Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

Just curious if anyone's come across an insulated water bottle that
actually keeps your drink cold for more than 1/2 hour or so. I frankly
see little difference between the Polar insulated bottles and a standard
one (putting both to the test yet again on today's 95 degree ride, and
still finding the so-called "insulated" bottle to be of little benefit).

What makes it frustrating is that I accidentally discovered how easily
you can accomplish the task on your own. At the '06 TdF it was quite hot
for a couple of the stages, so I did my usual thing of filling the
bottles mostly with ice. But because I was carrying them in a rack trunk
bag, along with camera equipment, I wrapped the two bottles in paper
towels (to absorb any moisture that might occur) and put the two of them
into a freezer ziplock baggie. 7 hours later and there was still ice in
the bottles! Extremely low-tech but effective.

Of course, in the rack trunk bag, they had no stream of air around them
to suck away their coldness. So perhaps there's no practical way to
accomplish this with a bottle in an exposed cage; perhaps the Polar
might work just as well in a rack truck bag as my unintentional version.

Not that any of this would come to mind while climbing Mtn. Charlie in
the Santa Cruz Mountains on the first hot day of the year...

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Just curious if anyone's come across an insulated water bottle that
actually keeps your drink cold for more than 1/2 hour or so.

Yes, but you can't buy them anymore.

Look at the data at "http://www.nscl.msu.edu/~daniel/bicofa.htm"

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

In article ,
"Mike Jacoubowsky" writes:
Just curious if anyone's come across an insulated water bottle that
actually keeps your drink cold for more than 1/2 hour or so.

I have a double-walled stainless steel Thermos[tm] bottle
that's intended only for cold beverages, and it's jim-dandy.

http://tinyurl.com/pyj4z5

(full URL:)
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_d...45524442625594

(preview, if you don't trust the above URLs:)
http://preview.tinyurl.com/pyj4z5

But --

I've never tried to see if it fits in a standard
bottle cage. I doubt that it would fit, as the
bottle's shape is tapered from bottom to top.
So I mainly use it at work (marine shipping
containers get pretty hot in the summer, when
the sun shines on 'em.)

Maybe one of those cheap ol' bendable wire cages
could be adapted to accommodate it. Or, if the
bottom of the bottle does at least fit into a
nice bottle cage, maybe the upper front of the
cage could be padded with a number of turns of
friction tape or sumpthin', to make up for the
tapered shape of the bottle.


cheers,
Tom

--
Nothing is safe from me.
I'm really at:
tkeats curlicue vcn dot bc dot ca

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

"Phil W Lee" wrote: In theory, a bottle kept wet should help, as
evaporation would cool
the contents. I'm not sure how much of the capacity would get used
for cooling, and how much left for the rider. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This brings back images of the Grapes of Wrath days, when canvas bags of
water were hung on the front bumper, and where evaporation cooled the water.
And, yes, some of the water was lost to evaporation. The water in a bottle
is not lost to evaporation. If you wrap the bottle with a wet rag, only
that water is lost, and then the cooling stops.

My suggestion is to partially fill the bottle, and lay it on its side in the
freezer. Then, when you are ready to start your ride, stand the bottle up
and fill it. You will have a vertical layer of ice, so the water ( or
whatever you are drinking) will be just as cold at the top as at the bottom.

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

"SMS" wrote in message
...
Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Just curious if anyone's come across an insulated water bottle that
actually keeps your drink cold for more than 1/2 hour or so.

Yes, but you can't buy them anymore.

Look at the data at "http://www.nscl.msu.edu/~daniel/bicofa.htm"

Thanks for the link.

I have no doubt a thermal vacuum bottle would work; that's "technology"
that's been around for ages and used in many lunchboxes. But even if
there was still such a bottle that would fit in a standard bottle cage,
that's not good enough for me. I would also want it to be easy to drink
from, which pretty much requires squeezability.

I am just so spoiled by the unintentional discovery!

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

On May 17, 10:20*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:
Just curious if anyone's come across an insulated water bottle that
actually keeps your drink cold for more than 1/2 hour or so. I frankly
see little difference between the Polar insulated bottles and a standard
one (putting both to the test yet again on today's 95 degree ride, and
still finding the so-called "insulated" bottle to be of little benefit).

What makes it frustrating is that I accidentally discovered how easily
you can accomplish the task on your own. At the '06 TdF it was quite hot
for a couple of the stages, so I did my usual thing of filling the
bottles mostly with ice. But because I was carrying them in a rack trunk
bag, along with camera equipment, I wrapped the two bottles in paper
towels (to absorb any moisture that might occur) and put the two of them
into a freezer ziplock baggie. 7 hours later and there was still ice in
the bottles! Extremely low-tech but effective.

Of course, in the rack trunk bag, they had no stream of air around them
to suck away their coldness. So perhaps there's no practical way to
accomplish this with a bottle in an exposed cage; perhaps the Polar
might work just as well in a rack truck bag as my unintentional version.

Not that any of this would come to mind while climbing Mtn. Charlie in
the Santa Cruz Mountains on the first hot day of the year...

--Mike-- * * Chain Reaction Bicycleswww.ChainReactionBicycles.com

http://www.bicyclecoffeesystems.com/ has many thermos bottles,
including some non-standard bottle cages to mount them.

http://www.google.com/webhp?num=100#...k+water+bottle
http://www.bicycletouring101.com/BikeHydration.htm
Put the water bottle in a wet sock held up by a rubber band.

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:
Just curious if anyone's come across an insulated water bottle that
actually keeps your drink cold for more than 1/2 hour or so. I frankly
see little difference between the Polar insulated bottles and a standard
one (putting both to the test yet again on today's 95 degree ride, and
still finding the so-called "insulated" bottle to be of little benefit).

http://www.polarbottle.com/features/chill-factor/

Nowhere near as good as a real thermos bottle, but a lot better than a
plain bottle.

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

On May 17, 8:20*pm, "Mike Jacoubowsky"
wrote:
Just curious if anyone's come across an insulated water bottle that
actually keeps your drink cold for more than 1/2 hour or so. I frankly
see little difference between the Polar insulated bottles and a standard
one (putting both to the test yet again on today's 95 degree ride, and
still finding the so-called "insulated" bottle to be of little benefit).

What makes it frustrating is that I accidentally discovered how easily
you can accomplish the task on your own. At the '06 TdF it was quite hot
for a couple of the stages, so I did my usual thing of filling the
bottles mostly with ice. But because I was carrying them in a rack trunk
bag, along with camera equipment, I wrapped the two bottles in paper
towels (to absorb any moisture that might occur) and put the two of them
into a freezer ziplock baggie. 7 hours later and there was still ice in
the bottles! Extremely low-tech but effective.

I think you would have found the same if you hadn't used the paper
towels. When I keep a frozen water bottle in either my handlebar bag
or a trunk bag it still has plenty of ice by the end of a ride - I've
used this as a mini-refrigerator for other food. But put the same
bottle in an open cage and it melts very quickly. For bottles in a
cage I use a sock around the outside and try to keep it a little
moist. Doesn't keep it really cold but just enough below ambient to
feel cool and more refreshing.

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

Mike Jacoubowsky wrote:

I have no doubt a thermal vacuum bottle would work; that's "technology"
that's been around for ages and used in many lunchboxes. But even if
there was still such a bottle that would fit in a standard bottle cage,
that's not good enough for me. I would also want it to be easy to drink
from, which pretty much requires squeezability.

Well I've had no problem drinking from the stainless steel bottles while
riding, and mine fit into a standard cage (well certain models of
standard cages). I guess you can't get the volume/second you can get by
squeezing a plastic bottle.

Since you almost certainly carry multiple bottles with you on rides in
high heat, you can carry one Polar Bottle and refill it from the
double-wall stainless steel bottle filled with mostly ice cubes with
water in the voids.

Any "insulated" bottles that actually work?
 

(putting both to the test yet again on today's 95 degree
ride, and still finding the so-called "insulated" bottle
to be of little benefit).

http://www.polarbottle.com/features/chill-factor/

Nowhere near as good as a real thermos bottle, but a lot
better than a plain bottle.

=v= I've had much better luck with the Polar products in
frozen winters than in hot California weather. I can barely
abide the plasticky taste in winter, but certainly not after
it's been boiled all day. :^(
_Jym_