictions on Internet sellers

We just learned that SIGG is placing restrictions on Internet sellers like ourselves. We will not be allowed to place wholesale orders for at least 8 weeks. According to a letter written by SIGG Switzerland CEO, "We will continue to assess our supply vs business opportunities in the near term and longer term future and will let you know when we can strategically supply our brand on internet sales again".

We are disappointed because without stock we can not make sales, which of course affects our growth. We are also fearful that all the positive Internet buzz about SIGGs will turn when consumers cannot find a retailer. We are discouraged that the company whom we previously trusted now cannot support our growth.

We are most displeased that customers without a brick and mortar store nearby will not be able to order SIGG bottles from Baying Hound or any other online retailer once current stock is gone. If you are upset by this we encourage you to write a cordial email to SIGG requesting that Baying Hound be allowed to make wholesale orders again.

What are we doing to mitigate this situation?

1)We are petitioning SIGG gently but firmly that we believe this is a bad decision for our business and the SIGG brand.

2)We have placed orders for other BPA free bottles with Klean Kanteen and Guyot Designs. These are expected to start arriving at the end of June.

3)We will continue to sell what we have in stock until it sells out. We are doing our best to inform customers of what is currently available conveniently.

We appreciate your support. If you have suggestions for other products you might like us to carry or other ways we can make Baying Hound better, please don't hesitate to contact us.

SIGG thermal question

I received an interesting question about SIGGs via email today:

Are there any health concerns with pouring boiling water into Sigg bottles to make tea and then letting it are cool and placing it in the refrigerator or freezer to cool it off?

My answer:

This report: http://lib.store.yahoo.net/lib/yhst-23192477770352/bpareport.pdf verifies that SIGGs do not leach BPA at higher temperatures. I have seen no anecdotal or empirical evidence that SIGG bottles cause ill health effects with high temperature contents.

However, there is a chance that the thermal shock of putting boiling water in a bottle and then transferring to the freezer could cause separation between the weld that holds the mouthpiece to the bottle. SIGG recommends not fully freezing bottles for this reason, although I have done this by accident once or twice with no damage to the bottle.

Adventures of Butterfly SIGG Part 2

Yesterday Butterfly drove to western Massachusetts. First stop was the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. This is a lovely small museum with two galleries of original artwork from picture books, a large space for children and adults to make art, and a well stocked gift shop. Here is Butterfly in the art room:


Next, Butterfly visited the Dr. Seuss Memorial Brass Sculpture garden in Springfield Massachusetts. These oversize sculptures are so much fun to view and relive the messages of Dr. Suess. Here she sits on the stump with the Lorax who says "I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues."


Today, Butterfly went to a rocky beach near Marion Massachusetts known as Planting Island. It was low tide and barnacle and snail encrusted rocks were exposed:

Adventures of Butterfly SIGG part 1

We are on a family vacation in Massachusetts this week. (Baying Hound operations are under the careful watch of Megan, my sister). To share the fun with you and give us something to take pictures of other than our daughter, we thought we'd write regular updates with pictures of my butterfly dreams bottle.

Yesterday Butterfly flew United from Columbus to Chicago, then Chicago to Providence Rhode Island. She made it through security and was filled with water fountains numerous times through the trip. She then took a ride in the car to Marion Massachusetts and rested overnight.

Today, Butterfly went to the beach.
She hung out with her friend, Black Oval with Cup.


Later they visited the LLBean outlet and overheard people talking about BPA. They didn't fall for any of those super clearance plastic bottles!

It was a great day in the sun!

MySIGG suspends sales

MySIGG.com, the storefront for the US distributor of SIGG bottles has suspended sales of SIGGs so that all inventory can be diverted to smaller retailers like Baying Hound. The demand is huge and our orders have increased dramatically since MySIGG made the announcement and linked to retailers. We're pleased to be working with such a supportive company.

In other SIGG news, we spoke with a SIGG rep today to place another order. We'll do yet another one next week to keep replenishing our stock.

US Toxicology Program report on BPA

We encourage you to read this draft brief of the US Toxicology Program report on BPA.

It is a synthesis of many studies about BPA. In sum, the Toxicology Program is leaning towards the conclusion that BPA is undeniably present in humans and the effects of BPA exposure are not desirable. This report makes no recommendations for consumers but does recommend further study by US scientific bodies.

We aren't in the fear mongering business at Baying Hound. But if you are thinking about making the switch from plastic to non-BPA containers, we are happy to supply you with alternatives. We have SIGG aluminum bottles and boxes (a great bento alternative!), Guyot Designs silicone bowls and utensils, and Klean Kanteen stainless steel bottles arriving soon.

More SIGG and Guyot stock

We received two small shipments of stock from SIGG and Guyot today. We now have the Schaereschnitt 0.6L bottle and a selection of boxes from SIGG. Guyot sent the slate and tomato (aka scarlet and grey - Go Bucks!) travel shots too. No stock photos of these, so I guess I'm taking pictures this afternoon. :)

Swimming in SIGG orders!

Wow! Earth day and news about BPA have sent the SIGG orders through the roof! We are working harder than ever to package and ship everyone's new water bottles. We also have two more orders on the way from SIGG for replacements to our very depleted stock.

Slew of News about BPA

National news media is reporting a number of stories relating to BPA:

1) Nalgene is phasing out production of BPA containing bottles
2) The government of Canada is banning the import of containers with BPA
3) The US National Toxicology Program declared that human risks of BPA cannot be dismissed

If you need to replace plastic bottles, we offer a few alternatives:

SIGG aluminum bottles are lined with a BPA free epoxy. The oval and hot and cool SIGGs are produced in stainless steel with no liner.

We are also ordering Guyot Designs stainless steel wide mouth bottles.

Starting to think about Earth Day

Every day is Earth day in our house, but the official day is April 22. We are working on a special promotion to be announced later this week.

In the meantime, here's an article from David Bach with a good overview of ways to save money by conserving resources.

What are other ways you save green while being green?

One Week until the Open Market!

Next Saturday is our first in-person sales event! We are busy preparing signage, table displays, and GIVEAWAYs.

If you are in Ohio, don't miss the chance to see Baying Hound SIGGs, squishy bowls, microbites, and more in person. Stop by the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbus next Saturday April 12 from 1 - 3:30. For more details, see our page about the event.

Water Bottle Cartoon

The Gear Junkie posted a great cartoon today:

Can you take a SIGG through airport security?

We get this question quite a bit from our friends and customers. The short answer is yes, with a few caveats:

1. Don't fill it with water first. I know this sounds basic, but even people who travel allot forget they have a filled water bottle (I've done it a couple of times since the new regulations were put into place). You can always fill it at a drinking fountain on the other side.

2. Don't treat it like something special at the security checkpoint and ask if it is ok to take it through. Remember, it is only an empty water bottle, nothing more. When you volunteer information and ask a person in authority if something is ok, often their first response is, "well if he's asking, maybe there's something wrong here." You're trying to be helpful, but you may only end up causing yourself hassle. It's not up to you to do the TSA's job for them.

3. The TSA is often capricious and their policies/procedures vary widely between individual screeners and airports. I say this from personal experience having traveled heavily for business purposes in the last three years. I've successfully taken my SIGG through security in Columbus, OH, Minneapolis, MN and Palm Beach, FL. However, I unfortunately can't guarantee you a problem-free trip as the TSA is so hard to predict. You may run into a screener who decides your SIGG bottle could function as some sort of a weapon, lead to the downfall of western society, and must therefore be restricted from airline travel. Hopefully, however, you will have a good experience.

Let us know if you have anything positive or negative to add on this subject.

Win a SIGG bottle from www.BayingHound.com!

This contest is now closed and the winner is Ally S. Thanks to everyone who entered!
That's right, it's time for our first blog contest!

On March 16 we will award one lucky person a their choice of a 0.6L SIGG water bottle. To enter, send an email to contests@bayinghound.com with the subject 'Win a SIGG'. A winner will be chosen at random from everyone who emails between March 1 - March 15.

The fine print: Only one entry per person. Family members of Baying Hound employees are not eligible for prizes.

Red Alert SIGGs are back!

We just received another shipment of SIGGs and our best selling design, Red Alert, is back! If you were waiting for this one, buy now before they are sold out again.



Also in are these new designs: Maharadsha Violet and Midnight Illusions













And, I listed boxes and new cleaning accessories.