Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 stars2023 Model Seems Perfect
Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2023
This canteen is exceptional for the price, ($15 black friday deal) and I'm using it more than I expected. The quality of the canvas pouch seems much better than some of the reviews claim, as does the rest of the kit, so I suspect there have been improvements. The canvas is nice and thick with a fleece liner, my snaps were snappy but that can be a hit or miss, I just got lucky most likely. The cup and spork were a nice addition and seem sturdy, I doubt any of this is military grade but for what it is, it's perfect.
One annoyance with canteens overall is the cap springs into your face when drinking but that is easily fixed by removing the plastic tab connecting it. That plastic is flexible so it can be slid into the canvas pouch if I ever wish to use it again for some reason.
As someone who is very sensitive to taste, taste of water too no less, I've found that after a gentle wash with only hot water and shaking, there is no plastic taste at all. I thought I might've needed to include a bit of lemon juice to get past any taste but I never did. It's no different than drinking from a regular water bottle.
My intention was to just have a nice military-esque source of water but with how nicely this all turned out to be, I would happily use it camping or keeping one in an emergency bag. I don't think the metal utensils will hold up in extreme conditions or for regularly boiling water, but they seem to be just fine for eating out of or serving warm meals like oatmeal or soups.
If you're looking for a general purpose canteen for camping or keeping in your car, this is more than perfect. I imagine though, if you're looking for a guaranteed to never fail heavy duty survival tool, it may not hold up to those standards, so you can always just get a more expensive military issue canteen in that case.