Stanley have been a around for more than a hundred years, they have built a brand name that is synonymous with quality and durability.
Whilst I wouldn’t say their products are particularly expensive, they are generally at the more expensive end of what your search results will bring.
However, the saying “buy cheap, buy twice” rings true here, yes Stanley may have a premium price but that is because they are made from premium materials and are well designed.
So, if you look after them, they will last you decades, trust me I know this is true. Therefore, whatever outlay you make, it is nothing really when spread over such a long-time.
It is a container, which has a vacuum in between an inner wall and an outer wall. This allows you to keep liquids or food in the container and keep them hot or cold for long periods of time.
Probably the most common way this is used, is to take a flask of coffee with you on a day hike and for it to still be hot when you stop for breaks.
I am a big fan of Stanley and own a lot of their products, so let’s have a look at some of them:
My grandfather had one, my father has one, and I have one… in fact they are that durable we could have probably all used the same one.
The design has barley changed, my grandfather bought his 60 years before I did, and you can barely tell the difference.
Mine looks a little more modern and slicker I guess, but there have only been minimal changes over the years and if my son goes out and buys one in the future then I bet it will not have changed much by then either.
I got mine in Hammertone Green which is absolutely gorgeous by the way. There are two other colours, Matte Black and Nightfall but as soon as I saw the green, I knew I had to have it.
The hardest decision with the Stanley Thermos Classic Legendary Bottle is not if you should buy it, it is simply a matter of choosing which size you should buy! It comes in 5 sizes – 20 ounces, then 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 quarts.
So, you will just need to consider how do you intend to use it most often then decide on the size.
Obviously not only does the bigger ones weigh more, they also can take more liquid, which will again make it heavier.
Therefore, if you are taking it on a day hike with you then consider what will fit into your day backpack and what weight can you comfortably carry all day.
The bottle is double walled, it is made from food grade stainless steel, and it is vacuum insulated.
The high quality stainless-steel basically make this bombproof. It is very safe inside your backpack; nothing that is in there is going to damage it.
I have also had it rattling around inside cars, boats, and kayaks with zero damage. You can drop it and it will perform to the same high standards it always does.
When I am on overnight wild camps, there is nothing worse than feeling you need to be overly careful with things you take.
Life is too short for that. If I want to throw my back down on the side of the trail, then I want to be able to do that without fretting about what’s inside.
However, it doesn’t matter how sturdy the Stanley Thermos Classic Legendary Bottle is if it doesn’t do what it is meant to do, namely keep hot liquids hot/warm and cold liquids cold/cool.
I camp and hike in both cold and hot weather, so I need it to be effective for both climates and it is! In the winter I fill it with hot coffee, I drink the coffee throughout the day, and I save one last cup for when I am finally pitched at night.
That is usually around 12 hours and the coffee is still steaming hot. Then when I am out and about in the summer, there is nothing worse than drinking tepid warm water that has been in direct sunlight all day.
This is where the Stanley Thermos also excels.
You can put cold water in it, strap it to the outside of the bag and no matter how hot that direct sunlight is, it barely affects the water temperature at all. It is still refreshingly cold at the end of the day as it was at the beginning.
I have never really tested it past the 12-hour mark as I will have usually drunk the contents by then, but I have no reason to believe that you couldn’t keep coffee in it for 24 hours and it would still be warm enough to drink.
What does help is if you use the spout function, you can partially unscrew the inner lid which allows you to pour the liquid into the outer lid/cup.
This means you do not have to take the inner lid off completely, this allows you to continually pour your drinks throughout the day whilst having minimal impact on the internal temperature.Â
Another good tip is to preheat or precool the bottle before using. So, if you are filling it with coffee, then whilst you are making the coffee have some plain hot water sat in the bottle for 5 minutes or so.
Pour out the water, pour in the coffee, and put the lids on. This will help with maintaining the temperature of the coffee.
It is not the cheapest flask on the market, but it is not the most expensive either. However, I do think it is the best. It keeps hot things hot, it keeps cold things cold, it is robust, it is strong, it is durable, everything is well made and fits together well.
There is nothing worse than when you have been out on the trails all day and you are desperate for a hot drink, you pour it, and it is lukewarm.
Actually, there is something worse, you get the bottle out and it has been smashed and cracked because you haven’t been super careful with it.
Neither of these circumstances will ever happen with a Stanley Thermos… and even if it did, they offer a lifetime warranty so you can return it and get a free replacement.
Lifetime warranties are great not because you ever want to use them, but because you know the company has confidence in its products.
Thermos food jars or containers can prove very useful in day-to-day life.
They are a great way to ensure you can have a healthy meal at work, they are great for keeping your energy levels high on a day hike, if you are stuck on a boat all day whilst out fishing, and a great way to have a warm meal if you are on a stealthy wild camp where you don’t want to use a gas stove, alcohol stove, or campfire.
Foods with a decent amount of liquid work best, so think chunky soups, stews, and casseroles.
When I fell in love with the Stanley Thermos Classic Legendary Bottle, I quickly went out and bought the food jar from the same range.
I got this Stanley Thermos Classic Legendary Food Jar in the same Hammertone Green that I got the bottle in, its such a lovely and iconic colour.
It has everything you would expect from Stanley, it is made with premium double-walled vacuum insultation, and 18/8 stainless-steel.
As it is made from stainless steel it is dishwasher safe which is always a bonus in my opinion, and it will never rust from the cleaning process or the food itself.
It has a nice sturdy handle for you to carry the food jar, or to pour the food out into a bowl but to be honest I rarely use the handle.
The food jar is usually packed into my backpack or lunch box and I eat the contents straight out of the container with a spork usually.
Stanley states this food jar will keep food hot for upwards of 15 hours and food cold for 18 hours. I cannot say if this is true, but I don’t doubt them.
The longest I have kept hot food in for has been 12 hours at the most, and it was hot but not piping hot. So, I can see why 15 hours might be the longest you want to leave hot food in it before eating it.
I have never actually used it for cold food so I wouldn’t know how it performs, most of the time I have Beef Stew in it or The Wife’s famous Chilli.
I suppose it would be good for a cold potato salad or something like that, but I am more into stews than salads.
Like with a normal flask, you have an inner screw lid and an outer lid that you can use as a bowl or cup.
These are well designed, food grade, and help with the temperature regulation. I have used my food jar hundreds of times and not once has it spilt or leaked.
As with the Stanley Thermos Classic Legendary Bottle, the food jar is not cheap, but it is certainly not expensive. Especially when you consider it could be the only food jar that you will every need to buy.
It is well made, so it is unlikely you will break it. There is also a lifetime guarantee, so you know the vacuum insulation isn’t going to degrade noticeably over time.
When you take this into account then I actually think that Stanley sells their products on the cheap side and could quite easily get away with a price increase, but I am glad they don’t.
The only real downside is the downside of all food jars, they are bulky, take up quite a bit of room in your backpack, and when filled with food are quite heavy.
So, you do need to factor that weight into your overall pack weight before heading out on a day or overnight hike.
This is the other thermos product I have from Stanley. It is basically a really good travel mug. It is made from double-wall vacuum insulation, 18/8 stainless steel, but has a Ceramivac finish which my other products don’t have.
I obviously got it in the Hammertone green, so it forms a nice-looking set.
Stanley state it will keep a hot drink hot for 1.5 hours and a cold drink cold for 3 hours, which is great for a travel mug.
I mainly use it to have a cup of coffee to drink in the car whilst I am commuting to work.
The commute is around 45 minutes, and if anything the mug is too effective. Sometimes I am desperate for that early morning caffeine hit, and my coffee stays too hot for too long!
So, I find myself in the work car park smashing in the coffee before clocking in.
Stanley and its product range are as respected on a construction site as they are on a thru-hike or adventure weekend.
Anyone who buys one of their products will be hard pressed not to buy their entire range if they aren’t careful.
Whenever I need to buy anything relating to kitchen and camping utensils, I always think I wonder if Stanley do it. So, I will always check their website first to see if they have what I need.
I normally thoroughly check customer reviews on multiple sites before buying anything, but I don’t need to do that with a Stanley product as I know they will be excellent.
