Behold the Nalgene

I can’t go too hard roasting the popularity of the Stanley Cup.  Not La Coupe Stanley awarded to the NHL champion at the end of each season (go wings, go devils), but the Quencher H2.0 Flowstate Tumbler 40oz mug sold by Stanley 1913.  If you aren’t familiar with the popularity of this mug, just go anywhere that people convene, and they’ll start to appear.  The Stanley Cup is like cheese to mouse, sucking status seekers into a $45 trap.  Way to go Stanley!  What a comeback for the makers of the classic green Pendleton thermal bottle.  My grandpa and dad lived off the coffee kept warm by those bottles.  It’s an iconic bottle, and that’s what Stanley was…an icon!  Like other blue-collar brands that made the jump into the mainstream (looking at you Carhart) Stanley is capitalizing on a completely unpredictable and meteoric rise in popularity.  It’s fun to imagine my grandpa heading to work at the GM plant in his dungarees, carrying his Stanley bottle, being the envy of influencers everywhere. 

Believe me I really want to roast the people who have become obsessed with this cup, but I can’t, for two reasons!  

1. Go Stanley, you’ve been around for over 100 years, I’m happy you have another #1 hit, you deserve it.  These cups can literally last a lifetime, and if folks hold onto them for a lifetime, then that is a plus for the environment. 
2. Climbers have no room to talk when it comes to being on a bottle bandwagon.  Go to any climbing gym or any crag anywhere in the world, and you’ll find busted, old, crusty, Nalgene bottles covered in stickers laying around all over the place.

The Nalgene bottle, and the stickers that cover them!  We all (climbers) have ‘em!

I have a philosophy bottle from Powell’s bookstore in Portland with a sticker of a beard that  says “ALL GOOD BEARDS ARE WILD AND FREE”, a sticker of a mountain that says “KEEP ON CLIMBING” and a theDIHEDRAL¹ sticker.  I should probably have more, but I like the philosophy graphics on the bottle, so didn’t want to cover them up.  You can find out a lot about a person by checking out their water bottle sticker collection.  Anything from brand loyalty to political affiliation, band loyalty to food preferences, favorite color to favorite climbing gym, these days there is a sticker for just about anything! 

Regarding stickers, High-Clip and I thought we could offer a little sticker advice for any new climbers, new bottle holders, and even those in the cult of Stanley who would prefer a $3 sticker over a $57 engraving.

Carrot

It goes without saying, that the #1 sticker recommendation is a theDIHEDRAL sticker, so we’ll just accept that as the Word, and move on to what makes for a great Nalgene sticker collection. Most climbers’ favorite stickers are what we like to call free, but we’re just offering recommendations, and so we can afford to be a little discriminatory when it comes to style and cost.  My recommendations for making any water bottle drip with rizz are as follows.

1. Support a local company.  Everyone knows REI, they don’t need more free advertisement on your bottle’s limited real estate.  Slim Pickins Outfitters is a local independent black owned outfitter in Stephenville, TX.  That is a sticker worth having.
2. Represent!  If you’re a climber, find something that represents your style, if you’re a biker, or a hiker, or a figure skater, do the same. Salomé Aubert has some of the coolest climbing stickers I’ve ever seen.
3. Brands.  The Tenaya Mundaka is my favorite climbing shoe, it’s perfect for the way that I climb, feel no shame in promoting your favs!
4. Bands.  When it comes to repping a band, there is a whole list of faux pas, my advice is to ignore them, and just stick what you like.  Band art should have some weight in your decision, but if you love T. Swift, then go with T. Swift.  If you love t-pain, then go with t-pain.  I’d go with a Descendents sticker or a Primus sticker if we’re basing it strictly on style. 
5. Represent II.  No one person is just one thing.  You may climb, but you are also _______.  Toss up your freak flag to salute those other parts of life.  If you’re an activist, then activate.  If you’re a philosopher, then philosovate. If you’re a dog lover then salivate (this was a poor attempt at bringing in some classic pavlovian humor).  The point being if you’re a _________, then __________ivate!  

High-Clip

As Carrot said, the clear winner is theDIHEDRAL sticker. I mean, there’s just no competition there. BUT, if there were a competition, I suppose there are a couple of cool ones in the game.

1. Unhinged. There’s nothing quite like a sticker that keeps everyone scratching their heads. If you have the most wild, the most insane, the most nonsensical sticker in the world on your Nalgene, what more could you possibly need to exude how quirky you are? I mean, Nalgenes are already so unique, but there’s no reason to stop there.
2. Nerdy. Everyone loves a solid NASA sticker. But as before, why stop there? Certainly you must be some kind of nerd, so you may as well just own it and see if anyone gets your niche sticker. Maybe you’re not the craziest cat out there.
3. Events. First of all, events may help you support local business and/or brands as Carrot mentioned. Secondly, they’re excellent talking points. For example, I have a Hotter Than Chicken sticker. What is that? A climbing competition at a gym in Nashville. This naturally leads to questions about the chickens’ involvement, and before you know it you’re in a conversation for 10 minutes about your favorite sport and a cool place. Great get-to-know-you type stuff right there.
4. Pretty. Not everything needs a story or a purpose. Maybe you see a sticker and think, wow, that’s really pretty. Maybe it’s a mountain range, a river, or some random colors. Whatever it is, if you like looking at it, add it to the Nalgene. What else will you stare at when you get bored?
5. Haiku. There are plenty of cool stickers with fun phrases, but again, why stop there? Engage your creativity and write a haiku out of 3 sticker phrases that work. Then it’s like making a custom sticker out of stickers. Then the Nalgene is truly yours.

1. We have a few extra theDIHEDRAL Stickers available, so if you have a spot on your bottle, and would like one, then hit us up on IG or email, with a US address, and we’ll send one out to you no cost.