After years of using foam rollers to knead my constantly sore muscles, I never thought I’d be using one in the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. Yet there I was at my gate in Terminal B, rolling out my sore quad in front of my fellow passengers as they waited to board. Some of them watched me, a bit confused and maybe surprised, as I treated the airport carpet like my living room: I rolled out my calves, my lower back, and my quads, and worked out some particularly tight knots. After a few minutes, I stood up and got ready to board, feeling loose and limber for my connecting flight. And then I took a swig from my foam roller.
I wasn’t using a typical foam roller, which is long, bulky, and difficult to pack in a suitcase. Instead, I had my Mobot bottle — a stainless-steel water bottle wrapped in EVA foam. It’s a foam roller and water bottle in one, and it’s the first thing I pack on any trip I take.
Before my Mobot became one of my travel staples, I received it in a gift bag at a health-and-fitness press event. For a few weeks, I kept it stashed in my gym bag, and only used it as a regular water bottle. But then one day last summer, I took it with me to track practice. As my teammates and I were warming up, I had the urge to roll out my legs — I longed for that pressure against my fascia, a slight soreness that gives way to a warming feeling, which, according to experts, is a process that helps improve blood flow to your muscles. And then I remembered I had the most portable option available: my Mobot bottle. I proceeded to have a quick rollout session before the workout (and another one afterward). A few of my teammates thought it was just a beefed-up water bottle. Surprise! It’s a foam roller, too.
I own three separate foam rollers of different densities (the more dense, the firmer the pressure) and I’ve tested a handful more. But they are all at least 13 inches or longer, and I could never justify taking one with me when I traveled — especially on flights, when my packing list gets culled down to the bare essentials. I’ve taken lacrosse balls and smaller massage balls with me before, but they’re never as effective at rolling out my back or larger muscles as a typical foam roller is. But the Mobot’s rigid texture is perfect for targeting those bigger muscle groups, like one leg or side of my back at a time. The 40-ounce BIg Bertha version I have is just 11 inches tall, so I can easily fit it into my carry-on bag. I usually take a 32-ounce Nalgene (8.25 inches) with me anyway, and the Mobot has now replaced it.
After a few months of testing, the one issue I’ve run into is the water bottle feature. The stainless-steel bottle itself is not insulated, so if you put ice in it, the exposed part of the bottle (the base) will sweat, and that condensation can dampen your bag or wherever it’s stored. A plastic Nalgene will also sweat, but a stainless-steel bottle like a Yeti or Hydro Flask (which both have double-wall vacuum insulation) will not.
Apart from that, I’ve found the Mobot to be a joy to use because of its simplicity. There’s no weird folding mechanism or vibrating feature that might otherwise complicate its design. It’s just a water bottle with a bumpy rubber coating, and it works incredibly well. Not only did I bring my Mobot on that trip to Texas, but I later brought it on a couple summer trips to Chicago, Boulder, and Arkansas, where I happily rolled out at various Airbnbs, hotel rooms, and airport gates.
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