What's new

Good Thermos?

Legion

Staff member
That's good to know. I'll make sure to tell my wife so she doesn't try to sell mine.

-jim

For sure. Just out of curiosity inspired by this thread an some other stuff I was reading on the net, I warmed mine, then poured in boiling water yesterday. It has now been a full 24 hours, and even though I opened it a couple of times to check along the way, the water is still steaming hot. I finally found my lab thermometer, and it is about 75 degrees C, too hot to drink or put your finger in. Amazing.

Next test I'll do a 24 hour test with the Stanley and a glass one and see how much difference there is.

Yes, I have too much time on my hands...
 
Alright, since Stanleys seem to take the cake and icing, too. Does anyone have any links to a nice vintage one, since the new ones aren't that great?
 
One more vote against Chinese Stanleys. Bought one of the smaller ones that claimed it would keep liquids hot for 12 hours. Did an overnight test (heated bottle, boiling water). Luke warm by 12 hours. They sent me another one for free which actually performs better (but not impressively better). Quality is too variable to recommend.

I have an 80's big Stanley bottle that aces this test for 24 hours, just like Legion's test.

Steve
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Alright, since Stanleys seem to take the cake and icing, too. Does anyone have any links to a nice vintage one, since the new ones aren't that great?

I have the new one I linked a picture of, and it works superbly. Hot coffee in it in at 5:00 in the morning, and I have had a hot cup of coffee on the way home from work at 5:30 in the evening after sitting in the car in the Chicago winter all day.

It may not keep things scalding hot for days on end like some of the old ones do, but approximately 12 hours is generally more than adequate for most people. It is for me.
 
I have a brand new Stanley, and if left full with fresh hot coffee or tea it is still too hot to drink after 24 hours. If you have it half full, it is only warm after 24 hours. I find that the smaller glass lined Thermos brand thermos is better if you want a smaller bottle than the 1L Stanley. The price of the new Stanley is not bad either.

Phil
 
Great. Thermos AD is about to start! The price of the Vintage ones on eBay is nuts, but my dad used to have one from the early 90s that lasted until a year or so ago. Kept coffee hot through all day deer hunts; I know these work and I want one!
 

Legion

Staff member
Alright, since Stanleys seem to take the cake and icing, too. Does anyone have any links to a nice vintage one, since the new ones aren't that great?

PM sent. You should be able to get a pretty good one for the price of that. Some people are asking over $100, but they are dreaming.
 
Well, coming from Wyoming, I can believe you know cold weather and when a bottle holds up heat.


True story! For anyone in milder climates any insulated bottle will be just fine. Even out in the west, if you look in about any working man's pick up you will see some variety of a stainless steel thermos. They will last a lifetime and endure all sorts of abuse.
 
Found some tests here. The tragic thing is there are cheap Chinese flasks that work perfectly well, whereas the more expensive Stanley Aladdins made in China are very poor.
I bet they spent more redesigning and retooling than they'll ever recoup in materials costs. Bloody beancounters!
 
Found some tests here. The tragic thing is there are cheap Chinese flasks that work perfectly well, whereas the more expensive Stanley Aladdins made in China are very poor.
I bet they spent more redesigning and retooling than they'll ever recoup in materials costs. Bloody beancounters!

Wow. Reading that my Stanley 1L must be a fluke! I am not joking though, I get 24 hour out of it, although I have never tested it at lower than room temperatures. I only get this experience when it is filled completely, almost no air space left in it.

Phil
 

luvmysuper

My elbows leak
Staff member
Wow. Reading that my Stanley 1L must be a fluke! I am not joking though, I get 24 hour out of it, although I have never tested it at lower than room temperatures. I only get this experience when it is filled completely, almost no air space left in it.

Phil

+1

Either we both got the odd ones, or that guy did.
 

Legion

Staff member
proxy.php


So after yesterday proving to myself that my old 1981 Stanley is the business, I decided to see how the stainless model compares to a glass one. So I got out another Aladdin Thermos of around the same capacity (~1L), but this time a glass model, and just for fun, while I was about it, a small stainless jobbie, possibly made by Nissan.

I pre warmed all of them, then almost filled them all with boiling water, which we'll say was just under 100 degrees C. I left them all in a room with and ambient temp of about 20C for 24 hours.

Results-

Small Nissan = 50C. Not bad, but not really hot enough for coffee. I could stick my finger in the water and hold it there. I guess these smaller units are not really intended to work for 24 hours anyway. I'm sure over the course of a days work it would be just fine.

Aladdin glass = 64C. That's more like it. Too hot to hold my finger in, and a nice sipping temp for coffee. McDonalds serve their "coffee" at 60C, so it's still OK to drink, but you can't spill it on yourself and sue them.

Stan the Man = 70C! The winner, and still champion, vintage Stanley. After a whole 24 hours your coffee would still be steaming hot and ready to go. Plus it's much more robust than a glass one. And it looks old school and cool.

Now, these Thermoses (Thermi?) were kept in a warm room, nearly full, and without opening for the duration of the test, so real life results probably wont be the same as these. But it is interesting that the old stainless model beat the glass one. All the stuff you read says it should have gone the other way. Cool result.
 
Last edited:
Nobody mentioned Zojirushi... I don't have one, but I have heard that their thermoses (thermii? lol) are pretty nice.
 
Top Bottom