Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

We have been using these 7-Gallon Aquatainers for years. In the past, they were built much more heavily and could take the abuse of traveling along dirt roads and even rough jeep trails. We liked to bring two of these containers on our overland trips for drinking and cleaning up in camp. On our last trip, our newest 7-Gallon Aquatainer just gave up and burst open, riding in a well-secured location in the carpeted bed of our truck. It's nice to have a container that holds so much water - until it breaks and soaks almost all the gear you store with it. In our case, we discovered the problem after arriving at a remote camp in Baja California. The container split and broke along the seam of the Aquatainer logo embossed onto the side of the container. We ended up having to spend an unplanned extra day at that camp while we dried out our gear and having less water than I'm comfortable with. We were lucky that the water didn't damage some sensitive equipment we had. Over the years, Reliance has made the plastic on these containers thinner and thinner. We also noticed that the corners now dent very easily, making it just a matter of time before it cracks along the edges of the dent (see photos). If you are using these containers to store emergency water at home or in a static, stable location, they'll probably be OK. I used to recommend them to my friends for travel but I won't any longer. They've always had the issues with the spout leaking when turned on its side. Our workaround on this last trip was to purchase a 5-gallon water-cooler service type bottle with a screw-top in the nearest large town. From that, we dispense water into a Rubbermaid 2.5-gallon drinking dispenser that has a recessed spout that never leaks. I think that the round bottles will be more durable. Plus, the round shape prevents wildlife (coyotes) from gaining purchase with their teeth to puncture the container - which had also been a problem with the Aquatainer.