Best Hard Ultralight Water Bottles 2025 Reusable & Smart
Last Updated: October 9, 2025
By Jaeger Shaw
Hard Ultralight Water Bottles for Backpacking
Featuring all of the reusable hard-sided ultralight water bottles lighter worth considering
Hard ultralight water bottles work alongside a filter unit and collapsible reservoir to complete a backpacking hydration system. Reusable hard bottles are preferred, most frequently used to hold clean water, and offer a more user-friendly drinking experience than soft flasks and bladders, especially at camp once packs are removed. They are durable, lightweight, stand up on their own, and every backpacker should carry at least one, mounted in either a front or side pocket.
Buyer beware! An overwhelming majority of reusable hard-sided water bottles are prohibitively heavy, which has lead in part to the proliferation of Smartwater bottles among thru-hikers. To this day Smartwater remain the elephant in the room; the ultralight bottle to which all reusable options are compared. However, harm caused by the single-use plastic industry, on top of health and safety concerns pertaining to long-term use of plastic designed for single-use, has created the dawn of an anti-Smartwater revolution. Join us on this quest to dethrone the evil Smartwater and discover the best reusable hard ultralight water bottles
- Compliment your bottles with the best overall filter system, Sawyer Squeeze X Cnoc VectoX 2L
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While you’re here, don’t miss our other hydration guides, including complete Water Storage, Ultralight Filters, Ultralight Bladders, Soft Flask Squeeze Filters, Shoulder Strap Pockets, and Sustainable Bottles.
Quick Picks: Hard Ultralight Water Bottles
~1L Hard Ultralight Water Bottles
- Editor’s Choice: Igneous NOBO 1L
- Best Reusable Wide Mouth: Smartbottle 1L
- Top Pick: Cnoc ThruBottle 1L
- Lightest Weight: Smartwater 1L
- Best Hard-Sided Filter: HydraPak Breakaway 880 ml
- Best High Capacity: Smartwater 1.5L
500-750 ml Hard Ultralight Water Bottles
- Best For Front Pocket Mounting: HydraPak Tempo 525 ml
- Best Reusable: Smartbottle 500 ml & Smartbottle 750
- Lightest Weight: Smartwater 500 ml & Smartwater 700
L-to-R: Cnoc ThruBottle, Igneous NOBO, Mazama M!GO
Comparing Single-Use to Reusable Hard Ultralight Water Bottles
Mobile users rotate device for full width table
| Model | Price ($) | Vol (ml) | Weight (oz) |
Vol/Weight (ml/oz)
|
Filter Compatible (y/n) |
| Smartwater 500 ml | 1 | 500 | 1.0 | 500 | yes |
| Smartwater 700 ml | 2 | 700 | 1.1 | 636 | yes |
| Smartbottle 500 ml | 9 | 500 | 1.2 | 417 | no |
| Smartwater 1L | 2 | 1000 | 1.4 | 714 | yes |
| HP Tempo 525 ml | 9 | 525 | 1.8 | 292 | yes |
| Smartwater 1.5L | 3 | 1500 | 1.9 | 789 | yes |
| Smartbottle 750 ml | 11 | 750 | 2.0 | 375 | no |
| Smartbottle 1L | 12 | 1000 | 2.2 | 455 | no |
| Igneous NOBO | 22 | 1000 | 2.3 | 435 | yes |
| Cnoc ThruBottle | 13 | 1000 | 3.2 | 313 | yes |
| HP Breakaway 880 | 48 | 880 | 4.2 | 210 | yes |
| Mazama M!GO* | 19 | 1070 | 4.7 | 227 | yes |
*Mazama M!GO is a popular, reusable hard-sided water bottle that is listed here for reference, but does not qualify as ultralight.
Meet Smartbottle, a wide mouth ultralight, hard-sided, reusable plastic bottle.
L-to-R: 1L, 750 ml, 500 ml.
1L Sized Hard-Sided Ultralight Water Bottles
Igneous NOBO Water Bottle
Meet Igneous NOBO, the current best reusable ultralight water bottle! It’s healthier and more ethical than Smartwater, lighter and more squeezable than Cnoc ThruBottle, half the weight of Mazama x M!GO. Its 28mm threading is compatible with most filters and bidets, and features include highly visible volume indicators and a beautifully designed tethered cap. Igneous is notable for their plastics expertise, and NOBO’s HDPE composition resists microplastics shedding, slows bacterial growth, and holds up to UV and a lifetime of squeezing.
While the 28mm threading and ability to mount filters and bidets is overall desirable, if you aren’t using it for either of those purposes, a wider mouth bottle might be preferable – see Smartbottle.
- Price: $13
- Weight: 2.3 oz
- Pros: Reusable plastic. 28mm head fits filters and bidets. Current best-in-class option. Volume indicators. Tethered cap.
- Cons: Narrow mouth difficult to filter into. Marginally heavier than Smartwater.
Smartbottle 1L
Meet Smartbottle, the best reusable wide mouth hard-sided ultralight water bottle. The 1L version is only 0.8 ounces heavier than a similarly-sized Smartwater (no relation), a third the weight of a standard Nalgene, and about half the weight of Nalgene Ultralite. Compared to Smartwater, it has a wider mouth, making it the superior receptacle for filtering into, and its flat sidewalls prevent rolling. Smartbottle’s biggest relative disadvantage is that it doesn’t fit any squeeze filters, but that’s okay because hard bottles are better for holding clean water than filtering dirty water anyway. Perhaps a bigger downside is that it doesn’t fit the Sawyer cleaning coupler or HydraPak backflush tap. A grippier lid would improve the design, but the flat surface doesn’t actually hinder use.
Smartbottle is made with reusable, medical-grade polypropylene instead of PET1 like Smartwater. Polypropylene is the same BPA-free, non-phthalate-leeching, recyclable material as can be found in Tupperware and baby bottles. It is considered extremely safe. Long-term use of PET1 Smartwater bottles that were designed for single-use is suspected of nano-plastic contamination and phthalate-leeching as the material degrades. And of course, purchasing Smartwater supports the reprehensible single-use water bottle industry.
Editor’s note: Smartbottle is a Canadian brand currently affected by US tariffs. Shipping to US is slow and expensive at this time.
- Price: $12
- Weight: 2.2 oz
- Pros: Reusable plastic. Best reusable hard-sided wide mouth. Doesn’t roll.
- Cons: Doesn’t fit filters. Lid should be grippier. Marginally heavier and more expensive than Smartwater.
Cnoc ThruBottle
The Cnoc ThruBottle is a reusable HDPE version of Smartwater, more ethical and less prone to microplastic shedding. It’s nearly identical in shape and maintains the ability to fit 28mm mounted filters and bidets. It also has built-in volume markers. But there are downsides! Not only does it weigh more than twice as much as a 1L Smartwater, it is also much less flexible, which makes it harder to use as a squeeze filter, and overall less user-friendly to drink from. We also found that in testing, the cap cracked, likely from overtightening. This is our third favorite hard sided ultralight water bottle behind Igneous NOBO and Smartbottle.
- Price: $13
- Weight: 3.2
- Pros: Reusable HDPE plastic. Fits filters and bidets. Molded volume markers. Tethered cap.
- Cons: Stiff and difficult to squeeze. More than twice as heavy as Smartwater bottles. Cap can crack
L-to-R: Smartwater Bottles in 500 ml, 700 ml, 1.0L, and 1.5L
Smartwater 1L
From a performance and value perspective, Smartwater 1L still reigns supreme among hard ultralight water bottles. Smartwater is the lightest weight option, astoundingly durable, and fits 28 mm filters like Sawyer Squeeze; all for just $2. While these bottles are classified as “single-use,” they are capable of lasting for many years of hard backpacking use.
The biggest downsides to Smartwater are in regard to health and ethics. Any purchase of Smartwater product supports the reprehensible single-use water bottle industry. Furthermore, they are made with PET1, a plastic that was not designed for long-term use and is suspected of long term phthalates-leeching and nano-plastic contamination.
When comparing single-use options, Gatorade style bottles are also worth considering, because the wide mouth makes filtering into these vessels much easier. However, Smartwater bottle remains at the top of our single-use power rankings because they are a few grams lighter, and accommodate filters.
- Price: $2
- Weight: 1.4 oz
- Pros: Lightest hard-sided 1L. Fits filters. Very inexpensive.
- Cons: Health and ethics concerns about single-use plastic. Narrow mouth is harder to filter into.
HydraPak Breakaway 880 ml
On most axes, the HydraPak Breakaway 880 is a more user-friendly hard-sided filter bottle than Sawyer Squeeze + 1L Smartwater, and the best overall option in the niche. For starters, the Breakaway is significantly shorter (by about 5″), while Sawyer + Smartwater is super tall and awkward to drink out of. This is because of how Breakaway’s hollow fiber filter is sunken into the neck of the bottle, which also makes it less top heavy and better balanced when set down. Furthermore, it is a self-burping system, meaning that it automatically lets air back in without needing to open the bottle manually after every few ounces of filtration.
The biggest drawback, of course, is that we’re comparing it to Sawyer Squeeze, which has the longest lifespan of any filter, and is widely considered to be the most reliable option available while Breakaway is merely average in that regard. But unless you’re setting out on a thru-hike, this unit more than sufficiently reliable and long-lasting. Read more in our full length HydraPak Breakaway Review.
- Price: $48
- Weight: 4.2 oz
- Pros: Best hard-sided filter bottle. Reusable plastic. Wide mouth. Self burping. Back-flush capable. Lighter and easier to handle than Sawyer + Smartwater.
- Cons: Shorter lifespan than Sawyer Squeeze. Not as good at filtering into other vessels as Sawyer Squeez + Cnoc VectoX.
Smartwater 1.5L
If Smartwater bottles are a deal with the devil, the 1.5L version is an offer you likely can’t refuse. Specifically, this size has the highest volume-to-weight ratio of more than two dozen hard ultralight water bottles we tested, equaling that of many soft-sided bladders. If you only want to carry a single hard-sided bottle to drink from at camp, while also increasing your max storage capacity, this is a great way to do it.
See above for the myriad pros and cons of using Smartwater bottle. One unique downside to the 1.5L version is that it is wider than the standard narrow diameter 1L Smartwater bottles, meaning it might not fit as well into tight/undersized side pockets. That being said, most ultralight backpacks will accommodate it just fine, including all of the options from Zpacks, ULA, and Hyperlite Mountain Gear, for example.
- Price: $2
- Weight: 1.9 oz
- Pros: Highest volume-to-weight hard-sided option. Fits filters. Very inexpensive.
- Cons: Health and ethics concerns about single-use plastic. Bulky. Narrow mouth is harder to filter into.
500-750 ml Sized Hard-Sided Ultralight Water Bottles
HydraPak Tempo 525 ml
HydraPak Tempo is the best reusable hard ultralight water bottle for front mounting into a shoulder strap pocket because of its lid. The high flow rate sports cap is made with a soft material, and can be easily and comfortably opened with teeth, making one-handed operation trivially easy. This outcompetes hinge-based sport caps, which are harder to open, frequently break, and sometimes require two hands. The entire bottles weighs less than two ounces, its wide mouth is easy to filter into, and the bottle accommodates 42mm filter heads like the HydraPak Filter Cap. Though if you plan on front mounting a filter, we recommend the HydraPak UltraFlask filter instead.
- Price: $9
- Weight: 1.8 oz
- Pros: Reusable plastic. Fast one-handed drinking, comfortable on teeth. Best hard-sided front mounting option for bottle sleeves. Wide mouth fits 42mm filters.
- Cons: Heavier and more expensive than similarly sized Smartwater. Potential for leakage if cap is nudged open while bottle is inverted.
Smartbottle 500 ml
Smartbottle 500 ml is the lightest hard-sided reusable water bottle we’ve tested, and boasts the smallest weight delta compared to the same-size Smartwater; a gap of just 0.2 oz. For more about why we love Smartbottle and how it compares to Smartwater, see above.
Editor’s note: Smartbottle is a Canadian brand currently affected by US tariffs. Shipping to US is slow and expensive at this time.
- Price: $9
- Weight: 1.2 oz
- Pros: Reusable plastic. Nearly identical weight as similar Smartwater. Doesn’t roll. Wide mouth. Best reusable in its capacity class.
- Cons: Doesn’t fit filters. Lid should be grippier. Marginally heavier and more expensive than Smartwater.
Smartbottle 750 ml
If you prefer the mid-sized capacity, Smartbottle 750 ml is your best reusable ultralight bottle. Unfortunately, it suffers a much larger weight gap than the delta between Smartbottle 500 ml vs Smartwater 500 ml, and even slightly larger than the delta between Smartbottle 1L and Smartwater 1L. Ergo, this is the least appealing option in the Smartbottle family. For more discussion on Smartbottle vs Smartwater, see above. For more discussion on hard sided bottle sizing, see the pro tips section below.
Editor’s note: Smartbottle is a Canadian brand currently affected by US tariffs. Shipping to US is slow and expensive at this time.
- Price: $11
- Weight: 2.0
- Pros: Reusable plastic. Best wide mouth hard-sided reusable plastic in capacity class. Doesn’t roll.
- Cons: Doesn’t fit filters. Lid should be grippier. Heavier and more expensive than Smartwater.
Smartwater 500 ml
Despite an even smaller weight gap between this and the best reusable alternatives (just .2 oz), 500 ml Smartwater remains the lightest weight option in its volume class. However, the advantage of filter compatibility is minimized by the fact that 500 ml bottles make poor filters in the first place, since they require twice as many dips into the water while filling other bottles. So between the miniscule weight gap and lack of usefulness as a filter vessel, we don’t expect many people to carry 500 ml Smartwater bottles. The performance advantages just don’t outweigh the health and ethics concerns.
- Price: $1
- Weight: 1.0 oz
- Pros: Lightest hard-sided .5L. Fits filters. Very inexpensive.
- Cons: Health and ethics concerns about single-use plastic. Weight savings are minimal. Unlikely to be used as a filter vessel. Narrow mouth is harder to filter into.
Smartwater 700 ml
The Smartwater 700 ml bottle is unique in that it is the only version that comes with a flip top “sports cap.” While it is marginally faster to drink from than the screw-top version, the design is cheaply made and its hinge is prone to breaking off with long term backpacking use. This could render the bottle useless, and as such we prefer a traditional threaded screw-on cap. If you want a 700 ml Smartwater bottle, we recommend ditching the sport cap and cannibalizing the cap from one of your other Smartwaters. If you want a one-handed operatable sport cap style hard ultralight water bottle, go with the HydraPak Tempo. For more about the advantages and disadvantages of Smartwater, see above.
- Price: $2
- Weight: 1.1
- Pros: Lightest hard-sided 1L. Fits filters. Very inexpensive. Flip top cap is faster to drink from.
- Cons: Health and ethics concerns about single-use plastic. Flip top cap hinge breaks easily. Narrow mouth is harder to filter into.
HydraPak Breakaway is the best hard-sided filter, better than Sawyer X Smartwater
Considerations for Hard-Sided Ultralight Water Bottles for backpacking
Prioritize reusable ultralight bottles
We understand the performance benefits to Smartwater, but implore you to look towards reusable hard ultralight water bottles instead. Smartwater bottles are a blight to the environment, creating unnecessary plastic waste. Buying them encourages their parent brand Coca-Cola to make more single-use bottles. What’s more, they don’t suffer any of the same health and ethics concerns, including nanoplastic contamination and phthalate leaching.
Hard-sided bottles are generally not responsible for filtration
Generally speaking, your filtration should move from a soft flask or bladder into a hard-sided bottle. That’s because soft-sided containers collapse as they filter, and do not require burping. Conversely, it extremely difficult to filter water into a soft bottle, because they don’t stand upright well, or at all. For those two reasons, hard-sided bottles should be primarily used for storing clean water. We point this out because it frees you from hyper-focusing on the fact that Sawyer Squeeze filters can mount to Smartwater bottles. Sure, that is upside and makes them more versatile, but if you’re filtering from a Cnoc VectoX into the bottles, then the filter compatibility benefits of Smartwater are relegated to backup status.
If you want a hard-sided filter…
For a hard-sided filter bottle that is much more user-friendly than Smartwater x Sawyer, we recommend the HydraPak Breakaway 880 ml. Compared to Sawyer x Smartwater, it is lighter weight, easier to drink from, faster flow rate, 5″ shorter, and better balanced. The downsides being that Sawyer Squeeze is the longer lasting and more reliable filter, which should affect the choices of thru-hikers, but doesn’t matter much for typical backpacking trips. See more in our HydraPak Breakaway review.
The Smartwater weight gap is closing
Thanks to brands like Cnoc and Smartbottle, the performance gap, and specifically the weight gap, between Smartwater and all of the other options is closing. When it was Smartwater vs Nalgene, this was a big difference. But now a comparably sized 1L Smartbottle weighs only 0.8 oz more than a same-sized Smartwater, while a 500 ml sized Smartbottle weighs only 0.2 oz more than a same-sized Smartwater
500 ml, 750 ml and 1L hard ultralight water bottles, where to store each in your backpack
- 500 ml – front pocket
- 750 ml – front or side pocket
- 1L – side pocket
If one-liter-sized bottles are the most universal, and half-liter-sized bottles are best for mounting in a front pocket, where does that leave the mid-sized 750 ml units? You can side mount them, but in that case why not upsize to a full one liter for additional storage at very little weight penalty? You can front-mount them, but the extra 250ml adds unwelcome bulk in a high-use space, decreasing mobility while increasing shoulder strain. 750 ml is the most versatile size, but we strongly recommend carrying a 1L and a 500 ml instead of two 750 ml bottles.
HydraPak Tempo 525 ml next to GGG Plastic 1L
Conclusion to Hard Ultralight Water Bottles for backpacking
Thanks for reading our guide to hard ultralight water bottles, where we hope you picked out your next reusable drinking vessel. We reiterate that hard-sided bottles are an essential part to any backpacking kit, especially at camp, and implore you to consider reusable, non-Smartwater options. Happy trails and happy hydrating!
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