Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel Water Bottle with Poly Loop Cap (18-Ounce, Black Eclipse)

Last month I bought a 40oz Klean Kanteen bottle and a 33oz Sigg bottle. In the end I prefer the Klean Kanteen.

Both bottles are very light and look good. The Sigg is lighter, but not so much to really matter. Sigg wins easily in the looks department with different artwork to choose from and the bottle I have has a nice textured powder coat finish compared to the KK basic look and smooth surface.

Sigg uses an epoxy to protect your water from the aluminum and tells you not to use the bottle for long term storage. Could be a bit worrisome not knowing what's in the epoxy and the possibility of aluminum contamination. I have not noticed a metallic taste from either bottle drinking straight unfiltered tap water. I prefer the stainless steel of the KK just because it's probably on the safer side.

The bottles are both lightweight and made of thin metal. I haven't dented either but I have been very careful with them. Both feel like they would dent quite easily. I have not scratched either bottle and the paint on both looks like new after daily use from work to the gym.

The KK bottle has the cap threading formed into the neck of the bottle while the Sigg uses a metal ring insert in the top of the bottle to thread the cap onto. Some people have complained that the Sigg's threaded insert is sharp, but I have not had this problem. The KK is more comfortable to drink from though. Also the wide mouth of the bottle makes it easy to put ice cubes in, which you can't do with the Sigg unless you have very small ice cubes.

I have the loop cap on both bottles. The Sigg I really have to twist the cap on tight so it doesn't leak. The KK cap seals quite easily and has never leaked. The KK also uses a thicker thread size and is easier to screw the cap onto because of this.

Some people are complaining about sweating. On a hot day with the bottles filled with ice cubes both will sweat, but plastic bottles will also.

If I was going to spend that much money on a water bottle again, I would go with Klean Kanteen without a second thought. The only advantage of the Siggs is the exterior design.

Update Dec 09: Over a year of use now and I have stopped using the Sigg due to their older bottles do in fact have BPA. Something they said it didn't have, so I won't buy another bottle from them again since it appears they were lying before. They will replace the older bottles, but you have to pay shipping.

I have 2 Klean Kanteens and both have held up well. Some minor scratches and dents, but still look quite good.

I purchased one of these for myself after researching the problems with polycarbonate bottles. At the same time I bought SIGG bottles for my kids because they had cool designs on them. Both brands of bottles are great and much safer than the polycarbonates. I like the Klean Kanteen much better than the SIGG for the simple reason that I can put standard ice cubes in it. I have yet to find an ice cube tray that is easy to use that will fit the smaller mouth of the SIGG.

With the Klean Kanteen I get clean water and no taste of metal or plastic or anything other than water. I fill this 27 ounce bottle 3 times during the day to make sure I get enough water. I like the sports cap, because I don't have to take off a cap and lay it down somewhere. I originally bought the bottle with a poly loop cap, but when I am teaching there is never a germ-free spot to set that lid down. So I bought a sport cap, and it is very easy to drink from.

If you buy the 27 ounce Klean Kanteen and like your water cold, I recommend a Built NY 20 oz bottle tote to use with it. The metal becomes VERY cold with ice in the water and with the bottle tote, it stays cold and your hands don't!

The Klean Kanteens are likely the safest reusable drinking container in the US right now. The plastic containers containing BPA have been found to be unsafe and there are some concerns about Klean's major competitor, Swiss based Sigg, which uses an unknown patented liner of some kind inside their aluminum bottles.

The issues with the Siggs are twofold. One, we don't know what the liner is. The Sigg company won't say what it is, although they insist it's completely safe. Two, if the liner fails (which Sigg insists it won't do) you've exposed your drink to aluminum which many folks have legitimate health concerns about.

Speaking of concerns, the BPA containing plastic is NOT what is used in the Kantean lids. The idea that the plastic lids (which would have only very minimal contact with the contents - if the bottle is laid on its side for example) is somehow dangerous is only theoretical at best. Likewise, the same for the Sigg bottle lining. Both, neither or one could be completely safe. We do know that the BPA plastic is dangerous and neither bottle contains that.

Unlike some other buyers, I have had zero problem with leakage. I've also found the somewhat wider mouth to be extremely practical for using ice, drinking, and washing.

However . . . I have owned my 27 oz. Klean Kanteens for a few weeks now. I washed and rinsed them (probably six times) before I ever drank from them. The water I tested tasted and smelled like metal.

I have since washed one of my Kanteens multiple times with boiling water (the stainless steel conducts heat so you have to be careful doing this) and cold water, and none of it makes a difference. I continue to smell metal and I taste metal when I drink water. I don't think this is dangerous in any way, but it is annoying and it severely limits my use of the bottles. I've found that I can only use my bottle for flavored drinks.

My sense of taste and smell is generally pretty strong so I suspect each person will experience something different. Other reviewers have said they can't taste a thing or they got used to the flavor and don't even notice it anymore. After reading reviews all over the net, however, it's a fact that there are many of us who simply can't ignore the taste and smell.

So what to do? Me, I'll keep the Kanteens for flavored drinks, but I'm going to go out and get a Sigg for water. There's no other choice at this time.

If you have a strong sense of taste/smell you might have a problem with Klean Kanteens. Don't make the same mistake I did by ordering a bunch of these without first knowing if you'll have an issue. I strongly recommend you purchase only one bottle at first to see if you'll have a problem. If you can't taste anything then you've found the perfect water bottle.

After reading recent information about Sigg not sharing info about chemicals used to line the interior of their bottle, we opted to switch to Kleen Kanteen for the stainless steel. There are pros & cons:
1) obvious pro - the materials are known to be safe
2) the bottles sweat where as the Sigg did not sweat at all
3) the mouth of the bottle is large enough for ice cubes but makes it a bit more difficult to drink out of -- kind of like drinking out of a 1qt gatorade bottle --- sometimes a little bit dribbles out.
4) My 18month old loves his bottle because its the same color (stainless steel) as his dad's. We got him the sport top instead of the sippy top - and he manages just fine.
5) the slim shape fits nicely in most cup holders and water bottle carriers

This is an excellent stainless steel bottle which both my husband and I use daily. I bought the orange one; he uses the regular stainless steel. We used to buy tons of the plastic water bottles, drinking several a day, but wanted to cut down on our use of plastics. These water bottles work well in conjunction with my water filter system and the taste is clean and fresh tasting. Highly recommend them and this is a very usable size.

I purchased two of these bottles in May of 2008 with the stainless steel caps. We were very pleased with them and in August I purchased another. Although the third bottle was more than 20% less than when I made the first order, the quality of the bottle has degraded by at least 50%.

It was immediately obvious upon opening the package that this was a much cheaper steel. It is thin, light-colored and rough. The inside of the older version is polished and smooth while this one is dull and hard to clean. My husband convinced me it was still good or else I would have returned it on the spot.

We've had it now for 4 months, compared with the 7 months of the first two. All get the same general treatment and this last one is MUCH worse off. The plastic on the top of the cap is cut up and gouged and cuts into your hand every time you have to open it. More importantly, the steel is dented all over and is beginning to rust. There are dents along the bottom edge as well which make the bottle wobbly and unstable. This has not been through any use to cause such damage. The older bottles, with the thicker, higher quality steel, are holding up nicely and look as new as the day we bought them.

I feel duped by a company that drew me in with a nice quality product and then lowered their standards. I will never buy anything from Klean Kanteen again. The $5 decrease in cost does not make up for the fact that I am throwing this bottle away 4 months after purchasing it.

After going through about 1 standard water bottle a day I decided I needed to follow the 1st and most importaint R of the 3, Reduce.

After extensiveley searching for a nice glass water bottle with no avail I decided to try reusing glass beverage bottles, only to find the cap started rusting after about a week of use. Having quite a delemma I decided to look into metal water bottles, trying to avoid any sort of plastic. Many friends have told me I'm crazy, but I can most definitely taste the plastic leeched into the water from plastic bottlees.

After doing a bit of research and finding that stainless steel is the best material to go with I found the Klean Kanteen here on Amazon, and decided to go with it. I'm very glad I did, the Klean Kanteen is a superb product.

The Klean Kanteen is very durable, "Klean" i.e. leeches no particles into the water (I have very keen taste), comfortable to hold, packs away well into bookbags and the such, and it looks sharp. A great bottle all around.

While I do agree with the other reviewer that it would be much better if the bottle came with the stainless steel cap. It's still a great bottle, and the plastic cap works just fine. Worrying about plastic on the 1" diameter cap at the top of the bottle is just a bit silly in my opinion.

One thing I was wondering when I was buying was what are the exact dimensions? Amazon doesn't include them so here they are: 10.5" tall with cap, 2.75" diameter base.

I just received my Klean Kanteen - probably the 15th I have purchased. I own a couple, and have given many as gifts. But alas, the company has done a bait & switch with the caps. What happened to the stainless steel caps??? They used to come standard. The whole idea was to have the internal part of the screw top to be steel, like the inside of the bottle - so there's no plastic touching your liquid. The exterior grip on the lid was always plastic - that's fine. But now, you have to buy the original stainless screw cap, as an accessory, that costs more than 1/3 as much as the entire bottle product. This bottle if great, but now go buy the staibless steel cap for $5.45.
Shame on you Klean Kanteen.

I loved the original stainless version. I needed another bottle and when I saw that Kleen had come out with the "pretty" colored versions I decided to get one of those. Sadly, after only 3-4 weeks of use, my paint is all scratched and chipped. I also must have leaned it up against a magazine when it was sweating because it now has the permanent odd colored stains around it as well. I haven't had this problem with my regular old stainless version.

Bottomline I love the bottle. My water tastes great and I am not worried about BPA. Something just went awry when they decided to paint it!

I bought 2 of these bottles thinking I found the best idea for a water bottle...no more plastic. What a disappointment, the water tastes and smells like coins. When I received them I washed both of these bottles in hot soapy water and rinsed them well. The water still tasted and smelled like metal. I bought a bottle brush, washed them thoroughly again in hot soapy water and rinsed them well, they were the same. I tried washing and rinsing with white vinegar, no help. I tried washing with baking soda and rinsing well, no help. I contacted Klean Kanteen with my complaint and they are giving me a return authorization to return them for a refund. I'll post more when I find out how their customer service is.