Stainless steel water bottle size guide: 350ml, 500ml and 600ml
Size is usually the last thing you work out before you buy, and it is the one that decides whether the bottle gets used or ends up in the cupboard. We make three: 350ml, 500ml and 600ml. Here is who each one tends to suit, and where the trade-offs are.
350ml: kindy, prep and small hands
The smallest bottle in the range, and the one to start with for kindy and prep. A four or five year old has to be able to carry it, get the lid off on their own and put it back on without help, and a smaller bottle full of water is easier to manage than a bigger one half empty. Most kindy and prep rooms have a tap or a water station, so a smaller bottle refilled at lunch beats a heavy one carried all day.
When it is not the right pick: a child who drinks a lot, or one at a school where bags stay in a rack until the bell. In that case go up a size rather than rely on refills.
500ml: the primary school middle ground
The size most primary-aged children settle on. Enough water for the morning and most of the afternoon, still light enough for a Year 1 school bag, and it does not take up the whole side pocket. If you are buying one bottle to last a few school years, this is the safe middle.
600ml: older children, sport and adults
Our bestselling bottle, and the one to reach for once your child is in the upper years, playing sport, or you are quietly buying it for yourself. It holds more, and it weighs more when it is full, which is the whole trade: fewer refills, a bit more to carry. For a desk, a car console or a sideline bag, that is an easy call. For a five year old walking to school, it usually is not.
If you are between two sizes
Think about the day rather than the child's age. Can they refill it at school, or is it one fill until home time? Do they open it themselves, or does a teacher or carer do it? Is it going in a bag with a lunch box and a hat, or in a bike cage? A bottle that gets refilled at recess can be smaller than one that has to last from 8.30 am to 3 pm.
If a bottle is going to be shared down through siblings, buying the 500ml means it works for the child in the middle of primary school as well as the one just starting.
Before you buy, two things worth knowing
Stainless steel needs a bottle brush and a proper dry, particularly if anything other than water has been in it. That is true of every brand, and it is the difference between a bottle that stays sweet and one that comes out of the school bag smelling like Tuesday. We have written up how we do it.
And lids, seals and straws are the parts that wear out first, well before the bottle does. They are available separately, so one chewed straw does not mean a new bottle.
Start where you are. One bottle that suits the child you have this year is worth more than a set of three that half fit.
