Contigo Thermalock Glacier Review

The Thermalock Glacier is designed for hot summer days where you want you cold drinks to last longer than five minutes in the sun. The lid is meant to be removed to put ice in or fill easily and the bottle itself is vacuum insulated.

Performance Comparison

Ease of Use

There is a trend in water bottle design to solve a few long-standing problems that occur when drinking out of a bottle. Water bottle companies have been working to eliminate the issue of spillage when drinking out of wide-mouth bottles and they are also trying to figure out how to make one-handed drinking (think driving or walking) easier.

The Glacier's answer to these issues is a push button that opens the lid, with a large hole in the center of the lid to drink from. The issue here is that the hole is in the middle of the lid, instead of on the side, making it awkward to actually drink out of. The carrying handle is another component of this lid that is not ideally placed. It flips out of the outside of the lid when the lid is opened but is not an ergonomic shape for carrying with one hand.

The Thermalock is easy to clean, only taking a few minutes with a bottle brush to clean out the inside. The lid is also relatively easy to clean, considering the complexity of its design. The wide mouth on the spout is easier to clean than the narrow sipping features and straws on other models.

Durability

Like most of the insulated contenders we tested, the Glacier's body is quite durable and did well in our drop tests. There was little damage done to the body when dropped from a height onto concrete. The lid, however, has a number of hinges and plastic parts that are susceptible to breakage. The bottles with fewer moving parts did better overall in durability because they had fewer weak points where breaks could occur.

Weight

At 12 oz, the Thermalock Glacier is comparable in weight to the Klean Kanteen Stainless models. All of these bottles are proving that just because it's made of metal, it doesn't mean it has to be bulky and cumbersome; all of these competitors are sleek and lightweight. They are also relatively small, so they though they are light, they do not have a very large carrying capacity.

Taste

Of all the metric ratings, the Thermalock performed best in the taste category. The bottle took on different flavored beverages and was able to shed their tastes with one quick wash between uses. The plastic of the lid is simple, so flavors don't get stuck in nooks and crannies.

Value

This competitor is fairly priced for an insulated water bottle. However, the lid design is complicated and has many features that are subject to wearing out quickly. For the same price, we preferred the much more versatile Simple Modern Summit since it can be used for both hot and cold beverages.

Conclusion