Product Review: Simple Hydration bottle

photo courtesy of Simple Hydration 

I asked my husband, Seth, to write a review of the Simple Hydration bottle because I'm still too pooped from my first ever back to back long runs. He kindly obliged. Enjoy! 

For her birthday, my wife received a Simple water bottle. Simple was running a special whereby if you bought one water bottle, you got a second at a discount - as a result, I ended up with one. I already have a FuelBelt and a Nathan 20oz handheld bottle, and didn't need another water bottle. Nevertheless, Simple advertises itself as being able to be shoved into your pocket or waistbelt - making it a combo handheld/belt bottle - so I decided to give it a shot.

I used the Simple for the first time on an 11-mile run over some serious hills in addition to my FuelBelt. I figured that even if it was a complete bust, I'd have fluid backup. 

The Simple worked fantastically. It fit right into the back of my running shorts, and never shifted. This, despite the fact that I removed and replaced it several times over the course of my first 6 miles. Once it was empty, it stayed right in place. For the first mile, having something down the back of my shorts took some getting used to, but after that, I hardly noticed it at all. 

When I first saw the bottle, I was worried that it would slowly shift up by back and fall out somewhere - at no point in my 11 miles did it shift at all, either when it was full of water, or empty. When I was carrying it, the ergomatic grip made it easy to hold on to. The bottle holds 13oz, which means that it wasn't too heavy to hold on to for extended periods of time. The cap is plastic - not rubber - but that didn't seem to cause any problems shooting water down my throat.

Since the bottle holds 13oz, it is useful on its own for shorter distances in the heat of summer, but - as I experienced - it can easily be used to supplement other hydration systems.

On the negative side, the water didn't remain cool at all, and was rather warm when I drank it - but it is unfair to expect anything else from a water bottle that was stored in the back of my waistband for nearly an hour in 80+ degree weather. It also did not have - like my Nathan bottle has - any storage, but - again - I plan to use this bottle on shorter runs or as a supplement when I have other storage options. In fact, using the zip-pocket on a handheld can increase the weight of the bottle, making it uncomfortable to haul any significant distance.

I plan to use this Simple bottle on all of my shorter runs (or at least those where I feel the need for mid-run hydration) and as the first option on my long runs in combination with the FuelBelt. I hope that the plastic cap holds up to repeated use - if it does, this may become my most used bottle of choice.

*There has been no compensation for this post. All opinions expressed are our own*