Sigg bottles; any point to them?

[Tengu]

Dad came to bring me some stuff (bolognaise...and I made a big pan full today too...never mind.)

I was showing him my new treasures including a Sigg bottle (I now have two, a turquoise and a red one)

But he didnt see the point in the bottle, I tried to show him some special features...but I couldnt find any.

Sigg bottles new arent cheap, is there any point to them.

(apart from making a special pouch for like I made Bikething...)

or are they just expensive kit that is fashionable??

 

[British Red]

They are pretty tough and I use their specialised fuel bottles and rate them in that guise. I have a couple of "imitation" Siggs (Thermos brand) and a real one I got cheap. I usually cary old 58 pattern water bottles for water though - they work fine, I like the wider mouth for filling and they nest with my cup - and they cost a couple of quid. So as a water bottle - I can't see any real reason for them tbh

Red

 

[bikething]

When I started out kit collectin... I mean camping , The only choice I had in the local shops were plastic water bottles that had a habit of splitting... or the 'expensive' Sigg bottles (which were the only metal bottles around, before they became copied by the budget manufacturers) Nalgene wasn't around then... so i saved up and eventually bought myself a nice blue one.. this would have been around 1988ish...

it's the same bottle I sent Tengu to use as a pattern - don't think any of my plastic bottles would have lasted that long

 

[Jared]

They are durable. Though the current trend of having a plastic water bottle fitting inside a metal mug is probably almost as good.

Though now certain stores are dropping plastic nalgene bottles, they might get a resurgance.

 

[bushscout1]

I got my sigg water bottle around 1990.

At the time, the only alternatives stocked in the local shops were clear plastic.

Clear plastic water bottles allow algae to breed inside if you leave them in the sunlight (eg around camp), plus they aren't as durable if they're inside your 'sack & you drop it on a rock etc.

Although I now use a black plastic NATO water bottle (because it fits with my crusader mug), I still have my sigg bottle - with all the dints & scratches which each have there own story.

Another plus is that if a sigg bottle does get too battered, all you need do is fill with water, screw the lid on & put in the freezer - as the water freezes & expands, it pushes out the worst of the dents - you wouldn't do that with other types of bottles.

 

[Shewie]

I`ve had one for ages and it`s probably one of the most used bits of kit I own. I always carry it in my pack for drinking water alongside an ortleib water bag to fill on the trail. Quality and bomb proof, I can`t remember the blurb but I`m sure they`re made of aircraft grade alu and can with stand being driven over by a tractor of something.

Thanks for the freezer tip bushscout, never heard that one before.


Rich

 

[philaw]

I never liked the idea that you can't see or clean inside properly.

Nalgene bottles, on the other hand, you can get inside to clean, use as a hot water bottle, put boiling water or food in.

I once had a nalgene that got nicked from my wife's hand by a baboon-thing which gouged holes in it with it's fangs (I'm not kidding!), but couldn't get in. The bottle survived the drop out of the tree, but a sigg would've too, so if you figure out what my point was please pm me.

 

[Tengu]

The Baboon would have kept it if it was a Sigg?

 

[firebreather]

Simply because they are bomb proof.
I have dropped mine off the top of a cliff face and it bounced all the way down ( I was pulling it from my pack at the top of a climb and my mate nudged me for a laugh making me drop it). When I got to the bottom of the climb it was still in one piece and working fine. I have battered it, a friend drove over it in his landrover and thats just the things that i can remember. I got mine late 80's and its still going strong. Gotta love them

Greg

 

[Jared]

Reading on mysigg.com, claims they are lighter than the lexan counterparts, which find surprising.

 

[Shambling Shaman]

I've got two red ones for fuel 1l & .6l
I would not carry mythes in any thing els.
All so used to use mt blue ones as hot water bottles. Still have the blue ones but carry a camelbak these days.

 

[Karl5]

Reading on mysigg.com, claims they are lighter than the lexan counterparts, which find surprising.

Surprising but actually true.
And the low weight is for me one of the main reasons why I really like and use Sigg bottles.
The fact that they can take about as much abuse as you can throw at them doesn't make them worse.

 

[Osprey]

I've had one for meths and paraffin since 1985! and it is still going strong. I've had several others for water and drinks as well which I've lost or had pinched over the years. I'm not really fussed about using them for water but for fuel they are the bees knees

 

[decorum]

Another plus is that if a sigg bottle does get too battered, all you need do is fill with water, screw the lid on & put in the freezer - as the water freezes & expands, it pushes out the worst of the dents - you wouldn't do that with other types of bottles.

I've seen sigg bottles semi-repaired in this way. However the process of freezing can cause further damage, or even destroy, the bottle - especially if you don't keep an eye on the progress!.
In a full and sealed sigg bottle the internal pressure of the water freezing can make bases bulge (making the bottle look like a drunken Weeble*) and can even make its seam split.

*http://www.weebles-wobble.com/ **

** But this one will fall down!

 

[BorderReiver]

I'm another champion of the Sigg bottle.

Can't remember when I bought my two,it was so long ago.They are light,strong,almost indestructible.I've got a shaped bottle brush which helps to clean them out a treat.

I sometimes clip the 500 ml bottle to my rucksack strap by the lid using one of these "toy" carabiners if I'm not using a hydration system.

Still the best IMO.

 

[Jared]

I'm another champion of the Sigg bottle.

Can't remember when I bought my two,it was so long ago.They are light,strong,almost indestructible.I've got a shaped bottle brush which helps to clean them out a treat.

I sometimes clip the 500 ml bottle to my rucksack strap by the lid using one of these "toy" carabiners if I'm not using a hydration system.

Still the best IMO.

Can get SmarTube SIGG bottle top to use it with their drinking tube.

http://www.bluedesert.co.il/

 

[BorderReiver]

Can get SmarTube SIGG bottle top to use it with their drinking tube.

http://www.bluedesert.co.il/

Didn't know that,cheers.

 

[shep]

I got a Sigg bottle as a freebie years ago and thought it was great. Light, robust and more of a classic than the current 'trendy' nalgenes.

Then around Xmas the nice people at urbanadventuregear.com (no connection) sent me a free 1L Nalgene with a hat and thermal top I ordered - and now I can see why they're trendy.

They're just as tough (according to the blurb anyway), easier to clean, quicker to open/close and nicer to drink out of (wide-mouth).

Ever since I saw two mosquito larvae wriggling in the bottom of my old clear plastic bottle, I've been quite keen on being able to see what I'm drinking. Combined with a sleeve for carrying it, the algae issue can be avoided.

So now I'm one of the trendies .

 

[JonnyP]

I have a couple of sigg bottles but this is my fav, I have had it years. It goes to work with me every day and has seen loads of action including dropping it off the top of the scaffolding... I never clean it other than a quick shake every morning, but then it only ever has had water in it. It has had 1 replacement top and the one on it is getting quite worn so will need another top soonish. The water in it tastes as good at the end of the day as it did when I first fill it. The only problem I have is the build up of limescale just inside the bottle, but that gets a scrape every so often...

I have had a couple of the wide mouth bottles and don't think they are half as good as the sigg, I always tend to dribble when drinking out of them and you can get a plasticy taste after a while...

 

[Tengu]

Well, thanks for the advice guys, it really got me thinking, showing it to dad, normally I can pick up an item and point out exactly why it is such a find, but not the sigg bottle.

(he was impressed by my blanket though, didnt understand why I got a beat up SAK until I explained about the replacement policy and the expense of a new.)

Now I know that my siggs are worth having (freebie one and £1 the other...) I dont like hydration sacks, too hard to clean. (and lets face it, Im conservative)