Outdoors

Hydrapak Stash collapsible water bottle stands up and packs into a pocket disc

Hydrapak Stash collapsible water bottle stands up and packs into a pocket disc
The Hydrapak Stash will be available within the next few months in several colors
The Hydrapak Stash will be available within the next few months in several colors
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Multiple Stash bottles nest together, giving you much more water capacity in a package that's smaller or equal to the size of a typical bottle
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Multiple Stash bottles nest together, giving you much more water capacity in a package that's smaller or equal to the size of a typical bottle
The Hydrapak Stash will be available within the next few months in several colors
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The Hydrapak Stash will be available within the next few months in several colors
The new Hydrapak Stash
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The new Hydrapak Stash
Multiple Stash bottles nest together when collapsed
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Multiple Stash bottles nest together when collapsed
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In 2013, Hydrapak introduced its SoftFlask series of soft-sided TPU water bottles designed to collapse into your pocket. The design seemed handy, but we wondered why the company chose to use a rather big, bulging bottom on a design meant to pack small. It addresses this shortcoming with the all-new Stash. The Stash's collapsible TPU body is paired with a flat bottom that snaps together with the top, making the packed bottle even easier to transport.

When you're at home or in town, you finish up your water and then put the bottle in the dishwasher or recycling bin. But when you're out jogging or hiking without a recycling bin or backpack handy, you're basically stuck carrying around a useless bottle.

The SoftFlask provided a nice solution to that problem, and the 25-oz (750-ml) Stash adds an extra level of convenience. In place of the uneven base of the SoftFlask, the Stash has a molded flat bottom welded to its TPU body. The bottom allows the bottle to stand up and also snaps together with the top when you collapse the body down, creating a disc measuring 2 in high and 3.5 in diameter (5 x 8.9 cm).

Multiple Stash bottles nest together when collapsed
Multiple Stash bottles nest together when collapsed

When you think about the option of carrying an empty, full-sized 25-oz bottle around on the last two miles of your run or hike versus sliding a disc in your pocket, the Stash's advantage is clear. Stash discs can also nest together, so you can store multiple bottles more easily. Even if you have a backpack or vehicle, a few collapsed Stash bottles can save a whole lot of valuable space over hard bottles of the same volume.

The BPA-free, dishwasher-safe Stash bottles will hit the market in late fall (Northern Hemisphere) in blue, orange, green and smoke colors. Each will retail for US$17.99 and come with a 43-mm screw top and nylon finger strap. Hydrapak also plans to offer a twist-lock bite valve accessory.

Source: Hydrapak

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6 comments
6 comments
longhawl
What is this thing like when it is only partially full? If its just a soft floppy container how would you carry it while jogging or hiking? There is a reason water bottles are at least semi-rigid. If they have a solution, they should show how tht works.
tigerprincess
$18.oo US is rather pricey for a plastic bottle. I realize it is convenient but collapsible bottles are not new technology, and this price is over the top.
Slowburn
You have to have the carrying space for the bottles for them to be of any use and making the bottles collapsible probably makes them heavier. This is a solution looking for a problem.
Walt Stawicki
Upon reading "bpa free" i imediately became suspicious as many other plasics share the estrogenic properties.including substitutes touted as "bpa free"
Turns out this urethane has no fluorine or chlorine sunstitutions and is not a poisonus urehane like boat resins (linear u) or sprayfoam insulation. Seems a choice we need more of.
Interesting this is so downplayed in the story. in any case im not a waterbottle guy in need of saving space on the way back home. do they make "camelback" replacements? that would sell me!
the.other.will
At 750 ml, this has 50% greater capacity than the plastic flasks that have been around for years now. At 6 times the price, depending on how good a deal can be found on the flasks.
Howard Weiss
40 years ago I had a client who manufactured flexible hosing used to carry transport rocket fuel and oxidizer nasty stuff). When you twisted a length of it, it collapsed down to about 1/3 it's size. They thought it would make a great camping cup. This was their first venture into consumer products, so we recommended a focus group. We gathered about a dozen hunter/camper type guys in a room, and after about 15 minutes a seasoned (that means old) guy stands up, whips out his pocket knife, and punches a hole in the cup. Focus group over. Product dropped. Now I know these are different times and you can punch a hole into all sorts of plastic packaging. But at the time it was enough of an issue to kill the product. (One reason why I don't particularly like focus groups---weirdos can punch holes (literally!) in a product idea that maybe shouldn't have been killed.)