Tester
Bio |
Name: |
Bob Dorenfeld
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I'm an active hiker,
snowshoer, skier, and backpacker.
Home base is the Southern Colorado Rockies,
where I'll hike from 7000 ft (2100 m) to
alpine tundra, with desert trips at lower
altitudes. Six to 12 miles (10 to
20 km) daily is my norm, with elevation
gains up to 4000 ft (1200 m). Many
of my backpack trips are two or three nights,
other trips are longer, and I usually carry
about 30 lb (14 kg). My style is
lightweight but not obsessively so - extras
like binoculars, camera, and notebook make
my trips more enjoyable.
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Email: |
geartest(at)sageandspruce(dot)net
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Age: |
56
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Location: |
Salida, Colorado, USA
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Gender: |
M
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Height: |
5' 6" (1.68 m) |
Weight: |
140 lb (64 kg) |
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Product Overview
Manufacturer:
Avex
Website:
www.avexsport.com
MSRP:
20 fl oz (591 ml) US$24.99
16 fl oz (473 ml) US$22.99
Stated Volume:
large - 20 fl oz
(591 ml) small - 16
fl oz (473 ml) Measured Width
x Height:
large: 3 in (7.6 cm) x 9.5 in (24 cm)
small: 2.75 in (7
cm) x 8.75 in (22 cm) Body Material:
Stainless steel Stated Hot Insulation:
large: up to 7 hours
small: up to 5 hours Stated Cold
Insulation:
large: up to 20 hours
small: up to 14 hours Carry Clip:
No Color:
large: black body, gray lid
small: silver body, red/gray lid
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Photos: Avex
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The Highland is a vacuum-insulated stainless
steel water bottle for keeping contents
either hot or cold. The narrow body
is designed to fit most car-cup holders,
and it's tapered near the top to make a
nice hand-hold; the steel surface is smooth
yet has enough friction to not easily slip
from my hand. The small and the large
sizes are functionally equivalent, and differ
in color and size: the large is slightly
wider and taller than the small. The
two sizes also differ in the recommended
maximum keeping times for hot and cold liquids.
The BPA-free plastic lid, which screws off
in only one turn, is designed with Avex's
patented "one-touch AUTOSEAL"
design that opens the spout for drinking
or pouring via a horizontal tensioned slide
operated by one finger. A vertical
slider locks the lid when not in use and
to protect against dirt. Avex says
that both lid and body of the Highland are
dishwasher safe. The bottoms of the
mugs have a non-slip plastic surface.
I weighed the small Highland at 10 oz (283
g) and the large at 12 oz (340 g), empty,
and at 1 lb 8 oz (680 g) and 1 lb 14 oz
(850 g), filled with water. Inside
the bottle and on removable paper wrapped
around it are instructions about how to
use and care for the Highland. Also
stamped on the bottom of both bottles are
the reminders "Top Rack Dishwasher
Safe" and "Do Not Microwave".
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First Impressions
Both of these
water bottles are comfortable to hold and pick up,
even when filled all the way with liquid up to the
threads, the recommended levels. They hold
the stated volume of liquid - 16 fl oz (473 ml)
for the small, and 20 fl oz (591 ml) for the large.
I
found the lids easy to screw on and off (in just
one complete turn) and they engage tightly so I
know they're in right. I couldn't get any
water to leak out of the lids or the closed and
capped spouts when turned upside down, or even by
swinging the bottles from the bottom. The
one-handed operation of the spouts works by pressing
my index finger against the large button on the
back of lid, opening the approximately 1/8 x 1/2
in (0.3 x 1.3 cm) spout. Enough water came
out to satisfy my thirst, and didn't dribble either.
The sliding lock feature of that back button is
also easy to use with one finger - down to lock,
up to unlock, with a reassuring click and enough
friction to let me know it's working correctly.
There is no separate cover for the spout, it seems
that it relies on a self-seal to keep dirt and other
stuff out of it when in use. Both of these
Highland bottles stood firmly without easily tipping
on my level tabletop, when either empty or full.
I like the non-slip bottoms, lots of friction to
keep them from sliding about.
I ran a couple
of informal tests to verify Avex's claims of hot
and cold keeping times for the bottles. For
each test I filled the bottle with the maximum recommended
volume of water, and kept it at room temperature
during the test for the maximum time suggested by
Avex. The temperature results are consistent
between the bottle sizes:
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LARGE |
SMALL |
Hot |
7 hours, started @ 170 F(77 C), finished
at 110 F (43 C) |
5 hours, started @ 170 F(77 C), finished
at 110 F (43 C) |
Cold
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20 hours, started @ 40 F (4 C), finished
at 60 F (15 C) |
14 hours, started @ 40 F (4 C), finished
at 60 F (15 C) |
In this test,
the hot was still warm, and the cold was only cool
but still somewhat refreshing. Of course,
this is only one test, and I didn't vary all of
the factors that I could have, such as starting
with colder or hotter water, keeping the bottle
at other than room temperature, and sampling the
contents before the maximum time is up. However,
it's useful as a baseline, and I think it shows
that the Highland vacuum bottles are keeping liquids
cold or hot for reasonable lengths of time.
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It's been about four months since I started
using both of these Avex Highland bottles.
In that time I've carried them on five day hikes
lasting from two to eight hours each, all in the
Sawatch range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains
where I found plenty of water that I could
purify for refilling the bottles along the way. They
also accompanied me and a friend on four
car-camping trips, and I carried them to various
outdoor events such as concerts and picnics.
Across all of these trips I had temperatures
ranging from 45-85 F (7-29 C). I mostly
filled them with water or iced tea, but also
occasionally with hot tea or coffee.
Sometimes they had additional ice cubes to keep
the liquid cold for longer periods.
Usability
I have found both the Large and Small Highland
bottles easy to use (they have the same lid
design). It was easy to unscrew the lids
and fill them, as well as screw the lids back on
securely. No liquids spilled as long as
the lids were tight and the sip-opening wasn't
accidently pressed open (actually hard to do
unintentionally). The locking mechanism to
keep contents from spilling ("one-touch
AUTOSEAL") worked well and it didn't take much
thought to use: a mark of good design.
Both sipping using the lids and drinking from
the open bottle without the lids was comfortable
and neither method spilled while drinking.
Cleaning the bottles is not a problem.
Usually I just rinsed them out well and set them
to dry on the counter with the lids off. I
dishwashed both bottles twice, and the lids and
bottles came out
clean and ready to use.
Both bottles have
non-skid surfaces on the bottom. I really like
this feature as it helps keep them from being
accidently knocked over, especially outdoors
when set on non-level or rough places like rocks
and grass.
Heat Retention
The hot coffee and tea remained hot to warm in
both of the Large and Small Highlands, depending on
how long they were stored. Although I didn't
carry out precise measurements during testing
like I had done for my First Impressions (see
above), I was satisfied with my coffee and tea
temperature after 1-5 hours for both bottles.
Cold Retention
Cold liquids also remained very cold in both the
Large and Small Highlands, especially when they
contained some ice at the start. In fact,
both my friend and I commented that we wished
the ice tea had warmed up just a little bit to
make it easier to drink! Leaving the lid
off for a while allowed the very cold contents
to warm a little.
Wear and Tear
I have used the black Large Highland bottle more than
the silver larger one (see photo above), and it
has suffered some small
nicks and scratches on its matte black outside
surface from being placed next to other metal
objects, on the ground, and occasionally rolling around the
car floor. This hasn't affected the
bottle's functionality at all. The Small Highland has a brushed unpainted metal
surface, so it shows less wear and tear compared
to the Large; even if I'd used it as much as the
Large, I don't think it'd show as much wear on
the outside. For both bottles the plastic
lids have held up very well and work like new.
Summary
Both bottles - Large and Small Highland - were
easy to hold, and the lids operated intuitively
without much fuss. I liked the sip-opening
locks to keep them from accidently spilling, but
the sliders never inadvertently opened even when
unlocked.
Pros
- keeps liquids hot or cold very well - easy to use
- comfortable to drink from (both with and
without lids) - unpainted metal
surface of Large bottle wears well without
showing dings and nicks - non-skid
bottoms keep them from sliding where set down
Cons - black matte surface on
Small bottle shows all dings and nicks
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Avex
and to BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity
to test the Highland Travel Mugs.
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Reviewed
By Bob Dorenfeld
Southern Colorado Mountains
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