Nomader Water Bottle Review – yeah, we liked it and you will too

Jeremy B

5 years ago

Collapsible Water Bottles are popular right now and when we were given a chance to review the Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle we jumped at it! Here is our detailed Nomader Water Bottle review!

You might be interested in Baiji Bottle Review. The Baiji Bottle is a competitor product to the Nomader – but we don’t like it nearly as much.

Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle Review

The Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle is a popular travel water bottle and so we were extremely enthusiastic about reviewing it. We recently reviewed the Baiji Bottle which we determined was “just ok” – it’s main issue being its flimsiness. As we will discuss below the Nomader does NOT suffer from this problem. It’s a sturdy water bottle that is still supple enough to collapse without too much trouble. It does have a few minor issues, but they are nominal in our opinion. Read on for the full Nomader Review.

Or…click here to check the Amazon Price of the Nomader Water Bottle

How we reviewed the Nomader Bottle

In this Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle Review we deep dive into the ins and outs of this popular travel water bottle. We tested this bottle a variety of different ways including the following:

A week long family road trip to Utah (from Socal)
Two business trips (one to Seattle and one to Nashville)

During these trips we filled, emptied, refilled, rolled up, unrolled, packed, unpacked and cleaned the Nomader. In other words, we put it to the test! Note: we used the “red” model for testing purposes.

Disclosure: Nomader provided a free Water Bottle for us to review. However, no conditions were placed on the review and we were free (as always) to provide our unbiased product review and opinions (which we have!)

Key features and specifications of the Nomader Water Bottle

The principle feature of the Nomader is that it collapses. The premise behind collapsible water bottles is (I guess) that it’s easier to travel with it – particularly when going through airport security where large quantities of liquids cannot be brought through. You can easily collapse the bottle to get through security and then unpack it on the other side, fill it up and save the $7.00 you’d spend on airport water.

Additionally, when done with the water you can easily stow it in your bag for later use. The Nomader is in fact a collapsible water bottle, but it features a sturdier silicone body which, as we discuss in more detail below, results in an improved experience.

Here are the other key specs worth noting:

Made from BPA-free food grade silicone
Includes wrist strap (which doubles as the strap to hold the collapsed bottle in place) for easier portability
Dishwasher safe (I like this feature)
Large mouth (which means it’s easier to fill – and/or add ice cubes)
Freezer safe (also a nice touch)
Size: 2.9 x 2.9 x 10.5 inches
Capacity topped off: 25oz (740mL)
Weight of empty bottle: 7oz (200g)
Diameter (with sleeve): 2.9″ (7.4cm)
Mouth opening: 1.9″ (4.8cm)
Drinking spout opening: 0.9″ (2.3cm)
Rolled-up: 5″ x 4.25″ x 3.75″ (12.7cm x 10.8cm x 9.5cm)
Colors: 11
Cupholder friendly (fits most – including my 2007 Chevy Suburban!)

Click Here to Check the Price on the Nomader Water Bottle

What I liked about the Nomader Water Bottle

There was a lot to like about the Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle. Here are my highlights:

It was not flimsy (quite the opposite!). During our test of the Baiji Bottle we realized that collapsible bottle was too flimsy. The Nomader suffers no such fate. It’s a more robust bottle that still maintains it’s pliability. Sure, it’s bit tougher to roll up than the uber-flimsy Baiji Bottle, but it’s “just right” if you ask us. See the video comparison we did between the Nomader and Baiji Bottle, below:

We liked it’s size. The Nomader is not huge, per se, but it was bigger than the Baiji Bottle we tested (see pic below for side by side comparison). This additional volume ended up mattering on our road trip – less stops to fill up with water.

We liked that it fit easily in the cup holder. As noted, we took the Nomader on a road trip and I stored it in my driver’s door cup holder where it fit easily. Always a plus when a water bottle fits in the cup holder and many times they are too big and bulky and end up flopping around at your feet.

Not a picture of my suburban…but still a nice pic from Nomader of their bottle in a standard sized cup holder

The combo wrist strap / collapsible retaining strap (whatever you call it…) was a nice touch. Compared to the Baiji Bottle which features a very flimsy and unimpressive plastic rubber band (basically) the Nomader features a durable nylon strap. Unfortunately the small plastic clip broke (see below for more info on this).

Click Here to Check the Price on the Nomader Water Bottle

What I didn’t like about the Nomader Bottle

As with all products there’s always a few things you don’t love and while the Nomader was light on negatives it did have a few things – all of which are nominal.

The small clamp used to attach the wrist strap to the bottle top that holds the collapsed bottle in place broke after 5 or 6 uses (see pic, below). It’s plastic and didn’t hold up. That, of course, makes it now impossible to keep the bottle in the collapsed position (it seems like metal would make more sense than plastic).
- We’ve communicated this to the Nomader team. They responded promptly and professionally noting that recently a small batch of bottles had a quality issue of some sort that was causing the clip to break and that I must have gotten one inadvertently. They’ve since rectified the issue, have sent me a new set of bottles and thus far, no breakage. Prompt and appropriate response on their part. Well done. All products typically experience a quality issue or two at some point. How they are dealt with is what’s really important.

The plastic sleeve really isn’t needed in our opinion. There is an adjustable black plastic sleeve that slides up and down the bottle adding a little stability to the bottle. It’s not needed. Frankly the bottle holds up on it’s own. Not a huge deal in our opinion, though.

The Nomader is leak proof – by design. And it truly is. However that means you have to release a small twist cap at the top to then pop off the lid to drink it. This vacuum seal can be a tiny bit annoying when you are used to just thumbing up a lid and gulping. However, this design is intentional and purposeful…it prevents leaks. To change it would fundamentally change the design. This is one of those nits that is totally subjective and I’d still recommend this bottle even with this feature.

Should I buy the Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle

In our humble opinion, the Nomader Collapsible Water Bottle is the best bottle we’ve reviewed so far. It dramatically out performs the Baiji Bottle in almost every way. Assuming they have corrected the minor quality issue on the strap clip, this product and firm will be around for a while – and it’s no wonder it’s ranked so well on product review sites.

Should you buy it? Yeah, we think so. Thumbs up from us here at the CBoardingGroup.com

Click Here to Check the Price on the Nomader Water Bottle on Amazon

Final Thoughts on the Nomader Water Bottle

We thoroughly enjoyed reviewing this collapsible water bottle and putting it through it’s paces. We hope you enjoyed this Nomader Water Bottle Review! Happy Trails and Happy Hydrating.

Do you have a product you’d like us to review? If so, reach out to us on social media and let us know!

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