Camelbak Better Bottle Cap Leak

My Camelbak Better Bottle cap developed an annoying leak. With the nozzle in the open position, everything works as designed, but when the nozzle is flipped to the closed position, the contents leak out around the nozzle base. I wasn’t quite sure how the mechanics worked, so I took the cap apart with a security Torx bit, and found that instead of a system of seals, the valve utilized what amounted to pinching off the flow like kinking a garden hose. A short section of flexible hose runs between the cap and nozzle, and when the nozzle is flipped down, the hose is bent at a right angle and pinched shut. This is where the failure on mine occurred. The hose developed a perforation where it gets pinched. The paradoxical leakage is from the tube becoming deformed when bent allowing fluid to exit the perforation, whereas when straight, the perforation returns to a static closed position.

Considering that this failure is an eventuality designed into the system, I am not sure if I will buy a replacement cap. I might just get a Nalgene flip-top sport bottle to replace the Unbottle. I was using it for carrying my pre-ride sport beverage, and it’s no-spill design worked perfectly for the task, but I’ve been using the simpler Nalgene for daily hydration with good results. The Nalgene does require the user physically open and close the cover increasing the potential of spillage, but the system looks like it will go through significantly more cycles without failure. I guess I’ll see how much a cap costs first: I do prefer the “straw” design for driving use.

Update: I checked with Jarrel at McBike, and Camelbak does not sell the Better Bottle cap as a service part – you have to buy a completely new bottle. Considering the price, country of origin, and the built-in limit on the lifetime, I’ll pick up another Nalgene to fill the role. The End.