Stanley Tumblers: Are They Worth the Price?

Over the years, I've tried multiple trendy water bottles to encourage myself to drink more water. I tried an hourly motivational bottle, which got me to drink more water for maybe three days, and I've tried using only disposable water bottles to better keep count -- I know, bad for the environment. But nothing ever sticks, and I'm back to chugging water at night to catch up. But the cup that I've actually stuck with, because it makes it easy to gulp water on the go, is the 30-ounce Stanley tumbler.

I bought three different sizes of Stanley tumblers to try, from Amazon -- the 14-ounce in charcoal ($20), 30-ounce in cream ($35) and 40-ounce in orchid ($45) -- and there's a clear winner. Though the 40-ounce would probably be my cup of choice, I regularly have to lug around my 23-pound, energetic toddler, which means I need something lighter to put my water in. That same infant is always following me around, so constantly refilling the 14-ounce bottle is also out of the question -- plus it doesn't have a handle, which is inconvenient. The handle is definitely a game changer.

That leaves the Goldilocks of the group: the 30-ounce Stanley tumbler. It's light, fits in my car's cupholder and is insulated with stainless steel, so I can use it to keep my water cold or my coffee hot. I once left my Stanley tumbler, filled with ice water, in the car during an 89-degree day, and the water was still cold when I got back hours later.

The only downside I've found is that when the straw is in the cup, there's no way to make the cup leak-proof. So when my 1-year-old gets ahold of my cup, he spills water all over himself. The straw is removable, but I prefer to use it, because it makes drinking water easier (in my opinion).