What water bottle should you choose for hiking and trekking?

The best isothermal water bottles are those that will stay warm and cold for as long as possible. But how do they achieve this?

At Quechua, our isothermal water bottles stay warm or cold for longer thanks to a double-walled stainless steel technology with air vacuum. To put it simply, as there is really nothing between the two walls (no atoms, nothing, just a vacuum), the heat exchange that usually takes place by conduction or convection does not take place. Basically, there is no "physical support" for heat or cold to pass from the inside to the outside, or for the outside temperature to influence the inside temperature of the water bottle. And to optimise all this and block heat radiation exchange (hang on, physics class is almost over), we have coated the outside of the inner wall with a thin layer of copper.

The best isothermal water bottles use this double-wall technology with quality materials, and with a cap (the bottle's weak link) that is also of good quality so as not to let all the heat from your hot drink sink in.

At Quechua, our isothermal water bottles let you keep a liquid initially at 95° to 74 or 80°C (depending on the model) after 6 hours. 

N.B.: there are also Quechua double-walled vacuum cups, which prevent you from burning your hands or lips when drinking the hot coffee or tea just out of your isothermal water bottle.

A kid runs around and has their own way of storing belongings in their backpack. So that your kid can hydrate throughout the day without risking flooding their notebooks because they stuffed their water bottle upside down in their backpack (it happens, even to the most careful kids), opt for a truly leakproof system. Check that there is a seal on the cap, which will make the bottle watertight and avoid gaps between the body and the cap that would let water through.

Buying a water bottle for school trips can be useful: you will consume less plastic, and your kid can personalise it with stickers or choose a colour or pattern that they like and will want to use. This lets them differentiate their water bottle from those of other kids and avoid mixing or forgetting!

Depending on their age, a kid needs to drink between 0.9 and 1.5 litres of water per day. However, it’s out of the question to inflict the 1.5 kg of water in a huge bottle, to be carried all day. For the size of their water bottle, opt instead for a half-litre one, to be refilled with tap water once or twice during the day.

If your kid doesn't like tap water, and they are good at fine motor skills, you should know that at Quechua we have made water bottles with a lockable cap and a small built-in filter. This filter prevents pieces of fruit infusing into the water to give a pleasant taste and replace syrups (which are far too sweet!).

If you aim to drink more water, a water bottle is a good alternative to a plastic or glass bottle. Even though the glass bottle has a much lower environmental impact than the plastic bottle, it is heavy and cumbersome. A water bottle will be light, easy to look after and can follow you from your meetings to your hikes (so you avoid having two separate objects). Also, in case of impact or clumsiness, your glass bottle will not last long, unlike a water bottle.