It has happened to lots of people: your favorite local band goes big time and suddently EVERYONE loves them (but you loved them first!) or you buy a pair of shoes that are totally unique and then some star wears them and EVERYONE now has a pair… When something we love, for its uniquness or for its utility, beomes popular in the mainstream we tend to get jealous or resentful.

I have a similar story. ***Nalgene|http://www.nalgene-outdoor.com/*** water bottles have been around since the 70’s and have been very popular with the hiking/camping/backpacking crowd. They are extremely durable, fairly lightweight, have a loop to hang them from your bag and are all around great.

I bought my 32 ounce, wide mouthed bottle in 1999 when I was preparing to backpack through ***The Three Sisters|http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/north_america/three_sisters.html*** in central Oregon. I discovered then what other hikers had known for decades…that this was a perfect camping water bottle. Definately worth the 5 bucks I paid for it and destined to be a fixture on my future camping trips. Upon returning to civilization (read: spring semester, 2000, Gordon College) I realized, in horror, that they had become an uber trendy way for college kids to carry water around campus! Imagine my shock. I still wanted to use it, but kept is somwhat out of sight, lest I appear to be riding the bandwagon.

Now, six years later, my bottle has seen better days… It still has the original “wolf” logo and ounce markings- but they are wearing away. The masking tape lable reading: LOWE is quickly disintegrating and I’ve had to replace the blue cap due to an unfortunate incident with the dishwasher. All in all, however, it has served me well over the years and has become a world traveler first to Bolivia and then to Russia. Who could ask for more from a water bottle.

This past weekend, my trusty Nalgene got an upgrade. I laid down $2.99 of my hard earned cash and purchased a ***splash guard|http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=32128927&memberId=12500226***. This fantastic little piece of plastic slides right into the wide mouth of the bottle and keeps me from pouring half the contents right down the front of my shirt. The last few days, I have enjoyed nice dry drinking conditions, whether I’m at my desk, climbing the 5 stories of stairs in the office, or riding the commuter rail. I can only imagine how well it will work when we’re out hiking this summer.

Maybe now I’ll finally upgrade the masking tape to read: WOOD