Ever Vessel Mini Review

Here at Pack Hacker, we talk a lot about proper hydration. Basically, the better hydrated you are, the less likely you are to suffer from jet lag or get sick on vacation. It’s not a silver bullet, mind you, but it’s one of the tools we use to stay healthy as we travel the world. It’s also a killer cure for hangovers—before, during, and after your fun.

Lugging around a huge water bottle isn’t always the easiest thing to do, though, so we were intrigued when we pulled the 14-ounce Ever Vessel Mini out of its cute cardboard tube. Sure, it has aesthetics going for it, and we love the Mint colorway we’ve been carrying around, but would we miss the lack of insulation and capacity? Spoiler alert: the answer is it depends! Have we piqued your interest? Well, read on for the lowdown on this slim hydration solution.

The Rundown

The Ever Vessel Mini is made with 18/8 stainless steel, plastic, and silicone. You’ll see those materials used in many travel water bottles, but Ever Vessel points out that the BPA-free food grade polypropylene #5 (aka, plastic) is only used for the screw thread on the lid and never touches your drink. The gasket keeping the lid from leaking is food-grade silicone, and the stainless steel is food-grade, as well, which is definitely a plus when it comes to something that’s going to touch your drink. To be clear, we’ve never encountered a bottle manufacturer that didn’t use food-grade materials; it’s really the fact that no plastic will touch your drink that’s setting the Ever Vessel Mini apart from the crowd here.

The outside of the stainless steel is an acrylic-based powder coat that’s free from toxic chemicals and designed to last. We’ve been sipping from our bottle for a couple of weeks, and there’s not a scratch, scuff, or dent to show for it. We’ve not had the misfortune to drop it yet, but it’s likely to happen eventually, and we’ll be sure to update the Usage Timeline if something mars the exterior.

There’s not much branding to detract from the colorway, either, just the small V Ever Vessel icon in silver on the bottom front. All the other pertinent details are printed on the inside of the cap to keep pesky requirements like printing where a product is made and by whom from messing with the clean lines of this tiny bottle.

As for the cap itself, it’s a simple screw top, and you open it to take a sip from the lip of the bottle. While there’s no spout, the rounded top edges of the stainless steel make it a pleasant drinking experience. We found this lightweight bottle to be a perfect gym companion, but we have to say that’s the only time the sip may be less than stellar; if you’re power walking or running on the treadmill, you might slosh some down your front—we did. So keep that in mind and try to drink clear fluids when you know you’ll be active, saving your blue raspberry Mio drops for times when you know you’ll be able to take care with your drink. Ever Vessel sells a straw attachment separately, which would make mid-workout sips easier and less likely to spill, so you might want to pick up that accessory if you often need a quick drink and don’t want to use two hands to unscrew the cap. They also sell whisk balls you can pop inside to mix up your post-workout protein shake so you can customize your bottle to be your gym BFF.

You can also pick your favorite color from a wide selection ranging from muted neutrals to bold primaries. If you’re concerned about someone grabbing your favorite hue, you can also opt to customize the bottle with laser-engraved personalization. There are a ton of ways to claim this bottle as your own without covering it in stickers—although you can totally do that, too. We don’t judge.

However, we find the Mini great in the gym because it fits so nicely in the treadmill’s cupholder. Its slender size makes it easy to grab and hold, and its light weight also means that when your arms are burning from bicep curls, you won’t feel it while trying to catch your breath and drink.

However, most hotel and chain gyms have temperature controls, which is key to our recommendation. The Ever Vessel Mini is super lightweight because of its single-walled construction. That means it lacks any built-in insulation, and Ever Vessel says it’s best for ambient (room) temperature beverages with a maximum temperature of 110 F or 45 C. That means that the outside of the bottle gets quite cold when you fill it with water from the refrigerator and actually gets hot to the touch if you fill it with boiling water, which we did to see what happened. The bottle itself can hold up to the heat, but your fingers can’t.

So, the Ever Vessel Mini is really best for when you want a little hydration and don’t want to be weighed down by a heavy insulated water bottle. Fourteen ounces doesn’t last very long, so you’ll want to be sure you’re near refill stations and not hiking for hours. Of course, if you’re hauling a huge water container on your hike and just want something to drink from instead of the spigot, it would work for that.

Packability

While it doesn’t have the largest capacity or any insulation, it is extremely packable. We’ve had no issue stashing it in slings, purses, cup holders, and even the smallest backpack bottle pockets (ahem, Fjallraven Kanken, ahem). That makes it extremely easy to carry wherever you go, from sporting events to museums to downtown shopping districts.

Along with bringing it along on our daily indoor workout, we enjoyed tucking it into a purse for an athletic event so we didn’t have to climb down the bleachers and fight the line at the concession stand, though we were happy to find a water refill station available since, again, 14 ounces doesn’t go too far. Ever Vessel sells larger bottles with built-in insulation if you need your drink to stay cold and won’t be near a refill station, but they weigh more and take up more space, so you won’t have an easy time tucking them into tight spaces the way you can the Mini.

Quick Comparison

With guides to the best glass water bottles, collapsible water bottles, insulated water bottles, and more, plus dozens of full travel bottle reviews, we’ve tried our share of water bottles. Along the way, there are a few we—or at least this tester—keep coming back to time and again. So it only seems appropriate to see how the Ever Vessel Mini stacks up to a Pack Hacker Pick like the Vapur Eclipse Water Bottle and perhaps the OG you think of when you see the word “water bottle,” the Hydro Flask Standard-Mouth Water Bottle 21 oz.

While the Mini isn’t collapsible or compressible, it definitely takes up less space than a larger insulated bottle like the Hydro Flask. That makes sense, considering the Hydro Flask has 7 ounces more capacity and double-wall insulation. Of course, it also weighs 11.3 ounces (320.3 g), nearly double the Ever Vessel Mini’s 6.35 ounces (180 g). Both bottles come with screw-top caps, but you can purchase a straw lid for either, although Hydro Flask’s will seal while Ever Vessel’s will not.

On the other hand, a truly collapsible bottle like the Vapur Eclipse offers 1L capacity in a package that weighs just 1.59 ounces (45.1 g), a fraction of the weight of the Ever Vessel. However, drinking from the polyethylene and nylon container is more like drinking from a Capri Sun if you remember those juice pouches from childhood. So, while it rolls up to be tiny and weighs next to nothing, it’s not as comfortable to drink from as the Mini—it can accidentally shoot the drink out of its top if you squeeze it, which won’t happen with the Ever Vessel.

So, if you’re looking for something super lightweight and don’t need your drink to stay super cold for hours, the Ever Vessel Mini is definitely a good option to consider. It’s easy to squeeze in tight places and won’t weigh you down, which means you won’t have an excuse for being dehydrated.