The Owala Free Sip Will Make You Want to Drink More Water

Nov 12, 2023

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The Owala free sip doesn't leak, it looks good, and makes you actually want to drink water.

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For a year or so in my twenties, I had the pleasure of working at an outdoors store in Chicago. The store was called Uncle Dan's and it was basically a local version of an REI. Unfortunately, my girlfriend could never remember the store's name. She told everyone I worked at Dick's Sporting Goods, which deeply insulted me. I liked hiking and camping, not dribbling different sized balls. I am outdoorsy, not athletic. I’ve never worn cleats in my life, but I’ve bought so many Merrells, I should have a style named after me. Anyway, the time I spent working at Uncle Dan's—or as we now refer to it in our house: NOT DICK’S SPORTING GOODS—made me an expert in outdoor gear. I can tell you why Osprey makes a better backpack than Deuter and recite from memory the specs of an Arcteryx outer shell. I even know what Gore Tex is and how it works. But none of that compares to the amount of useless information I have about water bottles.

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I probably sold over 1,000 of them. Need proof of my expertise? Let's see how many water bottle brands I can still recite from memory: Hydroflask, Nalgene, Platypus, Snow Peak, Klean Kanteen, Stanley, Yeti, Katadyn, Lifestraw, Camelbak... I think that's enough. But ask me which one of these brands made the best water bottle, and I’d be hard pressed to answer, because they all had issues. The Hydro Flasks leaked; the Yetis were too heavy; the straw on the Camelbak was impossible to clean; and the Nalgenes, though adorable, were impossible to drink from. What I learned from the year I spent hawking water bottles is that there's no such thing as a perfect water bottle. At least there didn't use to be. Enter the Owala Free Sip.

SHOP NOW $24, amazon.com

The Owala Free Sip is the most thoughtfully designed water bottle I’ve ever used. First, you can drink from it multiple ways. Sippers can use the Free Sip's built-in straw, which allows you to hydrate without having to lift a finger. If you’re more of a gulper, take a swig straight from the free sip's wide-mouth opening. And if you want maximum hydration, you can do both at the same time (but we don't recommend it). When you own a Free Sip, you will drink more water.

SHOP NOW $24, amazon.com

The second most important design detail on the Free Sip is its locking lid. This thing is genius. It provides twice the security of a twisting lid or a spout lid with a cap, and it eliminates the chances of leaks and spills, even among the most forgetful and clumsiest drinkers. I’ve had my Free Sip for two years, and it is yet to leak on me. I simply close the lid, push the lock down, and toss it in my bag. Even better: the lock doubles as a carrying loop when you aren't using it, making it a cinch to transport.

SHOP NOW $24, amazon.com

The Owala Free Sip does everything you need a good water bottle to do and nothing you don't. Yes, it keeps beverages cold for 24 hours; yes, it's triple vacuum sealed, and BPA-free, and fits a cup holder, and has a lifetime warranty, yada, yada, yada. It's also only $24, way less than other stainless steel brands that, in my experience, do not work anywhere near as well. Most importantly though, it's just a great water bottle. Trust me, I’ve tried them all.

Abigail Covington is a journalist and cultural critic based in Brooklyn, New York but originally from North Carolina, whose work has appeared in Slate, The Nation, Oxford American, and Pitchfork

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