Who will love this:
Outdoor enthusiasts will love the versatility of this bottle that can grow and adapt to all situations: camping, hiking, mountain biking, Onewheeling, and electric unicycling. With the unique attachments or MODS, the MODL is the Swiss Army knife of water bottles.
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What I think:
The MODL Outdoors water bottle is the biggest step in the evolution of the water bottle.
Most water bottles only do one thing: hold water. The MODL Outdoors water bottle is the most innovative and versatile water bottle that homo sapiens have ever seen and I love it.
In a society obsessed with hydration we have witnessed advancements in water bottle technology include hydration packs like the Camelbak and solid steel, double walled vacuum insulated bottles like Hydroflask.
But these hydration methods are one trick ponies that either deliver water easily while on the go or keep your drinks cold or hot for long periods of time.
MODL is short for modular bottle and it is pronounced like the word “bottle” but with an “M.”
The heart of the system is the soft and flexible silicon water bottle which is unique in that it has two openings at the ends, reinforced with metal. The bottle has flattened walls which makes it easy to rest on its side without worry of it rolling away.
The included end caps of the core water bottle come with what the company calls Life Loops. Life Loops are rubber straps that can be used to attach the water bottle just about anywhere.
I love that I can strap my MODL from both ends of the bottle. This prevents the constant swinging you find with other water bottles that are only clipped from one end onto a backpack.
The included end caps do not include any way to drink directly from the bottle and in its most basic form, to drink from the MODL, you need to unscrew an endcap and drink from it like you would a cup.
This means in order to make the MODL useable and unique, you need to purchase one of their modular attachments which they call MODs. The GO and FLOW kit includes two MODS, the GO MOD and the FLOW MOD.
The GO MOD is a cap with a drinking nozzle MOD which transforms your MODL into a standard water bottle, like a sports bottle.
The FLOW MOD turns MODL into a hydration pack that you can easily strap to your backpack and sip from a flow tube while hiking, biking, or wheeling.
While the Go & Flow Kit is an optional package, I feel that the drinking nozzle and the drinking tube are pretty essential for a more complete experience. At the very least, in my opinion the GO MOD should be included with the basic water bottle.
The PURE MOD attachment is something I recommend to outdoor enthusiasts. This MOD comes with a short piece of tubing and a water filter that will filter out 99.9% of bacteria and protozoa from your water. This is great if you do not have a clean reliable water source on your next adventure.
With the PURE MOD you will never have to worry about packing in water if you have a stream or lake where you will be adventuring. Please note that to use the PURE MOD, you need to have a GO MOD.
As of writing this article the last MOD available on their website is the rinse mod which turns your MODL into a mini shower to rinse off gear, wash hands, or even for a mini shower. This is my least favorite MOD, but I’m sure it could come in handy when backpacking and camping.
The beauty of the MODL Outdoor modular water bottle system is the ability to add and transform the bottle with simple attachments that you can add on later and I’m sure there will be more mods and attachments coming in the future.
The soft silicon body of the MODL adds to its versatility. Because the bottle is so soft and pliable, when empty, you can collapse the bottle down so that it does not take up valuable space when traveling.
The MODL can also double as a pillow, filled with air or water. Remember the water beds of the 90’s? Think of this as a water pillow. In a pinch, it’s actually quite comfy.
The flaws:
The MODL bottle shines because of its modular attachments. The basic bottle by itself requires you to unscrew one of the end caps to access the water. This is a little inconvenient and makes getting the Go & Flow Kit a necessity.
For those reasons, I feel the GO MOD should be included with the basic MODL for the price they are asking.
Another potential flaw I see is with the number of attachments. The risk of losing attachments is high. The bottle does come with a useful mesh bag to keep all your attachments, but minimalists may not like all the spare parts and mods. It reminds me of all the dongles I need for my MacBook Pro: annoying, but handy at the same time.
If you understand the multipurpose nature of this bottle though, you will accept the mods of the MODL and see the usefulness of the attachments as a pro rather than a con.
The final flaw I see with the MODL is the inability to keep cold water cold and hot water hot for long periods of time. To engineer a flexible and versatile bottle, this sacrifice had to be made.
Don’t expect double walls or vacuum sealed insulation with this bottle. Instead, you can expect versatility with your outdoor adventures.
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