Coleman FreeFlow AUTOSEAL Stainless Steel Water Bottle, 40oz., Caribbean Sea

The media could not be loaded. This bottle has replaced the 20 oz screw-top and chug-top bottles I used to keep by my bed. It's about to replace the one I tend to take when driving my car.I have several stainless steel insulated bottles of various sizes and with various lids. I try to avoid using ones with silicone spouts or straws because they're a pain to clean properly. This one is easy to clean despite the more technical lid. (The bottom has to be washed by hand, but the lid can go in the dishwasher. I prefer to handwash both, and it's not hard. Instructions are included with bottle to explain how to thoroughly clean it.)I tend to get thirsty at night, and I have to take medications at bedtime and first thing in the morning. So, I usually keep a smaller bottle right beside my bed for this reason.Problems with other bottles: I've knocked over cups one too many times, or had dust from my bedside lamp fall into them. So, those were a no-go. I really don't want to struggle with the weight of a 32 or 40 oz bottle just to take a sip of water in the middle of the night. Plus, the large clunking of the bottle as I set it on my bedside table tends to wake up my significant other. Also, large bottles just take up too much space for such a simple task. I thought I found my best options with some 20 oz bottles - one with a screw off lid and the other with one of the more narrow screw open chug-top lids. But there have been way too many times I didn't sit up far enough when the bottles were full, and I spilled a bunch of water all over myself. It's not fun to be startled awake by freezing cold water.Then I saw this bottle online and decided to give it a try. I LOVE IT. (It's just as great for avoiding accidental spills while driving or walking.)I got the 24 oz version, which is the perfect size for keeping by my bed. The bottle is surprisingly lightweight. It also fits in my car cup holder without rattling around or standing up too tall. I haven't had any leakage issues... even while this bottle was rolling around my car floor, laying sideways in my purse, or laying beside me in bed all night.Basically, this is a bottle you can sip from without the need for a straw attachment. By no means are you limited to little "sips" at a time. Water will flow from the mouth opening as it would from a small water bottle. You just don't have the risk of accidentally dumping water onto your face or lap. The mouth piece opening is smaller than that of a disposable water bottle, but it doesn't require any suction to pour out. The water flow is decent for normal drinking (it doesn't stop up, either)... but it's not really adequate for desperate chugging after a long run or when you're otherwise feeling severely dehydrated. (At that point, just unscrew the top and have at it. The rim of the bottle is smooth enough to drink from like a cup.)In order to drink from this thing, you just do the following:1.) Push the small metal locking button that's located just below the handle when the handle is laid flat. (You can skip this step if you leave the bottle unlocked, which I usually do when it's just sitting on a table or resting in my cup holder. If you leave it in the locked position, step 3 won't work... which is how this thing is extra leak-proof AND spill-proof.)2.) Flip open the dust cover with your thumb or finger. It latches shut tight and seals all around the mouth piece, but it opens easily one-handed with a little pressure from your thumb. The dust cover doesn't prevent leakage (though, it might slow it down some if something were to malfunction in the lide). It basically just keeps your mouth-piece clean.3.) Put the bottle to your mouth like you're about to drink. (No water should come out yet because the inside of the mouth opening is automatically sealed shut.) Push and hold the large button on the back of the lid to open the seal and release water. Now you can drink. And when your done, just release the button to stop the flow of water. (You can then close the dust cover and/or push the locking button if you want. But once you've released the large button on the back of the lid, the bottle opening is technically closed. No water comes out. The tiny locking button below the handle just prevents the larger button from being pushed in and releasing water.)I particularly like this bottle for use in my bed because if I only push the water release button with minimal pressure, I can kind of limit the flow. It's a little tricky to figure out at first because the button is not very sensitive. You really need a certain amount of force to open the seal (which isn't much force at all). I also like that I can release the button if I feel like I'm about to accidentally spill water all over myself. I do that way too often. The worst that will happen is a couple drops might sprinkle on me.I just bought a second bottle to mostly use in my car. Mainly, because it's not only "leak-proof," but "spill-proof," too. No more questionable coffee stains on my lap.I want to purchase the 40 oz version, but I've seen a lot of complaints about the handle breaking after a short period. Apparently, Coleman doesn't make replacement lids for these bottles. I don't carry the smaller bottle by the handle often since it's narrow enough that my average sized, adult female hands can grip it just fine. But I think a handle would be useful on a 40 oz.I'm going to checkout Coleman's "limited lifetime guarantee" on their website. If their offer seems good, I'll probably get the larger bottle, too. I seem to accidentally spill water on myself most often with 40 oz bottles.*I've included a video that hopefully helps others to understand how the leak/spill proof, locking lid works.

I am the queen of water bottles. I have all brand from cheap to expensive. I bought this one to take overseas. It was cheap and I thought if I lose it or it breaks no big deal. This is THE BEST water bottle in the world! Tough a nails, works as it should and easy to hold. I love that it's seals tight and has a small handle for carrying. It also has a flip back cap to cover the drinking spout. I take it to the casino and guard it like gold. I have the 40oz too. I also have this in lime green, black and the turquoise color and thinking of ordering more to just have. It's great for camping and outdoor use. No bugs are crawling down a straw or into a small opening on this bottle. The seal is tight and it's easy to hold. Doesn't get heavy like all the others. The 40oz can be cumbersome when filled but the smaller size is perfect. I keep buying more thinking eventually it will break but it hasn't at all. Plus I'm scared they will quit making them so I'm stocking up for the next 40 years! QUALITY and keeps cold for days. Come on Coleman send me some for free. I need them!

Love it! Works perfectly with no spillage due to the perpetual closing of the drinking opening. I like that you can cover the area where you are drinking from if you choose. Keeps my liquids cold for hours even in hot sun on the golf course. It is the perfect size to fit in my car and golf cart. I like that I can pour ice into it by screwing off the whole top part. It may be a problem if you have a big nose when drinking. It's a Coleman so I trusted it and it delivered! My only worry is cleaning. It doesn't have a straw which avoids the cleaning/fungus build up.

Most people will rate their purchases within the first few days or weeks of ownership. Unfortunately that doesn't reveal much about the longevity of the product being reviewed.My review for this is being shared after owning the 40oz bottle for almost 5 years.My opinion? You MUST buy this bottle. Nothing else will come close to the quality and longevity for the price.I use this bottle and spout literally every day. The spout mechanism is probably the best design I've ever seen. It's more complicated than most other lids/spouts out there, but dang, the engineers who designed this absolutely nailed it.It simply works and it doesn't leak (there are two caveats I will get to on this later) from the spout like pretty much every other water bottle I've owned. Even nearly 5 years later and a ton of abuse, this thing stays leak-free the majority of the time.The insulated metal body is also quite a rock star here. Hot drinks stay hot. Cold drinks stay cold. It's also incredibly durable as well.While most of the time, it's this bottle is used in relatively mundane environments like at home or office, both the bottle and cap/spout have proved to be exceptionally durable and have withstood *a lot* of abuse, such as being tossed in the back of military tactical vehicles where it bounces around, banging into everything. This bottle has also handled drops from less than 10 feet onto concrete and asphalt and drops greater than 10 feet onto softer surfaces such as gravel roads/dirt. Not just once either. It's handled such falls quite a number of times, with one falling lid first from about 5 feet when it was full 40oz of water.The metal body does not seem to care about falls. Heck, the paint barely seems to care either.As complicated as the spout mechanism is, it's very easy to clean with a dish brush and dish soap. The bottle says to hand-wash only, but I toss both it and the lid in the dishwasher and nothing bad seems to have happened. Your mileage may vary though.In terms of the occasional leaks, I've found this can happen from two different reasons. The first is not twisting the lid back on completely. If it's a bit lose, it will leak from the neck (this is a weird sounding sentence). The solution is to just make sure you tighten it more.The next leak area is the spout. I should preface by saying leaks from here have been *exceptionally* rare, at least for me.When it does happen, it's usually because the silicone seal isn't fully seated due to dirt or the button was pushed a small bit.The solution here is to make sure you keep the silicone seal clean and inspect it for damage whenever you clean it. If everything looks fine, but it still leaks, then the button might be slightly jammed open or the mechanism wasn't realigned properly. This will make more sense once you have it in your hands and look at everything.Another cause for leaks is if it's full of hot drinks (or if you fill it and then go onto an airplane). The steam and/or pressure change will pressurize everything. Normally this would improve the seal, but there have been cases where it leaked a little from some part of the bottle. The solution is to keep the bottle upright and release the pressure by pushing the button thing.Finally, in one of the pictures I posted, you can see the carry handle is broken and the spout cover lid is cracked. The cracked spout cover was caused by a 5 foot fall straight-straight down onto concrete while being filled with water. It only cracked the lid. The marks around the hinge were from me trying to remove the lid (to try replacing it, but I failed).The broken carry handle happened literally yesterday (from the day this review is being posted). The handle was up and it fell onto ceramic tile handle first. The bottle was full with water. I don't think anything except metal or TPU/rubber would have survived that impact. The fact this happened nearly 5 years after owning it, this sort of thing was bound to happen and can't be blamed on the build quality. It's also possible that cleaning everything in the dishwasher made it a bit more brittle over time. Who knows.So yes. This is a very long review that rates the product after 5 years of daily use. The conclusion is that it does exactly what it needs to do, is exceptionally durable, and all at a very good price.