Klean Kanteen Classic and Insulated
Klean Kanteen Classic 1182ml Canteen
Price: £22.95
Weight: 252g or 266g with sports cap
Country of manufacture: China
Klean Kanteen Insulated Canteen
Price: £24.95
Weight: 372g
Country of manufacture: China
Klean Kanteen is a Californian brand that recently launched in the UK.
Its range of metal flasks, bottles and containers are aimed at the outdoors and camping market but it says it also has a mission to cut the number of people using disposable, single-use bottles for their drink. So it’s simple: fill your stainless steel bottle before you head for the outdoors.
Klean Kanteen supplied us with its Classic canteen – a straightforward stainless-steel bottle that comes either with a loop cap or a sports cap. We mainly used the latter, though the former is useful on the campsite, fetching and storing small amounts of water for cooking etc.
The volume equates in old money to just over two pints. The brushed aluminium resisted the usual outdoor batterings and scratchings well, and after a good few months was still in a presentable condition, with a few markings around its shoulder which we thought actually added a bit to its character.
The Klean Kanteen Classic is tough and well made
The sports cap has a soft silicone spout which is easily pulled open by the teeth. Obviously, with its solid stainless-steel construction, the bottle can’t be squeezed, but the sports cap has a clever venting system that lets air in to allow a fast volume of liquid to be delivered at the spout. There were no unwanted drips from the cap in use.
The sports cap also has an offset loop so can be attached to rucksacks via a karabiner.
The Classic Canteen is a fairly broad bottle, about 90mm diameter, but still slotted into rucksack outer pockets. It will also fit into most car cup holders but is tall, so that means its use in that respect is restricted.
The wide neck, 44mm, makes the bottle fairly easy to refill from streams and also means it’s fast pouring if you take off the cap.
If you prefer a bottle to a hydration pouch for your outdoor trips, the Klean Kanteen model is a good, sturdy companion. It comes with the company’s lifetime guarantee and is also free of BPA and phthalate, which have been linked by some to health concerns.
It’s deliberately designed with rounded features to make it easier to clean too.
The pay-off for its sturdiness is its weight: at 266g is about 50 per cent heavier than a typical hydration bladder and tube. However, it’s easier to use when pouring so scores a little on versatility.
Features: 17/25
Performance: 25/30
Design: 20/25
Quality: 9/10
Value for money: 7/10
Total score: 78/100
The Klean Kanteen Insulated will keep drinks hot for at least six hours or cool for 24 hours
Klean Kanteen Insulated Canteen is the Classic Canteen’s smaller, cooler cousin. Or hotter if you’re after a warming drink on the felltops.
The flask’s capacity is 592ml, or just over a pint, which in practical terms equates to a couple of mugs of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or whatever other liquid you choose to warm your bones on a chill hilltop.
The vacuum insulated flask is rated at six hours for keeping hot drinks hot, though we found that by preheating the flask with boiling water for a little while and then emptying it before refilling with coffee, we could stretch it to about eight hours and still have a drink at an acceptable temperature in the outdoors.
For keeping iced drinks cool, Klean Kanteen rates the insulated canteen at 24 hours.
The wide, 52mm mouth makes for easy filling from, say a camp pan, and the flask has a very solid feel and nice look.
But its big drawback compared to many other outdoor flasks is its lack of an incorporated cup. Many rival brands use a screw-on cap as a drinking cup, something the Klean Kanteen model lacks.
The answer is probably to shell out on the company’s Cafe Cap, which converts the flask essentially into an oversized mug, enabling hot drinks to be sipped via the replacement cap, rather than trying to drink from the wide stainless steel mouth. The Cafe Cap will add £4.95 to the cost.
Features: 15/25
Performance: 25/30
Design: 18/25
Quality: 9/10
Value for money: 7/10
Total score: 74/100
The Klean Kanteen range is available from Whitby & Co.
