Most emergency preparedness-minded people know the importance of water and plan accordingly. They have their long-term water storage (the beloved 55-gallon water barrels) and their filtration systems (The Sawyer Mini for travel and the Berky for at home). But there seems to be a big blind spot in their plans. How are they going to take water with them?
A water filter is great if you are going to always be by a body of water. For many, this is not the case — particularly in the Western United States. This oversight is what lead our Equip 2 Endure team to look into the available options and then put them to the test so we could feel confident recommending one.
We determined that the criteria we cared about most when choosing a solution were portability, usability, and durability.
THE CONTENDERS: AquaBrick VS WaterBrick.
[Let’s go ahead and take care of this now… we did not seriously consider the military jerry can for a few reasons. When it is full, it is too heavy for over half the population (women, children, and elderly). Jerry cans do not stack well. They have a narrow mouth which makes cleaning more difficult. Authentic jerry cans are much more expensive than the choices considered.]
PORTABILITY – AquaBrick VS WaterBrick
The AquaBrick and WaterBrick are almost the exact same overall dimensions. The WaterBrick however uses the dimensions more efficiently when it comes to how much water it contains. But to be quite honest, this was pretty much the ONLY advantage WaterBrick has on AquaBrick. WaterBrick employs a flimsy bail handle that repeatedly fell off during testing. The bail handle leads to a “wobble” while carrying and it bounces around. Think of carrying an old metal bucket.
AquaBrick has two handles that are incorporated into the molded design. The handle on top is hefty and enables a solid purchase when carrying. The container stays steady in the hand with no bounce. Carrying the AquaBrick almost feels like carrying a sturdy tool instead of an unruly bucket. Our only complaint about the incorporated handles is it makes it slightly more difficult to clean. A thin bristled brush or cleaning snake should do the trick, however.
WINNER: AquaBrick
USABILITY – AquaBrick VS WaterBrick
The whole point of a portable, long-term water storage solution is to make storing and accessing water (and food) easy. Both options handle the first charge admirably — hold water. The separation between the two happens when accessing or using the contents.
The single bail handle attached to the top of the WaterBrick makes it necessary to use two hands to perform any pouring function. The WaterBrick’s design includes two internal columns that make accessing food difficult, but not necessarily water. Because the lid is recessed between two shoulders of the WaterBrick, water gets stuck in those shoulders and requires shaking to get it out. The recessed lid is also more difficult to remove and replace, especially with the bail handle getting in the way. The design of the WaterBrick is symmetrical, which makes it so using a spigot attachment only drains half of the contents.
The AquaBrick’s side handle is centered and provides the perfect balance for easy pouring and manipulation. The AquaBrick does not have any internal obstruction for reaching its contents (like the columns in the WaterBrick). Also, because the lid is not recessed, removing and replacing the lid is easy and unhindered. The asymmetrical design of the AquaBrick allows a spigot attachment to drain most of the contents.
WINNER: AquaBrick
DURABILITY – AquaBrick VS WaterBrick
We put the AquaBrick and WaterBrick through a torture test to see which holds up to abuse. We dropped the full bricks from carrying height, off a car roof height, hit them with a wax wood bo staff, and finally ran them over. Well, we ran the AquaBrick over because the WaterBrick had already tapped out of the competition.
The Waterbrick dented but held its content from the normal carrying height. The car roof height drop did the WaterBrick in though, creating a streaming crack. Hitting the WaterBrick with the staff created another more substantial gushing crack, rapidly emptying the contents.
The AquaBrick showed no damage from either drop height. The bo staff strike did dent the dimple and side of the container, but no crack or spill occurred. We then ran drove a gen 5 4Runner on top of and parked on the AquaBrick. It did not burst. There was a slight leak and that was only due to the immense weight contorting the container enough to create a slight gap between the lid and threads of the container. Even with the weight of the truck on the container, that gap only produced a small trickle of a spill. When we removed the weight of the 4Runner the leak stopped and the container was completely structurally sound.
WINNER: AquaBrick
WINNER: AquaBrick
The Equip 2 Endure team expected to see much closer results for such similar products. After a thorough review, we have no hesitancy in endorsing the AquaBrick over the WaterBrick. The AquaBrick proved its superior portability, usability, and durability.
If you are interested in purchasing AquaBrick, we recommend 2-3 containers for each member of your household. This will provide you with 1-2 weeks of reliable water supply and containers that can be reused indefinitely.
Be sure to purchase your AquaBricks directly from the manufacturer (Sagan Life AquaBrick) and use the code “E2E” at checkout to receive a 10% discount on your entire purchase.