Most Liked Negative Review

Extremely sturdy, but the straw doesn't work

•What did you think about this water bottle? Did you like its design and style? This is the sturdiest water bottle I've ever seen. It feels very heavy and robust and I think it could definitely take a beating. It does not feel cheap at all and seems like it would be a great outdoors product. The sli...ght texture of the colored area on the bottle and the sturdy handle make it possible to unscrew the lid and open the bottle even with wet hands, which is really nice. I love that some of the plastic was recovered and recycled from oceans and that there is a lifetime warranty on the bottle. That tells me that Stanley really makes a quality product and stands behind their work. One minor flaw that I think they could easily fix would be to use a different type of sticker for the label on the bottom. It did not come off cleanly when I washed it and now has some sticky residue left. My other complaints with this bottle are that it is heavy, and it only fits in one of the cup holders in my car. When it's full it weighs at least 2 pounds, 5 ounces, which seems really heavy compared to my plastic bottle that holds even more water. The cup holder issue is common with many water bottles. I'm grateful it fits in one of them, but would appreciate a slightly smaller footprint so I could fit it in more cup holders. As far as design and style, I do like the design. It is simple and sophisticated looking and appears very well made. I was not a fan of the "aloe" color scheme, but there are other color options available that I think are more attractive. My husband thought it was nice though, so I suspect he will "borrow" this bottle from me in the near future. •Did this keep your drinks cold? For how long? Yes, this water bottle did a good job of keeping my water cold. Since it's only 20 oz., I generally drank it all before it really had a chance to sit for a long time. But I took it on a hike and it kept my water cool for over an hour in 90 degree F weather. •Was this water bottle easy to drink from? Was it leak-proof? Initially, the bottle was not easy to open. The flip top was pretty difficult to open when I first received the bottle and needed a little breaking in. My five year old was not able to do it, so I would not recommend this bottle for small kids. Once I got it open, washed, and filled, I tried drinking out of it and I got mostly air with a little water. I've had this issue with other straw cups in the past, so I knew the straw was probably not attached properly. I ensured the straw was firmly seated and that the lid was secured, but the problem persisted. I had my husband check it out and try it and he couldn't get it to work either. He is an engineer and told me there is probably a leak around the straw valve area that is letting air in when I try and drink from the straw. I have a help ticket in to the Stanley company, but I have not heard back from them yet. I removed the straw entirely and just tip the bottle to drink from it and it works okay that way. I think having a more oval-shape to the drinking spout would make it easier to drink from as well. As far as being leak-proof, when the drinking valve is closed, it is very leak-proof. When it is open, since I had to remove the straw, water pours out if it is tipped over or tipped too far when drinking. I don't know if that would be different if the straw was working properly or not. •What was your favorite feature of this water bottle? I really like that it seems like it will last a long time. Other than the issue was the straw, this is a really sturdy bottle and I would feel comfortable taking it everywhere and not worrying about breaking it. I also love that it's dishwasher safe, because it's so convenient to be able to just throw it in the dishwasher and not have to wash lots of parts by hand. Overall, it seems like it would be a good product, but the fact that the straw doesn't work really caused me to doubt the quality of this water bottle. •Thanks to the Stellar Product Testing Panel for providing me with this water bottle to test and review.