If you asked me a year ago if I’d spend £25 on a water bottle for adventure sports, I’d say absolutely not! Now, having used my Red Original stainless steel water bottle every day since, I’d happily pay twice that amount.

In the same time I have bought and thrown away numerous bottles from outdoor stores. It’s great to have a reusable bottle, but plastic ones make the water taste warm and horrible, and the ‘cheap’ metal ones (still costing around £10) are usually aluminium, and quickly become pitted or corroded inside. Often you can’t tell at first glance, especially with dark bottles, but look carefully and you’ll see the aluminium oxide. It’s inert, but not nice…

Nothing like a mountain cuppa! Here’s my Red Original water bottle at the top of Tal y Fan, North Wales

We’re an active family of five, and get through an awful lot of water bottles. They usually succumb to algae build-up, leaks, failed seals, corrosion or disintegrating nozzles. But as a water bottle’s something you use every day, why not pay for a decent one?

This 750ml insulated drinks bottle from Red Original has stood the test of time (12 months and counting). It has a nice wide mouth (easy for cleaning) and  comes in black or silver. I have one of each colour so I can use one as a flask of hot water, and the other filled with ice cubes and cold water when hiking or sailing.

My Red water bottle on a Hartley 12 dinghy

I’ve got a few items from Red Original now, including my waterproof kit bag, waterproof laptop bag, cooler backpack and changing robe, and all have proved to withstand saltwater, sand and rocky terrain.

The kids have dropped the Red drinks bottle on numerous occasions and one even bounced down concrete steps with just a small dent to show for it. It keeps water cold for noticeably longer than any of our other metal bottles (up to 24 hours), and is also keeps water hot for 12 hours.

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Whenever I worked on the PBO Project Boat, I took the stainless steel water bottle to the boat yard and used it as a flask. I’ve also taken it to the beach for sundowners, filled with cold rosé wine, and been the most popular mum at the picnic! 

My only criticism would be that the sports cap is a bit ‘sucky’. It doesn’t quite allow the water to flow as quickly and freely as I’d like (but I do prefer to gulp my water), and it could do with a carabiner. I’ve added one myself from another water bottle so I can take it dinghy sailing at my club in Dorset. I just loop it around the bungee and can quickly grab it whenever I need a drink.

• Buy the Red Original drinks bottle, made of 316 marine-grade steel, from Amazon. £24.95.

The Red Original insulated drinks bottle comes in a nice box with a choice of two lids