I Found It: The Best Multi-Use Water Bottle for Travel


For years, I’ve been searching for the best water bottle for travel–one that lets me avoid plastic and single-use materials at every leg of every journey. This elusive bottle of my dreams needs to be leakproof and insulated. It needs a wide-mouth for easy filling and cleaning, but it also needs to be easy to drink from without dousing my face.

It needs to be compatible with cup holders. And it needs to be versatile–sometimes I want water, sometimes I want coffee, and sometimes I want a cocktail or glass of wine on the plane. One thing I never, ever want: to drink from a single-use container that will end up in the landfill shortly after I empty it.

CamelBak MultiBev makes travel more sustainable
CamelBak’s new MultiBev bottle is an elegant 4-piece solution for preventing single-use beverage container waste while on the go. In the background is my old system–a bottle and a separate cup, which is more finicky to pack and use. (Photo: Kristin Hostetter)

In order to achieve this goal, I’ve historically had to pack two containers: an insulated bottle for water and coffee and a cup for in-flight beverages.

But no longer. The CamelBak MultiBev ($52, 1 pound, 5 ounces) is the bottle I’ve been searching for.

Things I Love About the CamelBak MultiBev

It holds 22 ounces, making it the perfect size for me. Not too big to lug around, not so puny I need to refill every 20 minutes. The slim profile means I can slip it in the side pocket of my pack and every cup holder I’ve encountered. According to my tests, it keeps tea hot for 12+ hours and water chilled for 48+.

Still, you might say, many bottles do these things.

The CamelBak MultiBev has four components and makes travel more sustainable
Multipurpose is the holy grail of travel gear, and reusable is the holy grail of sustainability. CamelBak’s 4-piece system nails both. Clockwise from upper right: 16-ounce cup (it screws onto the bottom of the larger bottle), a foldable silicone sipper lid (it stores inside the bottle cap), the bottle lid, and the 22-ounce insulted bottle. (Photo: Kristin Hostetter)

The clincher for the MultiBev is that the bottom screws off and becomes an elegant 16-ounce cup–perfect for a cocktail or glass of Merlot at 40,000 feet or ideal for a bedtime peppermint tea in my hotel room. Speaking of that peppermint tea, the cap of the MultiBev hides another neat feature: a foldable silicone sipper lid that fits neatly onto the cup for dribble-free drinking.

I also like the little details: the easy-to-carry to handle, the non-slip rubber base, and the fact that the whole shebang is dishwasher safe.

The Impact of Using the CamelBak MultiBev on a 3-Day Trip

On a recent business trip from Boston to Boulder that involved air, bus, and Uber travel, I packed the MultiBev. I estimate that it allowed me to refuse about 34 single-use containers in 72 hours: six coffee cups and lids, probably 20+ plastic water bottles, and eight plastic airline cups.

Aside from travel, the MultiBev has become my daily bottle for around town as I try to avoid putting any single-use plastic to my lips. We all know plastic is everywhere these days. I’ve written about some of the sneaky ways (like through laundry detergent and cutting boards) it gets into our environment and our bodies. Plastic is even in the air we breathe.

But one thing’s for sure. From now on, I won’t be drinking it.

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The author, Kristin Hostetter, with CamelBak MultiBev during travel
The author setting off on a plastic-free journey with her CamelBak MultiBev. (Photo: Kristin Hostetter)

Doing right by the planet can make you happier, healthier, and—yes—wealthier. Outside’s Head of Sustainability, Kristin Hostetter, explores small lifestyle tweaks that can make a big impact. Write to her at [email protected].


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