We Tested the Efficiency of CamelBak Podium Bottles

We all know how important hydration is before, during, and after any physical activity. And there’s nothing better than drinking cold water!

You’ve probably had that unpleasant experience of grabbing your bottle or hydration system, expecting refreshingly cold water, and ending up with something that feels more like tea. But this can be minimized depending on the equipment you’re using!

There are many bottles on the market made from different materials and with different thermal insulation systems. This time, here at Gear Tips Lab, we tested the efficiency of CamelBak Podium bottles.

We decided to compare 3 bottles from the same brand, precisely to show that there are different equipment designs for the same purpose, but that will perform differently depending on the technologies used—which also impacts the price of each of these items.

We conducted a comparative test between the Podium, Podium Chill, and Podium Ice bottles, all from the CamelBak Bike line, with exactly the same volume: 620 ml. The size difference between the bottles is due to the quantity and type of thermal insulation.

The Gear Tips Lab setup to evaluate the CamelBak Podium, Podium Chill, and Podium Ice bottles

One of the biggest challenges in comparing gear is ensuring consistent testing conditions throughout the experiment—especially ambient temperature. It’s very common to see people criticizing one bottle and comparing it to another, but they were used on different days and, more importantly, in different conditions. In that case, the comparison is not valid.

Therefore, it was necessary to define specific parameters to be followed during testing, so the results could be validated and replicated.

The test was carried out with all 3 bottles simultaneously, so that both the initial water temperature and average ambient temperature were the same.

Additionally, we used the following Gear Tips Lab equipment:

In the image below, you can see the temperature evolution graph over time. The initial temperature in all 3 bottles was 1.6 ºC, and the experiment ran until all bottles reached 20 ºC.

Comparative Graph between CamelBak Podium, Podium Chill, and Podium Ice Bottles

The initial water temperature was 1.6 ºC and the average ambient temperature was 25 ºC. The experiment lasted 7 hours and 1 minute.

The graph clearly shows the difference in temperature rise among the 3 bottles. As expected, the Podium Ice had the best performance, thanks to the thermal insulation made with AeroGel.

To reach a temperature of 10 ºC, the Podium bottle took 42 minutes. The Podium Chill took 1h 16min and the Podium Ice took 1h 42min.

To reach the final experiment temperature of 20 ºC, the Podium took 2h 44min. The Podium Chill took almost twice as long: 4h 12min, and the Podium Ice took 5h 37min.

The conclusion is clear: the different types of thermal insulation make a difference in bottle performance. Soon, we’ll be comparing other similar bottles! Want to suggest one? Leave a comment!

Watch the video about this experiment on our YouTube channel!

This post is also available in: Português (Portuguese (Brazil)) Español (Spanish)