23 Very Good Water Bottles That Are Cheap Enough to Lose
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If you have a kid who tends to lose things, the thought of spending $30 — or more — on awater bottlewill probably make you wince. After all, writing your kid’s name in giant letters in Sharpie or buying custom waterproof name labels can go only so far; according toKacie Barnes, a registered dietitian with two kids ages 8 and 11, the lost and found at her son’s middle school becomes an “Owala graveyard” by the middle of the school year, and, with so many kids owning identical ones, it’s easy to get mixed up and grab someone else’s. A worthwhile workaround: buying cheaper, less trendy water bottles in multiples so you always have a backup on hand and can avoid sending your kid to school with a one-off Poland Spring. I talked to parents with kids of all ages about the under-$20 water bottles they like best.
A few of my favorite affordable water bottles
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Nalgene water bottles are colorful, durable, and lightweight.
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I love this water bottle’s Owala-esque two-in-one straw and chug top without the Owala price.
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We use this plastic CamelBak water bottle as a backup for my 3.5-year-old's Hydro Flask.
Plastic water bottles
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“I absolutely swear by Nalgene bottles,” says Anja Tyson, a consultant and writer with a 12-year-old daughter. Tyson has been relying on the classic BPA-free plastic water bottles both for herself and her daughter for years because they are durable, lightweight, and reliably leak free. They’re also fashionable in a gorpcore kind of way, especially thanks to the half a dozen unexpected color combinations. The bottles are available in several sizes with different tops including a narrow mouth, straw top, and lock top with a spout for littler kids — Tyson buys the 32-ounce wide-mouth size. “I want something that I can bring hiking or stick in my kid’s camp bag or pull out of my work tote at a meeting and not feel silly,” she says.
And if you’re really on a budget or want to buy a bunch of backups, the Nalgene Ultralite bottles are even less expensive.
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Before sending her 11-year-old son to sleepaway camp this summer,New Yorkfeatures editor Julia Edelstein attended an extremely thorough packing seminar led by the camp director who warned parents against sending expensive water bottles since they get lost so frequently at camp. Instead the camp director recommended this four-pack of BPA-free plastic water bottles that come out to less than $5 each.
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Gatorade sports water bottles are standard-issue among high-school and college-sports teams; Edelstein has bought them in bulk for her sons in the past and seen other kids who tend to misplace their water bottles using them as well. They’re cheap, tough, leakproof, and fit well in the side pockets on most backpacks. Plus they have a sporty cool factor that a lot of kids will like.
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Law professor Catharine Du Bois’s 10-year-old son recently requested this CamelBak water bottle that’s similar to the Gatorade one above but insulated. “His sole concerns were keeping things cold and being able to squirt the water right into his mouth without a straw,” she says. It has a double-walled design that keeps drinking water cold and a locking squeeze cap that keeps it from leaking.
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Though they are not quite as inexpensive as the camp director’s recommendation, Edelstein ended up buying these lightweight water bottles that let you mist yourself with the water to send to camp with each of her sons. Like the CamelBak above, they are insulated and keep water cooler than other plastic water bottles. Her only complaint is that they can start to leak the more you wash them because the lid screws on.
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My 3.5-year-old son has been using the 12-ounce version of this water bottle — we have one in plastic andone in stainless steel— since he was 2 years old. The plastic version was one of the most mentioned among the preschooler parents I polled as it’s affordable, with both the 12- and 14-ounce versions costing under $20, and incredibly durable. Ours has been chucked across the playground multiple times. It has a bite valve that keeps the straw from dripping if the bottle gets tipped over, and because the straw is wide, it’s easy to clean. Plus you can get it in a ton of adorable patterns, includingdinosaurs,sharks, bears,flowers, amermaid, and atractor.
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Before he started using a water bottle, my son had several Munchkin sippy cups that I loved because they were cheap and easy to find at Target when one inevitably got misplaced. Munchkin also makes this equally affordable insulated plastic water bottle with a straw that comes in three different color combinations reminiscent of trendier water bottles like Owala or Hydroflask.
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I’ve heard high praise for Zak Designs water bottles from lots of little-kid parents who like the variety of fun patterns and the fact that the bottles are sturdy and leakproof. This two-pack of 16-ounce bottles is ideal for forgetful preschoolers as each bottle costs just $7.
Stainless-steel water bottles
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If you prefer stainless steel over plastic, Tamany Bentz, co-founder of the tween-focused skin-care brand Pour Tous, suggests buying this Takeya two-pack that she found at Costco for $55. The 40-ounce bottles usually go for $40 each but if you buy them together you’ll save $25. Bentz says her son is unlikely to refill his water bottle throughout the school day and has trouble keeping track of it even though she’s tried every trick she can think of. So she always opts for the brightest color she can find. “The two-pack lowers the expense and we buy the version with the screw top so it won’t leak when he inevitably throws it somewhere,” she adds.
The Thermos Funtainer is a popular stainless-steel choice beloved by at least six Strategist parents thanks to its compact size, huge choice of patterns and colors, and ease of cleaning. My son used the 12-ounce version that comes with a straw top when he was just learning how to drink from a straw and loved using the flip-up handle to carry it around by himself. Strategist senior writer Lauren Ro’s kids still use the straw version for milk at bedtime, and Strategist senior editor Jen Trolio’s 8-year-old daughter often takes the bigger 16-ounce version with a chug spout (and thus no straw to clean) to school, where it’s easy to refill if needed.
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Andrew Kuo, artist and host of the podcastCookies Hoops, has purchased this stainless-steel water bottle three times for his son, who is going into kindergarten and loves anything to do with planets. “It’s good because it encourages him to drink a ton of water and it’s easy to clean,” Kuo says.
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I recently started testing this under-$20 stainless-steel water bottle from the brand TAL and love its dual straw and chug top that is similar to an Owala FreeSip. It’s a little bit too big for my son but would be perfect for elementary- or middle-school kids as it comes in lots of tween-friendly colors and patterns and keeps water cold all day.
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While Bentgo is more well known for its bento-stylelunch boxes, the brand also makes great water bottles that you can buy in a two-pack. The bottles are a favorite of Mackenzie Hyland,a parenting influencerwho has two kids ages 5 and 2. “I love that they are lightweight, leakproof, easy for kids to open on their own, and simple enough to clean after everyday use,” she says.
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Though Strategist deals writer Martha Tuber’s 5-year-old daughter prefers her beloved Owala water bottle, Tuber keeps this much more affordable stainless-steel water bottle with a screw top and no straw as a backup. “Our dishwasher was broken when we bought it, and I knew I would ultimately give up on regularly scrubbing out a straw, so this was a better option,” she says.
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