Nalgene Carrier

I started out designing a rigid water bottle carrier for my belt or backpack but soon realized that the immovable design would be in the way.

I recognize that one could just use the lid restraining strap but I've had 2 of these break from chafing...

The constraints were that it had to be easily released for use but secure enough to stay where it was placed when not needed.

I ended up with a multi piece design that required both 3D printing and sewing.

• printed neck ring
• Printed 1.5 inch quick release buckle
• 2 x 0.5 inch knife rivets
• 1.5 inch nylon webbing

• 1.5 inch velcro

I took measurements from my wide mouth Nalgene bottle and nylon webbing.

These measurements were used to create sketches in Solidworks.

I modelled the parts of the buckle from a 1 inch one that I had.I had to split it in such a way to allow for printing and to come apart for placing it on the bottle then hold together to allow for one hand separation.

The files for printing are included here.

From here the major cutouts were to trim the thickness of the ring at an angle to accommodate for the bottle profile and the connection points to the buckle.

This creates an locking opening that allows the ring to be opened to place it around the neck of the bottle. The split buckle will prevent the neck ring from opening when it is clipped.

The buckle is made in 4 parts.

The inner clip has two identical halves that lock together when when installed on the ring.

The outer clip is also printed in two halves that clip together but need to be glued together for security.

I used knife handle rivets to make a hinge. These are pressed together with mild pressure.

I used a bench vise.

The trick here is to make them snug but not tight.

This is a 9 inch piece of nylon webbing. The thinner the better.

This is going to be between 6 and 9 inches long, folded in three.

The webbing is cut with a hot knife to prevent fraying.

If you prefer it makes for a cleaner look to have the ends cut in a half circle. This is easily done with a hot knife and a small piece of heat resistant tubing.

Begin at one end and sew a 1/3 length of loop Velcro to one side.

Flip the webbing over and sew a 1/3 length of hook Velcro to the end.

The strap goes through the loop end of the buckle.

The other end goes around whatever you want to attach the bottle to.

The bottle can now be removed at the buckle and returned for easy carry.

If you do not have access to a printer I have made several sets of the printed parts available on my website.