So, I had kind of an idea and I want to bounce it off of you people and tell me what you think….
I was in Sportsmans Warehouse the other day and the Nalgene 32 oz. bottles were $7.50 ea. I was thinking it’d be nice to pick up a few for destructive testing (drop survivability, impact resistance, etc..basically Test To Destruction) and I thought ‘Man, I cant spend $30 on something just to destroy it for my own information gathering purposes’. Basically, we’re talking about beating the living hell out of a product, in this case a Nalgene bottle, to determine if its a good piece of gear.
Then I started thinking some more, which is where the problems usually start. What if, I managed to get a few interested parties to chip in a few bucks each so I could get a few of these things for testing? We could write up a testing protocol of sorts (10′ drop, 15′ drop, 20′ drop, drop at angle, from moving vehicle, crush test, etc) and once we’ve all agreed on the tests, I’d go destroy these things (or not destroy them as the case may be). The resutls, with accompanying photos, would go in a Freinds Only post filtered for people who coughed up a couple bucks to find out if a Nalgene bottle can survive falling off a truck at 65 mph.
If it works out well, maybe once a month interested parties would suggest items for testing and it would become a monthly event.
Comments?
The concept sounds intriguing.
Buy ’em, use ’em. If they break they break. If they don’t they don’t. Have extras. Either way, you’re fine. Me, I like the Sigg metal bottles, but I’m not gonna’ run ’em under a truck just to see what happens. I’d rather have the extras.
I want dibs on the naming rights: “Co
nsummmander Reports”or you could call the manufactuerer and tell them your idea and that you have a website. they may already have test data or they may be willing to contribute product if you would write them a review they could use.
I like that concept. As a matter of fact, I just ordered four Nalgene lexan bottles the other day – two to carry, two as extras. $6.99/ea at Campmor.com.
uhm, sure testing is fun, but expensive
Just a thought, put out a call to the cmdr LMI’s to see if they have any expierence with the bottles.
I know from personal and ancedotal expierence that you can drop them from 3-5 feet without damageing them. As long as the lid is on tight they do not leak in or out. I have dropped several, full bottles out of the truck onto pavement and have not broken one yet. When empty they bounce nicely.
The weak point is the loop on the cap. They will break and I really don’t reccomend hanging bottles by the loop. Although rock climbers do all the time.
A real bonus are the soft cooler packs that will keep ice in them for 6-7 hours at +85%. Also, the inserts for controling the flow are nice (absofuckinglutly neccesary) when trying to drink from them in the car.
As a stash site the are only as good as you get the lid tight. If the lid is not ltight you will get moisture in. Also, look for the nalgene “soup bowls for a really large, wide mouth storage.
My only problem with using them for storage of non fluids or rice sized stuff is that they are not very efficient and you end up with a lot of dead space inside the bottle. (its a square peg – round hole thing)
I always thought the bottles were a hippie necessity, kind of like braided taint hair and no showers, but after my BIL (a climber and alaskan guide) started showing up with them I was forced to change my opinion.
Bonus points for the bottle, great way to take mixed drinks into public places.
I tihnk you could take this one step farther. See if anyone would be willing to donate their older Nalgene bottles to you, if they were going to buy a new bottle anyway. That way, you still get the bottles for free, and people can get new Nalgene bottles to use. Win-win.
If you wanted to test smaller bottles, American Science & Surplus has 8oz nalgene bottles for 50 cents each.
American Science & Surplus has just about everything that a mad scientist could want.
A lot of people have already done similar anecdotal testing. I’ve heard stories of Nalgene bottles falling hundreds of feet and surving. Usually, the cap breaks, and that’s about it.
Excellent idea. If you do it, I’m in for a few bucks.
A “practical” test, (like TheBoxOTruth) sounds like an ideal placement in the spectrum between “anecdotal” and “Scientific”
I’m all for it. I’ll throw in a couple of bucks – I picked up 85 or so .308 empties, once-fired, at the range the other day that I’m gonna send you anyway if you can use ’em – and I’ll just drop the cash in the box with the cases.
Sure, but thats anecdotal…which means it might have been thre feet, not thirty, and it might have been into snow, not concrete.
Controlled conditions, man!