Most liked positive review

Mostly brilliant, with a few design flaws

I bought this water bottle to take on a long road trip. I use a Britta pitcher at home and wanted the same level of filtration for the campground and hotel water I would be drinking. So far it is working great... mostly. Right off the bat, I was really pleased with the ergonomics of the thing. It f...its nicely in my car's cupholder. When I'm driving and feel like a drink of water, I can pick up the bottle, open it, take a drink, close it again, and put it back in the cupholder, all with one hand and without taking my eyes off the road. Long drives are thirsty work, so this has turned out to be super useful. I saw some reviews complaining that the straw offers too much resistance. This hasn't been an issue for me. It's about like drinking a soft milkshake through a big straw. What has been an issue is the filling experience. To fill the bottle, you have to unscrew the top. This comes away and brings the straw with it. There is water in the straw, and this invariably drains onto my pants and shoes. I'm left holding the bottle in one hand and the top / straw in the other, and then have to manipulate the spigot or whatever I'm filling from. There is a fill line on the bottle (located on the opposite side from the Britta logo, which feels backwards), and this is important. If you fill the bottle to the brim and then replace the top, the straw displaces a bunch of water. More water on the shoes and pants. But, if you fill it this way, you're leaving capacity on the table: as soon as you pull water up into the straw, the bottle is no longer full. The pro way is to fill the bottle to the brim, then pull some water up into the straw *before* replacing the top. All of this is a major rigmarole, and not a fun one to repeat multiple times a day. There is another usability problem with this bottle. It occurs when the bottle is partly full and left in the sun or a hot car. The air trapped in the bottle expands, and when you open the lid, the water inside the straw is forced out... onto your shoes and pants. I've had this happen enough times now that I should see it coming, but it continues to surprise and annoy me. All in all, this thing is really good, and I would buy it again if I lost it or broke it. I just hope they sort out the usability problems with the next generation.