| Product: |
Thermos Hydro Sports Bottle with Ice Tube - 0.5 Lt |
| Date: |
20/05/08 (303 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Keeps drink cold and good spout
Disadvantages: Nothing
With the rather short hot spell we experienced a week or so ago, I needed to find a drink bottle that would keep my children's water cold for as long as possible in the classroom. It is one of the rules of the school and the pre-school that the children must have access to water at all times with as little disruption to the lesson as possible. Sports bottles are the ideal solution but the contents can easily become warm in the hot classrooms and then the water is even less appealing to the children than it was before.
I saw these in Robert Dyas for just £3.99, which I thought was a very good price for it, although I have also brought a similar version in Woolworths for a pound more and these have proved to be superior to the Woolworths version in my opinion.
The basics of the bottle are better than a sports bottle because they don't have the round valve that you need to suck the drink out of. These can become chewed and bitten with the children and end up in a very sorry state, while the rest of the bottle is intact. These bottles however, have a simple oval shaped hole at the top. There is a cap that fits over the hole with a rubber seal around it to make it a tight fit and prevent leaks, but the hole where you drink directly from means that it will flow freely out when the cap is removed and therefore your child can get a better, fuller drink from it than having to suck from a valved sports bottle.
My son prefers this type of bottle and at 7 he is quite capable to drink from it without tipping half of it down his school shirt, but my daughter does find it a little trickier and prefers her valve cap as it provides a slower drink and at 4 this is probably a wise move. In terms of my son, the faster flowing hole means that he will drink more each time he has some and this in turn means he is much more likely to finish his water during the day, meaning he is better hydrated in the hot weather. This is a very positive thing in my opinion, having already experienced him feeling ill due to the heat and not enough water consumption.
The other important and excellent part of this bottle is the ice pack that runs through the centre of the bottle. This is what keeps the drink cold for approximately three or so hours. My son tells me it is nice and cold until approximately lunch time, when he has drunk the majority of his water anyway. The mechanism is very simple with just a plastic tube with a twist off lid that sots inside the bottle. You fill it with water and pop in the freezer over night, then take out and place inside the bottle which is filled with water. The ice pack tube keeps the water cold much the way an ice cube would but because it is inside the plastic tube it stays frozen for longer.
I have found putting the water bottle (with water in it) in the fridge over night, then placing the ice tube in helps it stay colder for longer as the water is very cold to start with.
I think these are perfect for school or work, giving the child or adult 0.5L of cold water at a time. I have spoken to my son's class teacher and asked her to make sure his bottle his filled up in the afternoon from the water fountain so he is drinking the maximum amount possible. But £3.99 for a dishwasher safe, reusable bottle that won't wear out certain parts before others is ideal for my needs, and as they come in blue pink and clear they are ideal for girls, boys or adults.
Essential summer gear.
Summary: RECOMMENDED xx
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