The Best Way to Carry Cold Water on Road Trips
Taking a car trip in the summer?
Buy Thermos flasks1 that fit into your car’s bottle holders. I’ve found the Cello Vigo
to fit in my Ritz, and it should fit in your car, too2. If you’re not sure, stick to this size. This holds 500 ml, which isn’t enough even for one person, so buy as many flasks as your car has bottle holders. Buy steel Thermos flasks, not plastic or dark-colored ones, since the latter two can get hot to the touch.
Before leaving, fill them with cold water. It remains cold as long as 12 hours3.
In addition to cold water, carry some cool water. In other words, water that is cooler than room temperature but not as cold as fridge water.
If you have a throat problem and don’t want to drink cool water, fill the flasks with room temperature water. They’ll remain that way for hours, rather than warming up.
Want more summer tips?
I wouldn’t buy a car fridge. I couldn’t find a single model on Amazon with trustworthy reviews and a reasonable price. I tried a thermoelectric fridge, but it only made water cool, not cold (unlike a home fridge). That’s not good enough when I’m out in the summer sun. Even that minimal cooling takes 2-3 hours (unlike a home fridge, which cools in under an hour). Often, by the time I’ve parked, the car fridge hasn’t cooled the water, so I can’t take it out with me. When I return, the water is warm because the cooling stopped while the car was off. So we’re back to square one. Before it can cool, I’ve often parked again — so it never cools. The manual even recommends chilling the water at home, then transferring the water to the car fridge to maintain its temperature. It also takes up so much space that the front passenger loses legroom. I tried placing it in the back seat, but the cable isn’t long enough. Besides, It’s tall and thin and topples when I quickly turn, brake or accelerate. For all these reasons, I wouldn’t buy a car fridge.
I also wouldn’t rely on Bisleri bottles. Even if frozen at home before the trip, the water doesn’t stay cold as long as it does in a Thermos flask. And then it gets too warm. By contrast, Thermos flasks retain water at a drinkable and cold temperature for a long time. Frozen bottles also wet your car.
I wouldn’t put water bottles on the seat, on the floor, or under the passenger seat, because they keep rolling from side to side, which is annoying.
Some cars have wider bottle holders, but this Thermos flask, which has a 7 cm base, fits any.
Just because a Bisleri bottle fits into a bottle holder doesn’t mean a Thermos flask of the same width will. Bisleri bottles are flexible and squeeze into tighter spaces.
Check each bottle holder — in my Ritz, for example, the driver door holds a thinner flask than the passenger door or the center console.
If you already have a wider flask, put it in the glove compartment, but don’t buy such a wide one, because it will be inconvenient.
To keep water cold longer, precondition the flask: pour a little cold water, screw the cap, shake the flask, and drain it out. The water will be warm, so don’t retain it in the flask or use it to precondition another flask.
Don’t put ice into Thermos flasks, whether alone or with water, since it will hit the walls and damage the flask over time.