Table Of Contents
Quick Start PDF - Wide Mouth, 28mm Smartwater, and YETI adapter
Tube Adjustment And Tube Cover Video
Introduction
Compatibility
Wide-Mouth Adapter Setup
28mm Adapter Setup
Tube Setup
Secure Your Bottle In Your Pack
Bite Valve
Packstrap Clip
Cleaning
Warranty
1L Smartwater - Metric Measurement
1L Smartwater - US Liquid Measurement
Introduction
Thanks once again for buying a One Bottle Hydration System! It’s been a year and One Bottle has reached all 50 states, Europe/China/Australia and nearly 3,000 customers - that’s more testing than I could ever have done, so I’ve learned a lot from all the feedback I’ve gotten!
Now it’s time to share some of this knowledge - and there’s a lot of it! You’ll enjoy this product a lot better if you do this brief setup before you get to the trailhead, preferably at home with your backpack so you can figure out all the parts and do all the adjustments and tweaks!
Compatibility
Before you buy a One Bottle Hydration system or adapter it’s good to get a feel for what it’ll fit on! There’s a lot of adapters as of July 2023 so you could get frustrated if you thought that Smartwater adapters fit on narrow-mouth Nalgenes, or that YETI Yonder is the same mouth as the regular YETI.
Plus you can see all the possibilities - so many companies make wide-mouth bottles, and who knew that the military’s canteen was the same as narrow-mouth Nalgene!
Wide-Mouth Adapter Setup
Replace Your Existing Lid
The One Bottle Hydration System replaces the existing lid on your wide-mouth bottle. Take off the factory lid and screw One Bottle’s black plastic flip-top lid securely onto your bottle.
It should fit very closely - most wide mouth bottles such as Hydro Flask and Takeya/ThermoFlask use the same 63mm mouth as the Nalgene bottle. One Bottle’s lid has a 1/4” wide silicone seal on the bottom just in case your bottle has a little variance or wear/tear on the mouth!
Unscrew The Flip-Top Lid
The black plastic flip-top lid has a smaller lid that opens up allowing you to drink from a smaller spout instead of the big wide mouth on your bottle. This is a lot more convenient when you’re in a car/airplane/office - way less likely to spill, and the small lid locks backwards!
Gently Screw the 3D Printed Adapter Into the Drinking Spout
Insert the bottom end of the blue drinking tube into the drinking spout. The 3D printed adapter uses the same threads used to secure the smaller flip-top lid in place. Gently screw the 3D printed adapter into these threads to secure the tube in your bottle.
Be gentle - the 3D printed material isn’t as strong as injection molded plastic!
The Flip-Top Lid is Leak Proof. The Adapter and Bite Valve are Leak Resistant!
When your flip-top lid and the drinking spout are closed tightly your bottle is leak-proof - there are no vents in the flip-top lid and the screw threads are forcing both mouths against the seals. With flip-top open and the adapter installed there are multiple flexible openings - an air vent, a rubber grommet holding the tube in place, and a bite valve for drinking - so the bottle can leak when it's upside down or sideways for more than a few minutes. The water pressure will just force its way past those seals!
It's best to take the bottle out of your backpack and remove the adapter before putting it into the trunk of a car or the baggage compartments on trains/buses/airplanes. The tube coils right up for easy storage, and you can use the bottle during your journey!
28mm Adapter Setup
Use A Premium Water or Soda Bottle
The One bottle 28mm adapter is designed to fit the Smartwater bottles that ultralight hikers like for their compact shape and compatibility with Sawyer filters. In the US, Smartwater and most of the other premium water brands like Fiji and Dasani are bottled using the same equipment as soda or seltzer bottles, so in a pinch you’ll be able to find something to repurpose in a store or vending machine!
There are some brands like Poland Spring or Deer Park that only sell still (non-fizzy) water - their equipment is specialized for thinner, less-robust bottles and caps, so the 28mm adapter won't fit!
Don't Forget Your Accessories!
Your 28mm adapter should have come with a little bag containing two tethered caps and a sport cap. These can go on your other Smartwater bottles! The sport cap is great for squirting water into your mouth, and the tethers can go around the neck of your bottle and save you some hassle when holding your bottle and a Sawyer filter or a spigot!
Add Measurement Marks To Your 1L Smartwater Bottle!
One reason a lot of people choose the One Bottle Hydration System is that a clear bottle in the side pockets of your pack makes it easier to monitor your and your group’s fluid levels!
I realized a few weeks ago that the straight (non-curved) edge of a 1L Smartwater bottle is pretty close to 8.5 inches long. So I made up this scale for all the customers!
1L_smartwater_bottle _metric_measure.pdf
1L_smartwater_bottle _US_Liquid_measure.pdf
It comes in metric measures (100 mL increments from 100 mL to 900 mL) and also the US Liquid scale from (4 fl oz / 1/2 cup increments from 4 fl Oz to 30 fl OZ)
Just print out with zero scaling, cut along the hashmarks, and fix to your Smartwater bottle with clear tape. There’s a seam on the bottle you can use to align vertically, and put the 900 mL/30 fl Oz line right where the bottle curves in. The bottom 100 mL/4 fl oz will be slightly out, but above that there is much less guesswork!
Drinking Tube Setup
Move The Drinking Tube Close To The Bottom Of Your Bottle
The blue tubing that comes with your One Bottle Hydration System 43" long in one piece. This allows you to easily adjust the tube up and down in the 3D-printed adapter to fit the height of your bottle.
You want the end of the tube to get close to the bottom (so you can use all of your water) but not to touch it (so it doesn't get blocked).
Wet The Tube To Lubricate It
The black rubber grommet on the 3D printed adapter grips the blue tubing pretty securely - if you’re having trouble moving the 3D printed adapter up and down, just run some cold water over the tubing above the grommet and it should lubricate enough to get the adapter moving!
Secure Your Bottle In Your Pack
Whether you're using a Smartwater bottle or a wide-mouth bottle, you'll like that the bottle sits in the side pocket of your backpack instead of inside your pack wedged up against all your stuff. Don't forget to use the loops to secure the top of bottle to your pack! I use a carabiner on mine - gives me a little extra security and detaches easily!
Be advised - you should be carrying your bottle from the bottom most of the time! The loops are for emergency retention only - they won't hold the weight of a full bottle all day. You don't want the bottle to be swinging around all day anyway!
Drink From The Bite Valve
The bite valve at the end of the tube is the reason why you bought this One Bottle Hydration System! The silicone mouthpiece seals the end of the tube to keep air bubbles out - you'll need to bite gently at the end to open the slit and draw water into your mouth.
If you can't drink through the bite valve, check to see whether the yellow valve is closed. You can leave it open for the quickest access or shut it if your mouthpiece is worn out or you're worried about leaks!
Occasionally the machines making the silicone mouthpiece won’t make a big or deep enough slit. You can widen the slit carefully with a sharp Exacto-type blade a few millimeters at a time to get the flow right!
If this doesn’t work and you’re forced to replace the bite valve, let me know and I’ll send you a coupon for your trouble!
Adjust the Packstrap Clip
The clip rotates through 360 degrees and locks at 45 degree increments, so you should be able to figure out exactly how you want to secure and release the bite valve. It's worth a little time to put this clip on your packstrap and figure out exactly how you want to secure and release the bite valve!
The Packstrap Clip Keeps Your Bite Valve Handy!
The One Bottle Hydration System comes with a clip that attaches to your packstrap to keep the bite valve in a convenient place and not flopping around. It threads through the 1" and 3/4" webbing on most packstraps.
The clip rotates through 360 degrees and locks at 45 degree increments, so you should be able to figure out exactly how you want to secure and release the bite valve. It's worth a little time to put this clip on your packstrap and figure out exactly how you want to secure and release the bite valve!
Cleaning
After using your One Bottle Hydration System you want to drain the water out of it and let it dry completely to prevent mold from growing in the tube!
I recommend you handwash all parts of your One Bottle Hydration System. The PETG material in the adapter can get soft and deform at temperatures over 175 degrees, which is close to dishwasher temperature. Plus there's a little washer in the flip-top lid that you can lose.
To clean the tube out, you can remove and clean the silicone mouthpiece seperately. Open the on/off valve and flush it out with warm water, and use a scrubbing brush to swab the inside with mild detergent!
Warranty
Dealing with the questions and concerns brought up by this first year of sales has really brought forward the issue of customer satisfaction and warranty. It's definitely important at this stage to set reasonable expectations on both sides, so I had to do a lot of thinking as I solidified my warranty policy for my existing and future customers.
I reviewed the warranty policy from several of the top manufacturers and retailers in my category such as Camelbak, Hydro Flask, LL Bean, Kelty, Patagonia, and all the rest... it seems like the standard in the outdoor products industry is to guarantee the products against defects in manufacturing and design during their lifetime. This means that the manufacturer replaces the product as long as the damage isn't intentional/negligent/misuse/due to wear-and-tear during its own lifetime (not forever, or for the life of the owner).
That sounds like a pretty reasonable balance between duty to the customer and limitation of liability to the manufacturer… except that the One Bottle Hydration System is so new that we don't know how long the "lifetime" is, and it doesn't seem fair to be deciding that on a case-by-case basis. So I've thought about this for a bit and decided the following:
The estimated lifetime of the One Bottle Hydration System is five years, during which all defects in manufacturing and design (excluding wear-and-tear and intentional/negligent/misuse of the product) are covered.
During the warranty period, if a user requires more than three parts replacements he will receive a full refund.
After that period, the original owner can send me pictures of the damaged parts and I will replace them for my own cost of materials plus a nominal shipping/handling fee.
I think this is a good balance – it recognizes that the One Bottle Hydration system is a $25 accessory that can't be expected to last forever, it sets out a clear standard of performance that guarantees a refund past a certain stage, and it also demonstrates that One Bottle won't nickel-and-dime the customers if something goes wrong after the warranty period ends.