I've owned this Nalgene bottle holder for just under a year, and there's a lot to like about it. The most important factor for me is the insulation: I fill my bottle with ice and water first thing in the morning and it keeps the ice for hours (works best out of direct sunlight, of course). I appreciate having the handle, and I liked the zip-up pocket for small things (I stored some band-aids, because I have kids and it's good to have those handy) until the zipper pull snagged on something and got yanked off. That was no big loss though. I appreciate that I can drink straight from the bottle without having to unzip a top and then open the bottle. This is the primary perceived shortcoming that has kept me from purchasing a fully-enclosed insulated bottle-holder, although I also haven't liked the placement of the strap hooks on those other carriers. My big disappointment with this carrier is its lack of a carrying strap so I can carry the bottle across my back. Nalgene used to make an awesome carrier that had great insulation and had a well-placed strap. I loved that carrier, and I wore out two of them, at which point I found that Nalgene must have discontinued the product (disappointingly, I got no response from Nalgene customer service about the product). So, I attached my own strap to this one, with one hook on the attachment loop and another on the handle. The carrier loop seems to be made to support hooks, but the handle is not, but that's how I like to carry my bottle; the bottle dangled funny when I put both hooks on the loop. Furthermore, the carrier just isn't designed to rub against something all day (the older product was made with a more rugged material, and it lasted a long time; I think I got about 3 years or so out of each one). At this point, both the handle and the carrier cover have frayed pretty substantially. If you're always going to carry this by the handle and not let it rub against anything, then you probably won't have this problem. For better or worse, though, based on the insulation alone, this is one of the best products currently available. It's substantially better than the neoprene holders, which don't insulate nearly as well, tend to sweat through with condensation, and aren't especially durable. I'd love it if Nalgene would re-release the older carrier, which was durable and insulated, allowed drinking directly, and had both a carrying handle and a well-designed carrying strap. Until that time, this is a reasonably satisfactory substitute.
