As a cyclist you sometimes have to settle for tap water or public water sources that can be a bit questionable to refill your water bottle. HydraPak’s new Breakaway+ bottle offers a built-in filter system that can clean water as you drink it to provide additional peace of mind. The retail price ranges from $46-$48 for the 20oz and 30oz bottle versions respectively. HydraPak has integrated a filter into the cap of the bottle that claims to remove 99.99% of E Coli and Parasitic cysts while still offering a high water flow. The bottles are also BPA and PVC free with a nice squeezable design and large nozzle. Unlike the Polar Breakaway bottles, the Breakway+ has a low profile twist-to-lock cap design.
The HydraPak Breakaway+ bottle combines a built-in filter with a high flow nozzle for clean water on the go.
| Rating | 8.2/10 |
| Retail Price | $46 (20oz) – $48 (30z) |
| Measured Weight (in g) | 110 (20oz), 122 (30oz) |
| Likes | + Addition of filter does not add much to bottle size + High flow nozzle despite built-in filter + Cap is compatible with other Breakaway bottles |
| Dislikes | HydraPak |
| Where to Buy (US) | HydraPak |
UNBOXING
The HydraPak Breakaway+ bottles come in bright blue and white cardboard packaging with a large front opening that lets you see the filter and bottle. Inside the box you’ll find:
- Breakaway+ bottle
- Removable nozzle mud guard
- Nozzle for reverse cleaning filter
- Informational pamphlet
HydraPak includes a small nozzle that can be used to push water through the cap to clean the filter. It’s important to use this as you want to push water out of the filter in reverse to remove any particles or contaminants.
FIT & FINISH
Visually, the HydraPak Breakaway+ bottle mimics the same shape as the Polar Breakaway with a uniform cylindrical shape and pronounced grip ring. The bottle has a standard 74mm diameter which makes it compatible with any bike water bottle cage and stays securely in place. HydraPak currently offers the Breakaway+ bottle in two sizes: a 20oz / 600ml version and a larger 30oz / 880 ml. Despite the differences in capacity, the price difference between the bottle is only $2 which is negligible. As this is still a new bottle, there are no color variations or insulated options available aside from these non-insulated clear bottles with grid patterns. However, the cap and filter of the Breakaway+ is interchangeable with nearly any modern Polar bottle which means you can use any of Polar’s various color or insulation options. As far as size, the addition of the filter only adds about 0.5” to the height of the bottle compared to a standard Breakaway non-insulated bottle.
One of the key features of these bottles is the new filtering system that is integrated into the cap. The cap and filter are a single piece and are not designed to be separated which means they have to be replaced together. HydraPak rates the filter’s capacity as 1500L or about a year of use before the entire cap would need to be replaced. We would have liked to see a more serviceable design as it seems wasteful to throw away the entire cap for just a filter replacement. As of the time of this review, there is also no replacement cap listed on HydraPak’s website which means you’d have to purchase the entire bottle again. The filter itself is fairly small and looks identical to HydraPak’s 42mm filter cap that is used on their other products.
Despite the small size, HydraPak claims the filter removes 99.99% of E Coli and Parasitic cysts while still offering a high water flow. The water is filtered as you drink it which means the water in the bottle itself is always considered the dirty water. To clean the filter there is also an included backflow nozzle which lets you run water backward through the filter to remove contaminants. HydraPak markets this style filter for use with relatively clean water or tap water to provide additional filtration and not as replacement for water cleaning tablets or more advanced filters used with dirtier water sources.
The exterior of the cap is also a new design compared to the standard Breakaway bottles. Rather than the familiar push/pull rubber nozzle with a pressure-activated jet nozzle, the Breakaway+ uses a twist to lock design. The entire upper surface of the cap rotates upward and downward to open and shut the nozzle. HydraPak includes a simple plastic nozzle protector which slides over the nozzle and is wedged between the nozzle cap and the bottle. You can easily remove this if you do more road cycling or leave it on if you ride in muddy conditions or want to travel with the bottle. There is also a soft rubber cover and large nozzle which provide fast water flow despite the filtration. With the non-removable filter design it’s much more difficult to clean the nozzle as you only have access to the nozzle opening and scrubbing the inside of the cap.
RIDING IMPRESSIONS
For any sort of longer bike ride it’s important to plan for some water fill up stops to stay hydrated. Having done a fair amount of riding we’ve often had to settle for public tap water spots when riding in more obscure locations. The HydraPak Breakaway+ offers a bit of peace of mind for those types of rides when you don’t have more options for hydration. We found the bottle design to work well with bottle cages including our Portland Design Works Otter cages with a nice prominent grip ring and squeezable design. We are less of a fan of the twist-to-lock cap which can be difficult to operate with one hand compared to CamelBak cap designs.
Despite the filtering, the nozzle has a high water flow rate that is easy to drink from. Aside from the obvious limitations of only using only water (i.e. drink mixes won’t work with the filter) and limited bottle designs the Breakaway+ feels like any other cycling bottle. We were also happy to find that the Breakaway+ cap has the same thread design as other Polar Breakaway bottles which allowed us to swap it onto insulated Breakaway bottles while still retaining the filtering feature. Cleaning the nozzle is more time consuming than standard caps and has more tough to reach spots with the one piece design but is manageable as using only water helps keep the bottle clean for longer periods of time.
THE VERDICT
Overall, we found the HydraPak Breakaway+ bottles to be an interesting concept that combines filtering with a bike-friendly design. HydraPak has integrated a filter into a special cap design with a pressure activated valve. The Breakway+ offers high water flow rates and peace of mind with the filtering to help clean tap water or other sources of water on the go. There are some obvious limitations to this design as you can not use drink mixes and the cap and filter are a one piece design that has to be replaced approximately yearly with normal use. For those reasons we’re a bit on the fence about this bottle as more of a long-distance riding bottle rather than a daily use bottle. That said, the HydraPak Breakaway offers a convenient way to filter water on-the-go while cycling.
Disclaimer: The product for this review was provided by HydraPak. The views expressed on this website are solely those of the authors and are here to help people make an informed choice before a purchase. The authors or the blog itself does not get any monetary compensation from the product manufacturer or third-party websites/vendor links that are posted here.