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In partnership with Epic Water Filters
If you’re looking for the safest and healthiest water bottle to drink out of, then you’d be hard pushed to find a better option than Epic Water Filter’s Escape bottle.
I’ve never enjoyed drinking out of a standard plastic water bottle so, when Epic asked if I wanted to try out their Escape glass water bottle, I was super excited. Here was a bottle that, on paper at least, appeared to be truly, well, epic. Forget the disposable plastic, this is a premium glass bottle protected by a full-cover silicone sleeve. Hate drinking whatever else is in the water when you drink straight from the tap? Well, here’s a bottle that has a filter fitted that removes all of that junk before the water goes up the straw.
Let’s dive in and take a look at the Escape, and Epic’s claims, and see whether the bottle lives up to expectations. (Spoiler: it does, I love it, and it now has a virtually permanent home on my desk by my drinking hand).
What do Epic say
“Glass bottle – 100% BPA/BPS-free”
“Unlike plastic, the glass bottle does not impart flavor or taste to the water”
“Filter removes 99.99% of tap water contaminants”
“Each filter replaces 550 plastic water bottles and lasts for 3-4 months or 75 gallons”
“Delivers the best tasting water in a bottled format”
What do I like
The original Escape bottle was launched by Epic waaay back in 2018, following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Back then it had the same two great filters (Urban and Outdoor), a choice of four colors for the silicone sleeve, and a 24oz/700ml glass bottle. The new 2020 Escape has one less colour, the same choice of filters, a new lid with a more durable feel, and a larger volume glass bottle. The bottle size is now increased to a whopping 32oz/946ml.
This is a drinks bottle that oozes premiumness and its clear, from the moment you pick the Escape up, that you’re holding a top-quality product that the designers have thought about every aspect of.
The flip-top spout is easy to open and close – vs many cheap bottles where you’ll either lose skin, fingernails, or teeth in your efforts to gain access to your drink. The silicone drinking nozzle at the top is chunky and feels good to drink out of.
The glass bottle is protected inside a medical-grade silicone sleeve that not only does the job of making the bottle easy to hold on to, but will also give a good degree of impact protection in the even of it being dropped. I ran a couple tests on this and found that the bottle survived intact with drops from waist height onto both carpet and wooden floors. The sleeve looks good too with an Epic logo front and center, along with a droplet design all round. This droplet design not only has aesthetic appeal, but it also helps with gripping the bottle and lets you see inside to gauge how much water you’ve got left.
One of my major gripes about water bottles is leakage, so I was particularly interested to see how well the Escape would perform as regards this. The screwcap feels solid and sturdy and you’re not left wondering whether it’s fully sealed or not. I tried tipping the bottle upside down, shaking it up and down, and still not a drop came out. Big bonus points here for Epic.
Unlike many water bottle manufacturers, Epic back up their filter claims with test certification. All of which is downloadable from their website. My bottle came with the Urban filter (for removing contaminants from tap water) and there’s also an Outdoor filter if you’re heading into the backcountry. Reading through the test certification I was shocked at the sheer variety of toxic stuff that comes “as standard” in our water supply. Lead? Check. Arsenic? Check. DDT? Check. PCB’s. Check. Ibuprofen?! Check. Caffeine? Check. Testosterone? Check. Progesterone? Check.
I’ve been drinking this stuff my whole life and never even knew I was…or that there was a way that I could filter this toxic material out.
I often find that drinking through a filter can be an odd experience though. You suck till you’re bright red in the face and eventually a dribble of strange-tasting water makes its way up the straw to your mouth. Not so with the Escape’s filter. There didn’t seem to be much (if any) ‘drag’ on the water coming up the straw – the straw is a large diameter and the filter allows water in all round.
And the taste? Well, I’m no connoisseur, but the flavor tasted better than a side-by-side comparison to a glass of water. And, compared to the water out of one of my regular cycling bottles, the taste was well like drinking a vintage French red wine vs the stuff that I buy cheap and end up cleaning out the drains with.
My only concern about the Escape is the weight and the size. Bottle and cap weigh in at 1lb 7oz. Full of water and the weight hits around 3lbs 2oz. This compares with my 25fl oz cheapo cycling bidon at just under 3oz empty and 1lb 9oz full. That’s a big difference, and I know that it’s not a fair comparison – the bottles are different volumes for a start. But, the thing is, I’d need to think seriously about taking a water bottle out with me on a bike ride or hike when it weighs over 3lbs.
So, for me, the Escape is perfect for when I’m going on adventures where I don’t have to physically carry my gear – car camping trips, fly drive vacations, etc. And, more immediately, where the bottle is right at this minute – just next to my non-typing hand on my office desk. I can sit here, sipping my filtered water and getting inspired by Epic’s Boulder, Colorado ‘mountains’ logo, planning my next vacation (rather than doing any actual work). I’m in love with Epic’s products and my choice is the Escape on my desk and one of their smaller and lighter BPA-free plastic bottles, with the same fantastic Urban filter, for human-powered trips on foot or by bike where weight is paramount.
Who’s it for
First and foremost, the Escape is a water bottle for anyone who is concerned about the contaminants that are in our tap water supply – and that should be everyone. Lead, mercury, and DDT are not things that we should be flavoring our drinking water with.
The Escape is also a bottle for anyone who prefers to drink out of glass and desires a sturdy and premium-feeling water bottle.
If weight is a concern, then choose a different product from Epic’s range. They all have the same great filter and you’ll find a range of different sizes and shapes. The Escape is the ideal companion for your office desk and your non-human powered vacations.
Verdict
I love the Escape. It’s bold, it’s big, it’s premium and it’s safe to drink out of.
If you care about drinking great water from your home supply, then you should choose the Escape too. If you want a premium drinks bottle that your friends and family will all be incredibly jealous of, then you should opt for the Escape.
The Escape is Epic. Buy one for yourself now.
