Sigg 0.6L Oval Bottle

When I saw this reproduction of a 1940s era Swiss Army canteen, I knew I wanted one. Partially because I was trying to find a way to carry some water on the Manta, but also because it just looks really cool.

The original canteen can be seen here.

And the ones exactly like I have are now not produced anymore, but something very similar is. I believe the only difference is the cap.

It comes with a faux leather (worse than leather, better than leather? Not sure.) strap that is meant to hold the cup to the bottle.

It holds 0.6 liters, so not a whole lot. When you’re a water guzzler like me it’s not a lot anyway.

The leatherette strap isn’t strictly necessary since the bottle fits fairly snug inside the cup.

Besides the aesthetics of it, and the ergonomic shape, another thing that appealed to me was the nestled cup. I have a thing for cups and water bottles together.

I have to say that the way the bottom of the cup is finished left me underwhelmed.

The finish is very rough and uneven. In some places it has been sanded smooth and in other places it has a pronounced lip.

The cup on the old ones had no seam at the bottom. The newer ones have a soldered seam, and I wouldn’t trust it to hold up to being put in the fire. Fine if you’re getting a cup of coffee or tea (cutting down on the amount of disposable cups used is a good thing) but I see the ability to boil up some water as a really crucial feature.

Besides the soldered seam not being suitable for use over a fire, another feature that I wish it had, is a second knob side of the cup. If it had that, a bail could be put on it, so that it could hang over a fire. It seems kind of obvious to me. But then I see being able to actually boil water in it as kind of obvious too.

I was also a little dismayed to see upon taking the bottle out of my pack my first time out with it, that there was a dent in the seam of the bottle. Right where the main walls start to taper up towards the spout. Didn’t recall any sort of rough treatment, didn’t recall slamming into a door jamb, dropping my pack on the floor.

Oh yeah, and then there’s that whole thing of SIGG recently admitting that their BPA free bottles apparently weren’t really BPA free. 

It’s not terrible, but it fell a bit short of my expectations. I think if SIGG had made them in Switzerland instead of farming it out to China, it would have been a much nicer piece.

Here you can see a pouch that I made for it, the Sigg’mups.

I’ve carried this for a few years now, and in that time it has become a bit rattley. The bottle and cup were at one point a fairly snug fit, but I suspect the cup may have deformed slightly to make it so that the two bang against one another when moving. Not a deal breaker, but it does affect my ability to be a super stealthy ninja.