When you’re hiking, especially on a multi-day hike, reducing your pack weight as much as possible is key to ensuring you enjoy your time on the trail as much as possible. We people of the outdoors looking at the weight of our gear with a microscope, counting and reducing pounds wherever we can while playing the balance being budget and weight reduction.
Something we, well I, have never considered reducing the weight of is my stainless steel water bottle. Water, as we all know, is something you have got to have with you while hiking and enough of it too. But, my 1-liter stainless steel water bottle weighs around 2lbs when it’s empty and is heavy to carry.
At A Glance: Our Top 3 Collapsible Water Bottles
Enter the collapsible water bottle. These are extremely light, pack down small when not in use and do a great job of shaving down your pack weight. But, are they going to last and handle life on the trail? Having a broken water bottle is simply not an option. This is why you need the best collapsible water bottle you can find, and here are some of the top ones on the market.
Best Of The Best
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Best On A Budget
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Best Allrounder
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The Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle is one of the best on the market and it comes with a lifetime warranty, so you’re getting a collapsible Water bottle forever.
The bottle is made from 100% food-grade silicon with a leakproof lid at the top. The body of the bottle rolls up nicely and then clips onto the lid for easy storage.
It’s incredibly light at just 7.2 oz when empty and with a 0.65-liter capacity, holds enough water for a few hours of hiking before needing a top-up.
The bottle and lid are well built and can handle being dropped without anything breaking. It also comes with a handy carry strap so you can conveniently clip it onto your pack.
Another great thing about the bottle is that it’s easy to clean. You can throw it into the dishwasher, and the opening is large enough to give it a good scrub. Ice also fits through it if you want cold water and it’s freezable too.
The Silbyloyoe Silicone Collapsible Water Bottle is probably the best option on the market if you’re shopping on a bit of a budget.
This collapsible water bottle is extremely affordable while still delivering on the qualities you need from a water bottle.
It’s built from medical-grade silicone that will not break if it’s dropped on the ground. The lid is leakproof with a triple leakproof system to ensure no water will be lost or end up in your pack.
The bottle packs down to just 4.8 x 4.6 x 3.1 inches and weighs a mere 5.76 ounces. When folded up you can even fit it inside your pocket if you want to.
The lid is easy to take off and the opening is large enough for easy filling or adding ice/fruit as you wish. And, the capacity is excellent at 0.75 liters.
The one annoying thing about the bottle is that the lid is a pain to clean, but soaking it for a while should make it a lot easier.
The best all-around collapsible water bottle on the market has to be the Platypus Platy 2-Liter Ultralight Collapsible Water Bottle.
This collapsible water bottle is extremely versatile. It works as a bladder hydration pack for your backpack, you can add a water filter to it, and it’s about as light and packable as possible while having a huge 2-liter capacity.
The water bottle is made from BPA-free, BPS-free, and phthalate-free food-grade polyethylene that is tough and durable for the outdoors. The lid is also leakproof so you’ll never lose water/get your things wet.
The bottle weighs just 1.3 ounces and rolls up to 2 x 2 inches so it will go in your pocket and you’ll barely notice it’s there.
The things I love the most about this water bottle are its capacity of 2 liters and that you can add a filtration lid to it.
This means you don’t need to carry water while hiking, you can fill up 2 liters from a river or lake, and then pop in the filtration cap a drink as much water as you want.
The only annoying this about this bottle is it’s hard to clean and the simple lid makes it a little tricky to drink out of.
The Vapur Solid Flexible Water Bottle is another great option if you’re looking for a budget collapsible water bottle that does the job.
It’s built from 3-ply food-safe silicone that doesn’t smell or taste when it arrives or during use. The material is thick enough that you can drop the bottle without it breaking and the lid is leakproof too so nothing spills.
When empty it weighs just 1.5 oz and you can roll it up small enough to fit into your pocket. The bottle also comes with a carabiner so you can clip it onto your pack.
The cap is made to retrofit onto filtration caps, turning every river and lake on your hike into clean drinking water for you. The 1-liter capacity also means you’ll have enough water to stay hydrated for a 1/2 day or a full day out.
To top it all off, this collapsible water bottle is also very affordable but watch out for the edges as they are quite sharp and can even cut you.
The Farielyn-X Collapsible Water Bottle is made from medical-grand liquid silica, which is similar to silicone.
The bottle is super safe to drink from and can handle extreme temperatures from minus 40℉ to 212℉ ensuring that your water stays drinkable no matter where you find yourself.
The lid is leakproof and opens easily. The wide mount makes refilling the bottle easy and it’s large enough to drop ice and a lemon wedge through without any worries.
At 5,3 ounces it’s very light and with a packed size of 4.4 x 4.4 inches, you can put it anywhere. It’s not quite pocket-friendly though as the lid will get in the way and make it uncomfortable.
With a capacity of 0.75 liters, it holds enough water for your time on the go. The one tricky thing is that the lid is a bit of a pain to clean.
The Mountop Collapsible Water Bottle is a great budget option and it’s better looking than most other collapsible water bottles featured in my opinion.
It’s made from food-grade silicone with a leakproof lid like the rest of them. The build quality is high, it can handle being dropped and it comes with an 18-month warranty too.
It folds down small, is super light, and has a good capacity of 0.75 liters. You can put hot or cold drinks in it, as it handles temperatures from 248 °F to -58 ° F but it does have an odd smell to it when it first arrives. This does wear off over time though.
You can’t add a water filter cap to it, unfortunately, so no refilling directly from a lake or river on the trail, but it does come with a handy clip system so you can attach it to your backpack when not in use.
The HYDAWAY Collapsible Water Bottle uses quite a unique design which allows the water bottle to collapse pretty much to the size of a drink’s coaster.
This allows you to keep the water bottle anywhere from in your top pocket to in the side pocket of your purse at the office. And it weighs just 5.6 oz.
It’s made from food-grade silicone and comes with a leakproof lid with a flip-open spout that makes it easy to drink from. The opening under the lid is also wide for easy refills and you can drop ice cubes into it too.
Another great thing about this collapsible water bottle is that it’s dishwasher safe, making cleaning it about as easy as can be. It does have a few flaws though.
Firstly, the capacity is pretty low at 0.5 liters and more suited to commuting than spending long stints camping. Also, it smells and tastes a bit funny and it’s more expensive than most of the others.
The most important reason for carrying a collapsible water bottle is to start hydrated and thus it needs to carry enough water for your needs. If you’re out hiking in the wilderness, access to drinking water isn’t so easy to come by and you’re going to need enough water to get you to your next refill.
The collapsible water bottles feature vary in capacity from 0.5-2 liters, which is a big difference, especially when you’re doing physical activity on a hot day.
Bigger is better in my eyes, as you then have the choice to fill your bottle with 2 liters or 1/2, but the option is there to carry a load if you need it.
All the collapsible water bottles feature above are either made from silicone or polyethylene and it’s these materials that make them collapsible. They are all made safe to drink from and are BPA-free but they differ when it comes to durability.
When hiking with your heavy stainless steel water bottle, you know it’s not going to break. It’s not always the case with a collapsible silicone one and having it break and leak on a 3-day hike can be a worrying scenario. It’s best to shop for quality, not budget, and look for options with a warranty as they will usually be more durable.
Portability is the main reason to switch over to a collapsible water bottle. They are all lighter and have a smaller packed size than a regular water bottle but some are better than others. The options featured range in weight from 1.3 – 6 ounces and have different packed sizes so it’s still worth keeping an eye on the specs.
If you want a collapsible water bottle for spending time in the wilderness then one with extra features really will pay off. The most useful feature is finding one that you can plug in a filter cap to. This will allow you to fill up from lakes and rivers but still have safe drinking water. When you’re on a multi-day hike this makes a huge difference as there is no need to carry any water.
Another extra is whether the collapsible water bottle can be used as a hydration bladder in your backpack. If you, it kills two birds with one stone and reduces your pack weight even more.
The best collapsible water bottle featured is the Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle. Durably built from food-safe silicone with a leakproof lid, it can handle life on the trail and it comes with a lifetime warranty should anything break – which it most likely won’t.
The capacity is solid at 0.65 liters, the lid opens wide for easy filling, adding ice, and you can freeze it too. When not in use it folds up small, is super-light, and comes with a handy carry strap for attaching it to your pack.
The best collapsible water bottle, if you’re on a budget is the Silbyloyoe Silicone Collapsible Water Bottle. It’s super affordable, has a good 0.75-liter capacity, packs down to fit in your pocket, and weighs just over 5 ounces.
If that wasn’t enough, it’s built from medical-grade silicone that is durable and comes with a leakproof lid that works!
The best all-around collapsible water bottle has to be the Platypus Platy 2-Liter Ultralight Collapsible Water Bottle. The 2-liter capacity makes life a lot easier with fewer refills and you can use it as a bladder pack plus add a water filter to it, so every lake or river becomes a hydration point along the trail.
Beyond this, it’s about as light as a collapsible water bottle can get at 1.3 oz and it’s both durable and leakproof.