Canteens for the urban hiker?

Growing up in the Rocky Mountains, I was participating in outdoor activities since before I could walk or talk. As a result, my family always had a generous stockpile of gear. Among the various backpacking, camping and hiking items, were several varieties of canteens. We had mostly the G.I. style, that were army green and hooked into a gear belt through little steel eyelets.

The old-school canteen, that was pretty much the standard, when I was younger, was later replaced by Nalgene style bottles. It seems like Nalgene is now being outmoded by the aluminum bottles, especially since all of the warnings about chemical leeching have come about.

Last night, we were watching the opening night of Shark Week, on Discovery, and I saw an ad for stainless waterbottles, which claimed to be better than both plastic and aluminum. Hmmmm. But until today, I hadn’t seen any water bottle company that has tried to work the fashion accessory angle.

One of my friends forwarded me a link to the US Canteen site, this morning. The idea is a little bit corny, but I have to admit I like the idea of not having to carry a water bottle in my hand. Also, the over-the-shoulder sling beats out the old gear belt in form and function.

They come in a bunch of different styles of bottle, and carrier. Apparently they are all on sale right now, also. Check em out.