Chilly's Series 2 Bottle - Leak-Proof, No Sweating - BPA-Free Stainless Steel - Reusable - Double Walled, Vacuum Insulated - Keeps Cold for 24+ Hrs, Hot for 12 Hrs - Whale Blue, 500ml

A big selling point of this new series 2 bottle is their new soft-touch drinking collar (the slightly shaded rim of the bottle that sits just underneath the lid). While at first this comes across as a nice improvement to their original bottle, you quickly realise that this is a completely flawed design.This collar (again, the shaded rim near the top of the bottle) is the actual mouth piece that you drink from, with the lid functioning as nothing more than a plug to stop spills. When drinking from this bottle you put your mouth on this collar that’s completely exposed to dirt at all times. The lid does basically nothing to protect this mouthpiece or keep it clean throughout the day.Now this isn’t a massive problem if you intend to just use the bottle at home, but if you plan on using this outside then there’s no way of keeping the bit that goes in your mouth, clean. It’s also not really possible to open the bottle without touching this collar mouthpiece (if you don’t then the whole things unscrews apart); this means that you effectively cannot open the bottle unless your hands are clean. It also means that you can’t just throw the bottle in a bag, put it to lay down on the ground, attach it to a bike, or anything else which may result in the outside getting dirty.With all of that said, I know the above won’t bother many people (the lid is supposedly antibacterial) and for those people, this is a great buy! Despite mine arriving with a small dent, I was extremely happy with it until I noticed this design flaw.

The design is nice but, unfortunately, that’s where the positives end.The first thing I noticed when I took the bottle out of the box was that the rubber base wasn’t sitting straight. I managed to peel it off incredibly easily and stuck it back down flat.Who knows how long it’ll actually stay on there, as the adhesive is apparently terrible.The second thing I noticed was that the collar unscrewed with the lid. I figured this was probably because it wasn’t on very tight from manufacturing, but I’d say the collar came undone roughly a third of the time I’ve tried to take the lid off.I don’t really understand the point of the collar.It just makes the whole experience worse.£30 is a ridiculous price for this.It’s the definition of form over function.Don’t waste your money.

I am completely bemused by the packaging here: quite who at Chilly's thought that it would be a good idea to put a leaflet INSIDE the bottle, thus forcing any purchaser to go in search of tweezers before one can even wash the thing out let alone try drinking from it, needs a stern talking to. For a company who clearly do take some pride in their product and packaging, this is a serious misstep. The drinking hole is only about an inch across - no-one's going to get two fingers in there to pull the leaflet out. I've spent 5 minutes with various tools trying to get the damned thing out, and so far no luck. This reminds me of the Hoffnung tale of all the penknives, where he has to keep buying another penknife to get the previous one open... I mean, it looks like it'll be a nice bottle, but who knows when I'll be able to try it out.

The bottom silicone isn’t stuck on very well at all. Would have expected a lot better quality for the price. Chillys have cheaper out to try and get people to “upgrade” but the first bottle is better.

Collar only sits flush for about 90 degrees. Rubber buffer was peeling off on inspection. Bad design re hygiene with lip of bottle an exposed surface area. Buying a premium bottle supposed to save hassle not create it. Can't recommend