Boatil Jaikit

I decided to equip my bike with a water bottle. As my old Claude Butler bicycle has no holes in the down tube to accommodate a bottle cage, I used a clamp to mount it on the handlebars. The clamp was slightly too small, so I thumped it into place with a hammer and replaced the lower bolt with a longer skateboard truck bolt to hold it tightly closed.

The bottle on the bike, with skateboard truck bolt holding the clamp in place

The cage is an 'Iris' King Cage, and the bottle a 27oz Klean Kanteen, both bought from the fine fellows at Cheeky Transport in Newtown. The bottle and cage are both lovely objects, unfussy and functional in their design.

The bottle sits snugly in the cage, but metal against metal inevitably creates a slight rattle. This began to annoy me, so I took out the sewing machine and knocked up a nice wee denim jacket with which to clad the bottle. The base was tricky to sew and is not too neat, but I am content with it. I fed a length of shoelace through the upper hem to act as a drawstring that can be pulled tight around the neck of the bottle.

boatil in the buff

boatil in a jaikit

I'm pleased with this, my 'hydration solution' (if you're a knob), my 'boatil in a jaikit' (if you're Scottish), which, like the tin of a penniless beggar, or an irate baby who throws things from its pushchair, or the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, no longer has a rattle.