H2O To Go

Summer in Florida is HOT!  Between June, July and August (so far), there have only been 8 days with temperatures under 90 degrees...THAT IS HOT!  My plan...drink water...stay hydrated.  In my search for the perfect water bottle, I have accumulated quite a collection.

When I moved to Florida (5 years ago), I brought my Camelbak water bottles.  Next came the Bubba mug...'cuz everyone had one.  Then I found the Tervis Tumbler...made in American with a great warranty.  Right now my favorite is Ozark Trail tumbler (a competitor of the Yeti).

The Ozark tumbler is sold at Walmart for $10.  It looks the same as the Yeti (which costs $40).  There are hundreds of YouTube videos that compare the two brands.  The results show minimal differences...definitely not worth the extra $30.

When I find something this good, I like to share.  I personalized cups for family and friends.  I am a newbie using my Silhouette cutting machine, so the decals are pretty basic.  I am looking forward to a project that uses more colors (I will save that for another blog post).

Before I clean out my cupboard, I thought I would do my own comparison.  I put 13 oz. of ice in each container (Ozark, Camelbak, Tervis, and Bubba)

Two hours later I checked the external temperature of the cups.  The closer the external temperature was to room temperature (78 degrees), the better.  That reflects the insulation quality.  The Ozark read 75 degrees, the Camelbak read 51 degrees, the Tervis read 65 degrees and the Bubba read 74 degrees.

The Camelbak is the only container that is not double-walled.  It was also the only container that was sweating.  I poured out the liquid from each cup.   Lots of water in the Camelbak (left) and Tervis (right).  There were just a few drops in the Bubba cup and not a drop from the Ozark.  Based on the outside temperatures of the cups, the results were as expected.

I put the water back in the cups and waited another 2 hours.  This time, there was a significant difference.

And the WINNER IS...

Ozark Trail

I left the cups out overnight and there was still ice in the Ozark cup 20 hours later.  All the other cups had no ice left.

I will admit that I don't always have water in my Ozark.  My favorite drink this summer is ICED COFFEE.