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I seldom carry a water bottle for drinking while walking because I don`t need to. Drinkable water is abundant here and my kuksa is always at hand.

But I usually carry a Lexan bottle in my pack to help in the prosessing of food (it has a volume scale on its side) or to have water near when in camp and I don`t want to move my ass down to the nearby lake or creek for water to make a cup of coffee.

In winter I mostly carry a waterbottle though as creeks and lakes are frozen and covered in snow.

My first choice for a water bottle is a wide mouth Norwegian army canteen. It holds about 1 litres of water, and the wide mouth makes it easy to fill with snow as I move along.

Sometimes I trade this bottle for a “vaccum” bottle, to have access to warm water. It is roughly the same size as the plastic canteen but made of aluminium.

This is also an army issue (although not when I served some 20 years ago) made by the Canadian firm DEW.

This canteen is not a wide mouth and it is trickier to pack it with snow. But I still think it is a nice item.

An ordinary vacuum flask will also do, but it is bigger and heavier.

Remember to carry your non insulated canteens under your outher clothes to prevent the water from freezing.

In Winter store Your bottles upside Down.

They freeze at the top, leaving the mouth ice free.

Just remember if it is real Cold, (20-30 degrees Celsius) it will most likely freeze solid during the night.

An idea I found on the web somewhere is too good to not be used. It is a cheap colapsible canteen you can make yourself. You need a waterproof bag, tape and an old soda bottle with a screw cap.

Cut the top of the soda bottle and sand the edges. You now have a cone with a screw cork on. Close the dry bag over the soda bottle neck and tape it down making it a watertight seal. And there it is, your own collapsible, pocketsized canteen

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As i said; I seldom use a bottle. I usually drink from the creeks, using a kuksa or folding cup.

If I don`t carry a cup I just sip directly from the creek.

If you dont like this approach, a piece of good, flawless birch bark will save your day.

You cold make a cup/ladle from it.

Just cut a round piece from it (6 inch in diameter or larger) with your knife, or scissors if you have one, fold it and insert a split stick.

The whole thing took me about 5 minutes (gathering materials and making).