Amphipod Hydraform Ergo-Lite Ultra Handheld Water Bottle 20 oz

I love handhelds.  Nothing keeps you cooler since nothing is in your back.  Nothing is easier to refill and as easy to monitor your consumption.  You can clean them much easier than bladder.

I'm a big guy so I dual wield my so two of most hand helds gets me 40-48 oz of water.  Always looking for the newest interpretation of an old favorite, I saw these on running warehouse.

So first of I decided to see how much they would carry.  They front zip pouch is huge and stretches.  The back of the strap has 3 elastic loops for gels.  Here is what one looks like loaded, but not even close to stuffed.

So what's inside....

They are like tiny backpacks on your hands.  I like the squeeze and squirt style race cap.  It means one less moving part to have to remove to clean and delivers a good blast of liquid each time.

The neoprene insulation and strap are comfortable and keep your drink cold pretty well.  The top of the rubber around the cap does get a lot of condensation on it with icy drinks and the wet neoprene gives you that wetsuit smell everything you bring it up to your face.

Not a deal breaker but I have a super sniffer so I notice it everytime.

I like the concept behind the design but would like to see a few tweaks here and there.  I don't like the open bottom design for the insulation.  I would prefer a regular coozy style where the bottle just goes I into it with the bottom covered to decrease the heat gain. 

I am also still not completely sold on Amohipod's hydraform bottle design.

Here is the 20oz amphipod bottle

Here is the Nathan 22 oz bottle

Here they are side by side

They just have weird feel in my hand.  Not uncomfortable but odd, I think I prefer just plain old round bottles.

But these are the gripes of a super critical  gear geek, not a normal human.

Conclusion:

These are great all around hand helds and are on pace to become my favorite go to hand helds.  The straps are very comfortable, the bottle and cap are great, and the storage is awesome!  I could easily put arm sleeves in these for cooler weather along with plenty of other stuff.

These are great and totally worth getting. As a hand held acolyte I believe these to be amoung the best handhelds I have used and I look forward to more tweaks and improvements as they go on.  

Thanks for reading, gotta run!