Flasks^

[MattB]

There must be some flasks that don't leak, brake or loose thermal efficiency. I've tried Lifeventure- These are the worst ever, expensive and the stoppers began to leak after only a few outings. They also lost thermal qualities very quickly as the outside of the flask became hot!!

Tesco flasks - cheap, but dont keep the contents hot for long. I've found the same with Ikea flasks.

Vango flasks are the best I've tried but after a lot of use it has begun to leak around the stopper.

I warm the flasks first, prior to filling with my hot drink, but there must be better, more reliable, leak proof flasks out there?

Thanks

Matt

[SeaSkye]

Was doing some investigating into a Flask for myself a few months ago and this one;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermos-Work-St ... 218&sr=8-1

came out very favourably.

[andyE]

The Aladdin Flask has served me well over the years. Very tough and a little heavy in the larger sizes.
Aladdin Stanley Classic

[Beachcomber]

The TherMax range is very good and keeps drinks hot for 24hrs. A few us got these last year and so far they've been great. No one has reported any breakages or loss of heat retention:

http://www.thermosonline.co.uk/products ... ducts/3820

We got the 0.8l size as it fits nicely into most day hatches without being too bulky

Steve

[Mikebelluk]

I've found the Zojirushi flask I liberated from my brother 10 years ago the best flask I have ever used.
Have also got Vango/Aladdin/Mountain Hardwear ones but not in same class.

[Graham T]

Thumbs up here for the Thermax shown above

[michelin]

I have used one of these for two years- http://www.thermosonline.co.uk/products ... ducts/3809
I keep it in one of these whilst its in my boat- http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SIGG-Bottle-P ... 7087594123
Easily keeps my drink piping hot all day with no problems.Nice pouring spout on it aswell.I am really pleased with it.Mine is the 0.5ltr which gives you two mugs full but you can get it in 1ltr aswell.

[John N]

STANLEY - the best I've ever had and keep stuff warmer / longer than anything else I've had. Not cheap though, I paid around £23.00 for a 1ltr version some years back. See the range here http://www.stanley-pmi.com/

[MikeB]

STANLEY - the best I've ever had and keep stuff warmer / longer than anything else I've had. Not cheap though, I paid around £23.00 for a 1ltr version some years back. See the range here http://www.stanley-pmi.com/

x2

And great customer service - mine, an Outdoor Vacumn Bottle failed after 3 or so years of heavy use - no receipt of course - returned to the UK agents with a covering note and a replacement arrived within a week. Filled with boiling water at around 8pm of an evening, and left in the porch of the tent, it provides my morning coffee just fine. Mike.

[Taran Tyla]

Great thread this as its one of the points raised in my 5 star failure. I should have a hot drink incase someone gets cold :S

[Chris Bolton]

The Stanley 1 litre flask is the most efficient I've found, does a very good job of keeping hot. That is, until it fails - with no sign of damage, it just stops working. Yes, ther's a no hassle, friendly and rapid replacement, they even reimbursed my postage in sending th dead one back, but I'm now on my third in 2 years - knowing you can get a free replacement isn't much use when it fails in the middle of a trip. A litre is a bit bigger than I need, so I've recently bought a 0.5 litre Thermos Ultimate which seems good. The water is hot enough to make a drink after 12 hours, which is good for a 0.5l litre - smaller flasks lose temperature faster as they have a higher surface to volume rati.

Chris

[Graham T]

I have the 0.8 thermos ultimate and tested it's claims. Preheat the flask and 24 hours later I made a hot enough drink. This far surpasses any other flask I have tried including stanley and other Thermos models

[Dave28]

I've been using a Lifeventure flask 2 to 3 times a week for the last year or so.

Doesn't leak and hasn't lost thermal efficiency.

Speak as you find.

[MikeB]

I've also tried a Primus flask. Expensive @ £20 for the .5 ltr. Looks lovely. Useless. Returned it and got a refund.

[canoegnu]

I'm still using a Vango 1l flask I've had for about 20 years. It's just brilliant. Fill it up on a Friday night and the contents will still be hot on Sunday lunchtime. I used to keep it in the side pocket of my army bergan when parachuting in the TA, which was the first thing to hit the ground, being suspended on a 15ft rope below me. It has many dents but works fine to this day. I'll be gutted when it does pack up, as I don't think I'll find anything as good to replace it.

Cheers,

Ian

[MikeB]

I had a simiilar experience with an old Vango flask - superb thing. This Thermos one looks rather similar - I wonder if it's as good? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thermos-Stainle ... d_sim_kh_5

[JohnML]

The Stanley 1 litre flask is the most efficient I've found, does a very good job of keeping hot. That is, until it fails - with no sign of damage, it just stops working. Yes, ther's a no hassle, friendly and rapid replacement, they even reimbursed my postage in sending th dead one back, but I'm now on my third in 2 years - knowing you can get a free replacement isn't much use when it fails in the middle of a trip.

Doh, just binned my broken one. It is awesome though and will be getting another.

[The Portage King]

My Vango is 14 years old, never leaks and keeps water boiling enough to make tea for 6 or 8 hours minimum. Absolutely faultless.

My Life Adventure one never gets used anymore as it's rubbish. Doesn't leak but liquids cool rapidly

[Jim]

I have had a lot of flasks and my current Vango one is still keeping water hot enough to make tea for over 24 hours (if not opened earlier) despite looking seriously battered.

I have always found the plastic stoppers in stainless flasks a problem, my solution is to stop about 1/2" below the stopper seat, fit the stopper and then hold the flask upside down over the sink and give it a good shake to make sure the stopper is not going to come free, again the Vango has actually done very well for this and I can't recall having the stopper come loose during the test - other flasks the stoppers have come loose or even flown right out, so be careful where you hold the flask to shake it.

[Green.media]

i use a berghaus flask for work (landscape gardener) and it will keep water hot for 48hours minimum to the point you have to wait a minet after pouring a cup of tea to drink it. there expensive but managed to get it reduced to 8 quid in blacks from 25 at christmas!
Cheers
Rich

[Douglas Wilcox]

I have quite a variety of flasks and most are made of stainless steel, like many of those in the above posts but I am at a loss to understand all this stuff about keeping things hot. I have never served a malt whisky hot. I much prefer it at ambient temperature.

Douglas

[PhilAyr]

I have quite a variety of flasks and most are made of stainless steel, like many of those in the above posts but I am at a loss to understand all this stuff about keeping things hot. I have never served a malt whisky hot. I much prefer it at ambient temperature.

Douglas

David as usual loves to prove that he has the biggest one !! :-)

Phil

[PeterG]

Charity shops sometimes have the glass variety very very cheap, these all seem to work better than stainless ones and we have never broken one whilst kayaking. However, they break if knocked off the draining board!

[Daker]

Another vote for the Thermos Thermax ones - they genuinely keep suff hot for up to 24hrs and even after repeated openings are well hot enough for that final warm drink when you get back to the van.

Oh, and theyre also great for taking ice cream for lunch in the 'summer' !!! ;o))

As an aside, for those who like to drive with a hot cup of coffee, especially on those early / late drives, I cannot recommend the following highly enough - very expensive for 'just' a travel mug but will keep your brew hot for about 3 hrs and has a 100% leak proof lid so doesnt matter if it rolls around the footwell either.
http://www.thermosonline.co.uk/products ... ducts/4198

[MikeB]

I'm on a wee trip at the moment. Between the three of us we have three new/ish Stanley flasks. All three have failed, inc my brand new one. I'm far from impressed. Mike

[John N]

STANLEY - the best I've ever had and keep stuff warmer / longer than anything else I've had. Not cheap though, I paid around £23.00 for a 1ltr version some years back. See the range here http://www.stanley-pmi.com/

x2

And great customer service - mine, an Outdoor Vacumn Bottle failed after 3 or so years of heavy use - no receipt of course - returned to the UK agents with a covering note and a replacement arrived within a week. Filled with boiling water at around 8pm of an evening, and left in the porch of the tent, it provides my morning coffee just fine. Mike.

What's gone wrong in little more than a week. It should be noted that SS flasks are not unbreakable, just considerably more robust than the older glass models. Mine is still going well I'm happy to say. I also use a THERMOS 0.5ltr soup jug complete with its own spoon and I've been most impressed with this so long as it's thoroughly warmed up first.

[MikeB]

Dont know what's gone wrong - just "failed" for no reason and it most certainly wasn't dropped, banged against anything or maltreated in any way. It's predecessor wasnt treated with respect and had the odd ding. It still worked fine, as I mentioned above. It was excellent. And then it just stopped doing its thing.

The other two were fairly new, and were ok when we launched and both just failed on the second day - again, no obvious reason - they certainly hadn't been abused either.

Either way, I'm not impressed. Mike.

[Chris Bolton]

Exactly what my first two did, Mike. The third one is being kept leave in the car during day trips. Very sad that the product has gone downhill so much.

Chris

[Ken_T]

Hi,
A couple of years ago I bought a Stanley flask, it lasted about 1 month (it was treated gently), Stanley replaced it with one that lasted about a month, they replaced it again with one which lasted about a month. I didn't bother after that. I have a Thermos & a Vango that work well, & also a Matalan that works well. The sample size does not make my experience statistically significant.
Ken

[Kim Bull]

Hello,
I've started using a food flask on cold days so I can have a hot lunch, and these suffer from the same problems you've encountered. I've made a neoprene sleeve for the flask. This protects it from knocks and adds a layer of insulations which definately keeps my porridge hotter for longer!
Warmest wishes,
Kim