Introducing Our Limited Edition We Are Explorers X Nalgene Australia 1L Bottle

We took an OG Nalgene bottle, covered it in a beautiful Aussie-bush design by Beck Ng, and hit the trails.

There’s something deeply iconic about the wide mouth 1L Nalgene bottle. Everyone who’s bought one still probably has it, because they’re borderline indestructible, and they bear the scars and stickers of years of adventures.

Mine’s a little blue number that I got before my first overseas trip in 2014. Since that three month trip to Patagonia it’s travelled the world with me, and been left, loaned, lugged, and loved more than almost anything I own.

Working together with the We Are Explorers crew at a co-working space recently, I noticed that everyone had brought their Nalgene. Practical? Sure, but also a subtle nod to anyone else in the office that we’d much rather be on a clifftop than deep in spreadsheets (yep, even WAE has admin).

So when we wanted to create a bit of merch, it made sense to hit up our friends at Nalgene about a collab. The response was rapid and the question came quickly: how should it look?

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The Design: Australian Fauna & Flora by Beck Ng

Last year we ran a competition to design the WAE X Nalgene Australia bottle and boy did you guys deliver. 

After sifting through, shortlisting, and some heated discussion, Beck Ng’s design emerged as a strong favourite. Going by @fabric_drawer on Instagram, Beck is a designer and maker from Melbourne – she’s a third generation Chinese-Australian from her mum’s side, and part Malaysian from her dad’s. She hand sews pieces on a machine that her grandfather gave her mother.

Beck’s winning design netted her $1000 and 10 of the collab bottles

Our prompt was to create a visual representation of what We Are Explorers means to you and Beck’s design captured what we were after. The pink, orange, and dark green colourway captures the unique hues of the Aussie bush, and the choice of native plants stood out.

Anchored by a large central flower, the design creates a scene with a cockatoo, echidna, wombat, and kookaburra for good measure. We kept the We Are Explorers logo small in the final prints too – you know it’s us.

The Bottle: Built for the Wild

We’ve stuck with the classic Nalgene 1L Wide Mouth because it’s practical, tough as nails, leakproof, and dishwasher-safe. Even better, it’s made from 50% recycled plastic using ISCC-certified mass balance, so it’s as kind to the planet as it is durable. It’s BPA/BPS-free and ready to be shoved into your pack for years of service.

We chose a clear plastic to help the design pop and colour-matched the lid to the green in the design for a cohesive look. We actually had to get these printed on a special machine in the US to capture all of the details and colours – worth it!

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Get In Quick

We only have 100 of these iconic bottles for sale at $34.95 each so don’t dawdle! They’re available exclusively on the Nalgene Australia website.

To sweeten the deal and thank you for your support, we’ll include a limited edition WAE-branded Smelly Balls car air freshener in every order, a We Are Explorers sticker, and a money-can’t-buy Nalgene sticker.

If you get one of the bottles, be sure to tag @we_are_explorers on your adventures so we can see how far they travel!

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All photos by @jackjbrookes