Despite The Expense And Requiring A Learning Curve, The Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle Is Awesome!

The Good: Convenient, Durability, Decent capacity, Works well, Replaceable parts
The Bad: EXPENSIVE, Nozzle design
The Basics: The Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle is a durable, expensive bottle for the serious hiker, camper, or worker in a rough and tumble work environment!


Given the work I have been doing of late, my wife has been looking out for me quite a bit. The work I do at nights is very physical and, as a result, keeping me hydrated has become one of my wife’s pet projects. With the inadvertent destruction of my last two filtration bottles at work (sadly, Rubbermaid bottles do not hold up when dropped from a three foot height!), my wife splurged on me with a Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle. Offered in a number of colors, my wife picked up the Graphite bottle for me because of my generally black color scheme for my wardrobe. At a seemingly ludicrous $25 price tag (online) the first big strike against the Camelbak Groove Water Filtration bottle is its price. This is an expensive water bottle, but it makes up some for its initial costliness by the sheer number of parts that can be inexpensively and easily replaced on it.

The Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle is a water bottle with a water filter right in the bottle, which prevents the user from having to use separate devices to filter their water before putting it in their water bottle. The concept is simple and it seems to work well. After years of using the Brita Water Filter, I have found that I am exceptionally sensitive to water quality. If water is not filtered, my body has an adverse reaction. In fact, I can’t drink beverages with ice cubes at most restaurants as a result! So, the closest thing I have to empirical evidence that the Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle actually works to filter water adequately for the past month of use is that I have not had any negative reactions to the water coming out of my bottle when getting tap water at work to fill the bottle!

On a more simple and basic level, where I live now, we have very hard water. When I use the Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle, the water that comes out tastes clean and fresh, without any hints of metal or minerals in the water.

The Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle is a 20 oz. water bottle with a black shaded (though translucent) side with a gray hard plastic loop near the clear rubber nozzle (nipple). The top to the entire bottle is a screw on disc 2 3/4" in diameter, with the water filter on the bottomside projecting down to the bottom of the bottle. The entire Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle is 2 7/8” in diameter and 9" tall to the top of the angled, hard plastic loop.

Access to the main water is another detraction to the Camelbak Groove. The bottle features a translucent plastic nozzle which is essentially a rubber nipple. It folds down into the top of the water bottle and is clearly designed to offer consumers a hands-free experience. Instead of sucking on the top or squeezing the bottle (the sides of the Camelbak Groove are so hard that it is not possible to squeeze the bottle to get water out), the Camelbak Groove features a nipple that is designed to be chewed on. That builds up a pressure and then when one holds the nipple open with their teeth, the water shoots into the mouth.

The issue I have with this is simple; the bottle seems to be designed for hands-free operation, but the nipple is virtually impossible to flip up with only one’s lips and teeth. As a result, the wonderfully sterile dispensing method is easily corrupted by the nozzle design!

To use the Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle, one has to first install the charcoal filter and straw assembly. Fortunately, the directions on the packaging is excellent. The charcoal comes wrapped and needs only to be rinsed for a few seconds before it is usable. Then, place the filter in the straw assembly (which descends from the top of the bottle to the very bottom of the bottle) and twist the straw to the “locked” position. The straw design makes it so that the user can only get water from the bottle when the bottle is in the upright position, as opposed to the common, tip upside down and squeeze method. The result is that the Camelbak Groove requires a bit of a learning curve for most bikers, hikers and campers to use it initially.

Fortunately, the Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle’s filters are very easy to find. As well, the nozzle and straw assembly are replaceable, so the main bottle will easily outlast most of its parts. Having dropped my Camelbak Groove several times in the past month, I can attest to the fact that this is a very durable waterbottle! It has not chipped, cracked or had any issues with the top coming off (which cannot be said of the Rubbermaid bottle I replaced with the Camelbak Groove).

The Camelbak Groove Water Filtration Bottle is a good idea that seems to be executed very well, making it worth the price for those very serious about getting water, filtered, from any source!

For other water-filtering products, please visit my reviews of:
Waechtersbach Fun Factory II 28-ounce Black Teapot
Rubbermaid FilterFresh Water Filtration Bottle
Brita Oceania Water Filter Pitcher

8/10

For other kitchen product reviews, please visit my Kitchen Products Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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For Normal Or Emergency Lighting, The Meridian LED Work Light Works!

The Good: Bright, steady light, Durable, Inexpensive
The Bad: Not rechargeable, Does not come with batteries
The Basics: As a basic emergency or project light, the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light fits the bill!


A few months ago, power at my apartment went out and while I had an out – yea, night job! – my wife was going to be stuck in a dark house. This was not a tenable position for us, to be without power indefinitely and for her to be stuck without light, and I was very grateful for two things at the time. The first was that we had not yet started watching Doctor Who (the vashta narada do not make life easier!). The second was that we had enough money for some portable, emergency lighting to fill the apartment with illumination after the sun went down. In addition to the Coleman LED lantern (reviewed here!), we picked up a Meridian 11313 LED Work Light.

The Meridian 11313 LED Work Light is an electric touch light, much like the “tap lights” advertised on television. The battery-powered disc light was a good basic light that had some features that made it more comforting during the crisis than a standard flashlight. In addition to a powerful magnet and mounting holes, that allowed us to us to use the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light for hands-free operations (which came in handy when cooking at the stove in the otherwise dark apartment!), the light was brighter and had better dispersion than a standard flashlight. Locally available at a $5.99 + tax, purchasing the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light during our emergency was a good way to supplement the more expensive lantern we purchased at the same time. Part of the reason for the low cost, though, was the fact that the light does not come with the four AA batteries it required to operate.

The Meridian 11313 LED Work Light is a simple disk light only 2” thick at the peak of the dome by 5 1/2” in diameter. Colored in simple, sleek and futuristic looking silver and white, the LED work light features an apparently flat (or slightly curved) LED light. The back of the LED Work Light is black, flat and has the battery compartment, two mounting slots and a decent magnet that allows the Work Light to be positioned at any angle (including upside down).

Activated simply by pressing the white button on the face of the light, the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light is very easy to use. With the press of the button, the LED Work Light bursts to life with bright, soft light. According to the package, the LED Work Light produces light in the 50 Lumen range. In practical terms, that means it produces a field of light bright enough to read in approximately five feet in diameter by four feet tall. Beyond that, the lantern illuminates, but with a softer, weaker light that does little more than dispel the darkness. The LED Work Light remained lit constantly for two full nights (thirteen hours each night) during our emergency diminishing at all.

Installing the 4 AA batteries is simple as the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light has a standard battery compartment on the back. The magnet is strong enough that it allows the LED Work Light to stick reliably to any steel surface (and there was, apparently, enough steel in our refrigerator to allow the light to stick to that). At least as importantly, the LED Work Light seems durable (we knocked it around in the dark several times) and because it fits in small places it is a decent portable light source for projects in dark corners of one’s house. While we use ours more for emergencies, the Meridian 11313 LED Work Light is a good portable light source for work projects, camping, or automotive use and is enough to keep the vashta narada at bay!

For other battery-powered electronics, please visit my reviews of:
Fuji FinePix A200 digital camera
Sony RM-YD002 remote control
SONY ICD-BX700 Digital Voice Recorder

7.5/10

For other home and garden equipment reviews, please visit my Home And Garden Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2014 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Great In A Pinch, The Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern Works Great (But Coleman Makes You Pay For It!).

The Good: Wonderful, reliable light, Fairly durable, Rechargeable nature, Comes fully charged
The Bad: Comparatively expensive
The Basics: Coleman’s 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern is a worthwhile investment, though it is expensive!


A few days ago, the first big snow of the season hit Michigan and rather oddly, a day after the biggest storms ripped through the state, the power went out in my apartment. Because my wife and I live in a low priority area of Michigan, it took days for us to get the power back (boo, food spoilage!) and the entire couple of days ended up being incredibly expensive for us. One of the big expenses in those two and a half days was the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern. While I was both content to use candles and flashlights (and, to be fair, I spent my nights at work where it was pretty brightly lit), my wife has a decent need for brightly lit spaces and to keep the whole uncertain time from becoming a much more traumatic incident for her, we invested in the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern.

The Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern is an electric lantern, instantly reminiscent of the propane lanterns one might use while camping. The advantage of the electric lantern, of course, is that one does not accrue the expense of propane tanks and there are no fumes generated by the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern. Locally available at a hefty $45.99 + tax, purchasing the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern during our emergency felt like an act of financial rape by Coleman (one fails to believe that even this dependable, brightly lit lantern is worth that much). Ultimately, the reason we shelled out that much for it (in addition to not being able to wait for a less expensive version of it to arrive from an online store) was that, despite the packaging not mentioning it explicitly, the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern is one of the few rechargeable LED lanterns that has a rechargeable cartridge that comes fully charged! That means the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern is usable right out of the box.

The Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern is a foot tall (when the rotating handle is up) by 5 1/8” in diameter. Colored in the traditional Coleman olive green and black, the LED lantern features a 3” tall by 1” in diameter cylinder LED light. The handle at the top rotates down for easy storage and rotates up so it may be carried easily.

Activated to one of two settings (Low or High) by the turn of a dial on the front of the lantern’s base, the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern lights up with soft light. Both settings produce bright, soft light. According to the box and manual, the difference between the Low and High settings is the difference between 100 and 190 Lumens. In practical terms, this is the difference between fifteen and twenty feet of light. The light is bright enough to easily read by and for our apartment living room (15 by 20 feet), both settings are bright enough for us to read by in the dark, from pretty much anywhere in the room. The lantern remained lit for two full nights (thirteen hours each night) during our emergency without burning out.

The rechargeable battery pack for the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern is easily accessed through the bottom of the lantern. While it may be charged while in the lantern, there are two clips that allow the battery pack to be detached and charged in a standard wall socket. It took fourteen hours for it to recharge. Coleman makes it easy to tell when the battery is charged because the light on the battery turns green. The Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern comes with the cord needed to recharge the battery.

The Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern seems durable (we knocked it around in the dark several times) and the clear lantern face around the bulb has not been scratched or cracked. Well worth picking up before one needs it, the Coleman 2000008547 Rechargeable LED Lantern is a good emergency supply or camping lantern that is safe for indoor and outdoor use and provides useful light to keep one feeling safe and happy.

For other home and garden products or rechargeable electronics, please visit my reviews of:
Scrubbing Bubbles 2 in 1 Kitchen & Dish Sponge
Max Pen 521A 2 in 1 Sharpener
Energizer Recharge AA/AAA Charger

8/10

For other home and garden equipment reviews, please visit my Home And Garden Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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