Hi Everyone,
During my childhood, the last time I enjoyed a bottle of milk was when I was 8 years old. It was really the last time when I was young, because it was getting embarrassing enjoying a bottle when we had guests over, and dad was not exactly keen on the whole drinking out of a baby bottle idea, even without guests at home.
Well I never forgot about it! Recently I came across the Mason Jar Bottle concept. There have been several posts on this for example by u/Ny00m.
So I decided to try it:
It turns out that one of the best baby nipples, the Comotomo (Y-cut for fastest flow), works well for adults and they fit perfectly with any regular-mouth mason jar.
A regular-mouth mason jar has an inner diameter of 60mm, it turns out that the Comotomo nipples fit perfectly on the jar’s band and when screwed down clamps with the jar lip to create a water-tight seal. Do not buy the wide-mouth jars, these have a 76mm inner diameter and are too large for the Comotomo nipple.
The Y-cut (variable flow) Comotomo nipple is fast enough, especially if you apply a bit of pressure on the nipple to make the Y-cut opening a bit bigger. If you desire a faster flow, the Y-cut nipple can be made bigger with a sharp knife (I used a Leatherman tool to add another millimetre in length).
You can buy ready-to-use baby mason bottles from https://masonbottle.com ! As long as 8oz (236mL) is sufficient for you.
I wanted something a little larger, so picked up the following parts from Amazon and it took 3 weeks to arrive in Australia.
Comotomo Silicone Nipple, Variable Flow, Y-Cut (Thicker fluids). Ordered 3 sets (6 nipples, extras as spares).
Masontops Tough Band - Regular Mouth Mason Jar Screw Bands, 4 bands
Ball Quilted Crystal Mason Jars Regular Mouth 12 oz Bundle, 4 jars
JarJackets Silicone Mason Jar Protector Sleeve - Fits 12oz Jelly Jars (4, Multicolor)
That’s for four bottles.
You can get larger size bottles, but I wanted the silicone sleeve to help with grip and to protect the glass bottle. So the 12oz (354mL) bottles were the largest size jars I could find with suitable sleeves.
While waiting for the parts to arrive, I built a prototype using a 825mL jar and found that I was only drinking 300-400mL in bed, so the 12oz (354mL) jars are perfect for me.
Having a drink container that hardly leaks even when upside down is super fantastic, and makes me wonder why this kind of drink container isn’t found more common (the closest are the Big Bite Valves found in CamelBak drink bladders).
Tip: The nipples will have a silicone aftertaste when you first purchase them. Follow the instructions and sterile them by boiling them in hot water for 5 minutes. The volatile compounds will boil off leaving a nice, clean and taste-less silicone nipple.
Enjoy!