Guyot Designs Gription Mark II Review

Earlier this year I wrote about my experience with a Guyot Designs Gription (A Guyot Gription For My Nalgene Bottle). It's basically a replacement lid for wide-mouth Nalgene bottles. Push the orange button to open the sipper valve and take a drink; afterwards slide the silver lock in place to keep it closed. Plus, there's a comfortable handle. The Gription is a wonderful gadget that works very well.

Since then, Guyot Designs has redesigned the Gription. The new design (I'll call it "Mark II," though I don't see any official designator) addresses the problems I noted in my original review and improves upon the previous design a little.

My chief complaint about the first model was the locking mechanism. To recap, it would only lock the first few times it was used. After that, the little nubs that the lock grabbed on to rubbed off and didn't hold anymore. I didn't give too much thought to it because the general shape of the Gription protected it somewhat from accidentally opening.

The Mark II has a significantly better locking mechanism. Since the Gription comes apart for easy cleaning, it's easy to compare the two models to see how they differ. Both models use little nubs to lock against. The Mark I's measure 1/16\" wide and 1/32\" long (or less), while the Mark II's measure 1/8\" wide and about 1/16\" long. Those are small dimensions, but as the photo shows it actually looks quite different. I can't tell for sure, but I think the Mark II uses harder plastic, too. The result is that the lock definitely locks. I didn't try to break the lock, but it stood all the thumb-pressing I could give it. The Mark II lock definitely lasts longer than the Mark I, though I haven't used it long enough to say if it'll fail after six months or one year of use. The best part about the lock, though, is that you can use it to lock the Gription closed or open! Very convenient!

The valve really can't be called a "sipper valve" anymore--it opens pretty far, more like a "gulp valve." (That's a neat name. I think Guyot Designs ought to add the Gulp Valve to the Gription literature.) It's easy enough to just push the orange button a little and still get a sip, though. The button on the Mark II has slightly less resistance than that of the Mark I. I like that it is easier to push, but this makes the fact that the lock works that much more important.

Of course, nothing is perfect. The Mark I's small sipper valve opening had the side effect that the Gription really never got wet. When the Nalgene bottle falls over into the dirt or sand or other muck, nothing really sticks to it because it's stayed dry. The Mark II's larger Gulp Valve means that more of the Gription can get wet, and when it falls in the dirt, can collect more dirt. (Though to be fair, I haven't dropped my Mark II yet.) It's a design tradeoff, and I'm happy they made this one.

Similar to what my Dad wrote in a comment, carrying the Gription by putting the handle in a pocket works well. The handle is long enough that it can easily hold a bottle in place while walking around, and it doesn't bang against my leg much.

As before, I highly recommend the Gription--it makes using a Nalgene bottle a lot more convenient. I know EMS sells the Gription, but I'm not sure who else does.