Introduction: Ice Dam for Widemouth Bottles (Nalgene or Camelbak)

Widemouth bottles are great because you can add ice and cool down your favorite drink but the ice will make it difficult to drink easily (especially if you have sensitive teeth). The splash guards they sell for Nalgene bottles are an okay solution but small pieces of ice still get through or block the opening. Personally I don't like drinking from a straw so I came up with a solution using an Oxo Good Grips Bathtub Drain Protector and a humangear capCAP.

Step 1: What You Will Need

You will need these items to complete the project:

  • OXO Good Grips Bathtub Drain Protector
  • HumanGear capCAP
  • Metal shear
  • Small hammer
  • Glass of water
  • Two scraps of wood
  • Bench grinder: you can try to grind the steel manually or with hand tools, but a bench grinder is easiest to use if you have access to one

Step 2: Initial Cut

When you make the first cut it will be a bit difficult to cut through the silicone, make sure that you angle it so that the shear does not cut too too deeply into the interior of the protector once it gets through the silicone. You want to cut through the outermost set of holes on the protector.

Step 3: Bending to Make It Easier to Cut

To make it easier, every time you cut through 3-5 holes manually bend down the metal so that it does not get in the way of the shears.

Step 4: Before and After

It will be difficult to cut it perfectly but if it looks like the picture you are in good shape. In the next step you will start grinding the protector to look like the second picture.

Step 5: Grinding

Now it is time to clean up the protector. Grind the protector until you can just barely see the indentations of the outermost holes. Make sure not to grind too much! It is better to be conservative because you cannot add the metal back if you take off too much. Take off all the high points first, dunk it in the water to cool off, then test fit the protector into the capCAP. It should NOT fit easily into the capCAP. The final grind should be just a bit too big to fit the whole protector into the capCAP because we do not want to use any glue (toxic) in the final assembly.

Step 6: Finishing the Protector

Once you are happy with the grind finish the edges so that there are no burrs on the protector by gently grinding the protector at an angle until you cannot feel any burrs when you run your finger along the edges.

Step 7: Fitting the Protector

To keep from damaging the capCAP, use two scraps of wood to support the inverted capCAP. Make sure that the protector's convex side is facing up (you should see the word "OXO"). Using a small hammer, gently tap the protector into the capCAP until it is seated at the bottom of the inner lip. If you formed it correctly you should not be able to push it back out easily.

Step 8: Enjoy!

Just by coincidence, when you look into the spout you can only see the first set of holes, so it looks nice while you are drinking. My only caveat is that you should clean it carefully, because the inner section of the capCAP is not accessible to clean out using a sponge or brush. I make sure to sanitize the modified capCAP regularly in the dishwasher to make sure that inaccessible part is not harboring any germs.