Grip’enGo Turns Common Water Bottles Into A Hands-Free Hydration System

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A hydration bladder on your backpack and an accompanying hydration tube is staple gear among hikers, especially if you don’t enjoy having to reach for a bottle and going through the motions every time you need a sip. Problem is, hydration bladders take precious room away from your pack, all while being an absolute pain to fill up while you’re on the go. The Grip’enGo offers hikers and other adventurers a unique alternative.

A bottle-based hydration system, it consists of a bottle cap with an integrated tube that has a bite valve in the end, allowing users to drink off their water bottles hands-free the same way they do off their hydration bladders. That’s right, the darn thing an erstwhile water bottle into a hands-free hydration system that you can use to stay hydrated without taking a break from hiking, cycling, or riding an austroraptor while trying to get away from a T-Rex during chaos at your local Jurassic Park. Or something like that.

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The first-generation of the Grip’enGo is designed to work with standard water bottles. You know, the ones with a mouth similar to the bottled drinks you buy at the local mini-mart (you know, Fiji, Dassani, and all the various Coke products). Yep, you can’t quite use it for your Camelbak and Nalgene bottles for now, although they do plan to release versions for wider-mouth containers down the line.

If the cap looks a bit too big for those bottles, that’s because they added a good amount of grip in there, ensuring you’ll have an easy time screwing it on and off even while your palms are sweaty or you’re soaking wet in the rain. A threaded plug under the cap exterior ensures it grips tightly to the bottle’s mouth and a medical-grade check valve seals everything in, so you’re not likely to experience leaks at any point during use.

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The Grip’enGo comes with a 3.3-foot tube that makes it ideal for backpack use, since the tube should be able to reach your mouth without any problem as long as the bottle is close to your body. And because you’re using bottles, you can simply slip your refreshments on the side pouch of a bag while hiking or slot it in the back pocket of your cycling jersey with the hydration system on, with no need to put it anywhere inside the bag, which could lead to unfortunate leaking that leaves your gear soaked. Yep, definitely hate when that happens.

As for the weight, the whole thing tips the scales at less than an ounce, so any weight added to your pack will be coming from the bottle and the refreshments it holds. And since the cap will work with most small-mouth bottles, you can simply swap in a new bottle as soon as you drink one dry, allowing you to keep the hike going without having to make a full stop.

A Kickstarter campaign is currently running for the Grip’enGo. You can reserve a unit for pledges starting at $22.

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