Review: Simple Hydration Bottle

I was given a Simple Hydration water bottle to test out.  It has a simple little design that allows the water bottle to slide into the back of your shorts and "hook" onto your waistband.  The bottle is even contoured so that it lies flat against your lower back.  Check out the video:

Seemed like an interesting product, so I agreed to give it a try.  I initially filled the bottle with water and did  an easy jog around down the street.  I immediately felt the bottle bouncing up and down.  It wasn't terrible, but definitely noticeable.  I then went out on a 4 mile run.  When I returned, I tested the bottle in several ways.  I wanted to try the bottle out when I was sweaty to see if it would increase the amount of bouncing.  My hypothesis was correct, as the bottle bounced even more with sweat essentially creating lubricant between the bottle and the skin.

Next, I tried the bottle slid through a SPIbelt, as shown in the video.  While it didn't bounce quite as much, it was still quite noticeable.  Lastly, I looped the bottle through the SPIbelt and into the back of my shorts.  This provided the most stability, almost neutralizing the bounce at a slower pace.  However, regardless of how the bottle was worn, at a fast pace, the bottle bounced a lot.  This is not a product that I could ever use while doing a race.

I did another round of tests with the bottle 3/4 and 1/2 full.  As you would expect, bouncing was reduced as the volume of water decreased, but unless it was through the SPIbelt and into the shorts, the bottle bounce enough to be noticeable.

One other thing I noticed was the seam on the water bottle.  The seam wasn't smooth at all, which I'd imagine would chafe the hell out of you on a longer run.  I didn't test this hypothesis (and won't), because I just can't see myself being able to cope with the bouncing for that many miles.  The seam on the bottle really should be on the sides, but that would likely require new molds and/or a new process for making the bottle.  Right now, they produce two pieces that are mirrors of each other and fuse them together.  Perhaps they can spend a little more time smoothing those seams down.

One last thing that comes to mind with this product is water temperature.  The bottle is sitting on your back, so the water is going to be quite warm when you drink it, although it might be a positive if you live in the north and you are running in the winter.  That does bring up one test I did not do: tucking this bottle into running tights.  Those might fit tight enough to keep it in place.

At $20 and a whole list of negatives, I'd pass on this one.  I imagine if you are back-of-the-pack runner, this product might work for you, but you'll probably need to coat it in a thick layer of body glide.