Nalgene Narrow Mouth Strap TPU

thingiverse

So... I love my Nalgene!! I have used it for years. But then the strap broke on it and I was sad. :-( So I decided to make a replacement strap in Fusion360. I first tried CPE because it seemed like it was pretty sturdy but I realized it did not want to bend much. So TPU was the next logical choice. I've always been a bit scared of printing TPU but it's really no big deal. I added to G-code file in case anyone wants to try it. It's only a 18-20 minute print, IIRC. My G code was generated in Prusa Slic3r ver 2.0.0 win 64. I used a Prusa i3 MK3S to print this. 0.40mm nozzle, 0.20mm resolution (z-height.) It fits perfectly on my Nalgene! I printed one extra as a spare. Anyway, I saw there was another kind soul on Thingiverse who also uploaded one of these but I believe theirs is for the WIDE mouth Nalgene bottle. Here is a link to the Nalgene this fits: https://www.nalgene.com/product/2078-2029/ I used Sainsmart TPU which I like because it comes in a shade of pink which nearly identically matches my water bottle color! :) I can add the CPE file I used for the CPE (or PETG) version if anyone wants it, but I have to caution you about the fact that you MUST use a heat gun to soften the material in order to stretch it over the water bottle opening and then the cap post. And according to the ASTM resin code on the bottom of my water bottle strap, it's a "3" which is PVC. I had to use the heat gun to stretch the material over the cap post. The cap is PVC which can release toxic fumes when heated so please be careful if you try to do this method. I recommend getting TPU in your preferred color and printing it. If you have a Bowden tube on your printer, it's going to be a bit more of a challenge but not impossible, just do some googling on the subject; there are a lot of posts about it online, but I really recommend a direct drive extruder for printing flexible materials like TPU. This would probably work OK printed on an SLA printer too, with an elastomeric urethane. I'm not a pro or anything when it comes to FDM printing but feel free to drop a comment if you have any difficulty printing and I will try to help. Hope this file can help someone with a narrow mouth Nalgene bottle. I can upload the Fusion360 file too if you prefer to make your stap longer or something else! :-)