Winner: Hydro Flask with stickers and/or dents
Clinking with ice in the back of a crowded lecture, the Hydro Flask makes its presence known. You turn to see a student with a sideways Farmers Market hat, Birkenstocks and an old Aggie Pack shirt with holes in the armpits (it’s from 2015). These are all iconically Davis fashion pieces, but held up high in the gleam of the fluorescent lights is the queen of college town fashion: the Hydro Flask with stickers and a couple of dents (you know, from when it was dropped in the middle an intimate lecture and slammed into a desk).
Hydro Flasks are becoming more accessible than ever for Davis students. They’re sold in the campus bookstore and they continue to come out with new colors. Anything from a soft lilac to a vivacious rainbow ombre can be found with the help of the Internet, and students take the opportunity to customize their hydration to say something about themselves constantly.
“[My Hydroflask tells everyone] that I still love vine a lil’ too much,” said third-year animal science major Camille Larsen. Her water bottle is plastered in stickers referencing jokes from the app of six-second-long comedic videos that famously shut down and disappeared from the world in 2017.
Many students see their Hydro Flasks as a canvas for their own self-expression. Some have inspirational quotes, stickers from different campus clubs, souvenirs from trips to national parks or famous landmarks or just images they found pretty, like a flower or unique design.
Larsen believes the reason that Hydro Flasks are the most popular water bottle in comparison to other brands like Klean Kanteen stems from the fact that they’re everywhere.
“I think they’re a thing across like all college campuses,” Larsen said. “Everyone wants that specific brand just because they’ve heard so much about them and seen them everywhere. It’s the ‘popular brand’ nowadays.”
Hydro Flask advertises its water bottles to have a “unique combination of temperature, taste, and transport.” On this same page, they profess TempShield double-wall insulation, stainless steel that won’t retain or transfer flavor and a powder coat for easy holding. A lot of students cite the longwear and durability of these bottles as attractive features that make it worth the investment.
When asked what stickers and dents she’d have if she were a Hydro Flask, Larsen had her answer in her back pocket.
“I would definitely have both dents and stickers because we like to play it fast and loose in life,” Larsen said. “Honestly, I’d probably be covered in Bigfoot stickers.”
Written by: Olivia Luchini —features@theaggie.org
