Drink Up! CamelBak Is Back With Chute and Relay

I often hear people talk about how they struggle with drinking enough water throughout the day, and … well, I just don’t get it. I drink a lot of water throughout the day. Yes, it helps that I work from home so I can easily pop up to refill my glass when it gets empty, but when I’m out and about, I’m very rarely without a water bottle.

I even wrote a little ditty for this book about how important hydration is to me. What? This gal loves water and isn’t afraid to show it.

Now, I’ve had a bunch of CamelBak bottles throughout the years, but the truth is, I haven’t been using my old ones as much because of my TMJ. The great thing about them is that the mouthpiece makes them drip-proof, but that also means that, to get water, you have to bite down, and biting is something I try to save for actual food these days. (And sometimes my tongue when I feel the urge to speak up and say something inappropriate, of course.)

So, clearly, I was psyched when they contacted me about a couple of new products that are totally free of any bite requirements.

CamelBak Chute Review

The Chute was created mainly to meet the needs of the really, truly thirsty — you know, the people who want a lot of water and they want it right now. It’s durable, like past offerings, but the leak-proof spout cap (which opens and closes very easily) is large, tilted and designed for high-flow. You like to chug? Now, you can chug.

Also? It has a two-finger carry handle and lid tether, so you don’t have to worry about gripping your bottle while walking or your top rolling off and getting lost mid-workout.

It’s available in .75L and 1L options and a variety of colors, and, like other Camelbak products, it’s got a lifetime guarantee. Probably the biggest compliment I can give it is that we brought one reusable water bottle with us to Hawaii, and you know which one it was? The Chute.

CamelBak Relay Review

You know how I mentioned that I drink glass after glass of water at home? Well, I’m fortunate in that the water quality where I live is pretty great, so I tend to just throw some ice cubes in and fill up at the sink. We used to use one of those purifying pitchers, but I found it to be a pain — if we let it get low, it would take forever to fill it back up. You know the drill — fill the top portion up, wait five minutes for it all to filter through and fill up, like, a third of the pitcher, and repeat.

(And god forbid you actually try to fill your glass with water before it’s all filtered through! That’s a sure way to turn your countertop into an instant swamp. Ask me how I know.)

Apparently, I’m not the only one with that gripe, because CamelBak’s newest offering, which was just launched in March, is the Relay, a home water filtration system with a double filter technology designed to allow you to fill up just as fast as the water coming out of your faucet will let you. And, the filter is supposed to last twice as long as other similar options (up to four months).

So far, I’ve been suitably impressed with the Relay — I haven’t noticed much difference in water flavor or visual quality, but, like I said, that’s not an issue in my area anyway. It does fill quickly and the shape is handy — it’s elongated rather than round, so it fits easily in my fridge (which was another common complaint in my house).

The one problem I found is that, when filled up, the filtered water was prone to spill out the back if sloshed around or tilted. Granted, I (well, okay, my husband, actually) put it through a pretty serious test, so it’s not like spillage would be an issue for standard use, but it would be something to be aware of if you’re carrying the Relay to the table with your hands full of other dishes or something.

How do you get your water during the day? Reusable water bottle? A glass you keep refilling? Please tell me you don’t go for bottle after bottle of bottled water! —Kristen