How to get the health and taste benefits of glass without worrying about breaking your bottle.

I’ve been using glass water bottles for years due to their superior health and taste benefits. Even quality stainless steel containers seem to impart a taste to the water, and I did not want to even think about what chemicals a plastic bottle might be leaching.

I got tired of buying glass water bottles and then having them break, sometimes with only a very minor drop. But because health is a high priority, I kept replacing them and they kept breaking. Once a bottle broke when falling onto a carpeted surface, Ugghhh! Besides being expensive to replace all the time, I like to go barefoot in the summer and having broken glass around is not a good idea.

I believe products should be built to last, so I thought there must be a better way. I looked at the silicone sleeves that come with some bottles, but they were all too thin to give it significant protection.

I found a manufacturer willing to create a custom silicone sleeve to my specifications. I designed it with a huge 10 mm (0.4”) bottom cushion. The bottom cushion would soften the blow if the bottom lands first; the most likely scenario. But what if it landed on it’s side? It would be too bulky to cushion the entire bottle, and it would also be too wide to fit a car’s upholder (or be a narrow bottle with small capacity)  I like to take water bottles with me everywhere, even just going to the grocery store, so that was just too big a compromise.

Then I realized that most falls are onto a flat surface like a floor or sidewalk, and by adding a rim cushion I could protect the entire bottle when it falls onto a flat surface. Take look at the photo below, the thinner sidewall of the sleeve never touches.

Notice the air gap underneath the bottle? The rim and bottom cushion strikes first, protecting the sides when falling onto a flat surface.

My undergraduate degree is in physics. Although I never worked in the field (you generally need a PhD for that), I always retained my love of science. And as any scientist knows, you have to test your hypothesis.

So now I have my improved design, but will it work well in the real world?, It needed to be tested, so that is exactly what I did. The short clip below shows the Eveau water bottle with the Bumperguard protective sleeve being dropped from a height of 70” (1.75meters) onto concrete, the most unforgiving surface. Watch it bounce!

The video of the full test is below where I compare the Eveau water bottle to 4 other glass water bottles with silicone sleeves. It’s six and a half minutes, but I think it’s fun to watch. If you are short on time, skip the video and look at the results table below:

As you can see from the table above, the Eveau water bottle could be dropped from more than twice the height of the next best bottle before breaking..

It’s obvious that the thicker the sleeve, the better the protection. Take a look at the cross section of the protective sleeves in this test; they all have a much smaller bottom cushion, and none have a significant rim cushion.

Finally, you can get the fresh taste of a glass water bottle without so much worry about breakage.

I believe products should avoid toxic exposure. The easy access flip cap has a smooth spout to make drinking a pleasure. Leak proof and convenient, it is made without colorants to reduce chemical exposure. Tests show that colorants added to plastics often exhibit estrogenic activity, and I wanted to avoid that.

I believe products should fit seamlessly into your life. The Braun design guru Dieter Rams said "Indifference towards people and the reality in which they live is actually the one and only cardinal sin in design". We've taken that to heart with the design of this bottle:

• Comfortable 2 finger carry handle makes it easy to take with you, even on a hike.
• Calibrated view windows on the back so you know how much is left in the bottle.
• The 2.9" (7.37cm) diameter base fits most car cup holders. Dishwasher safe.

The attractive translucent silicone sleeve comes in ten vibrant colors:

You might expect to pay more for this kind of protection, but the Eveau water bottle is no more expensive than other glass bottles with protective sleeves.

 Buy Glass Water bottle with flip lid on Amazon

Buy Glass Water bottle with straw lid on Amazon

PS: Even if you decide not to take us up on this offer, I encourage you to use glass water bottles for the best taste and health benefits