UPDATE: Please read the update and the readers’ comments below. It seems the newer Stanley thermos does not hold up like the one in this review. Since moving their production over to China there seems to be a significant drop in quality.
Old Review:
After being disappointed with other brands of thermoses in the past, I really wasn’t expecting that much from the Stanley Thermos. I heard that they were tough, but I figured it was probably just a marketing gimmick. Boy, was I wrong!
I abuse pretty much all of my gear. From driving off with cameras on my back bumper to dropping gear down the side of a mountain, it was nice to finally have a product that could stand up to my abuse. I was really impressed with the strength of everything from the thermos handle to the handy little cup cap.
I brought a couple of Stanley Thermoses out to Sedona over the weekend, and after using them around the campground I am now a loyal fan! I was so impressed with them that I will be bringing them on all our future trips.
Why We Liked the Classic Stanley Thermos:
- Very tough – They stood up to all sorts of falls and even a few tumbles downs some rocks. I can see why people say that these things last a lifetime. The Classic Stanley Thermos stood up to pretty much any abuse that we could throw at it.
- Kept everything we put in them very hot. In fact, I filled the thermos up with boiling water at around 9pm and at 8am the next morning it was still hot enough to steep some tea. (The thermos was left out on a table in temperatures around 50 degrees)
- Very convenient. It was nice to have Hot water waiting in the morning without having to start the fire.
- The Lid is tough and doubles as a drinking cup.
- It was nice to see a company that still cares about quality. I have tried many cheap knock-off Thermoses in the past and I will tell you that none of them compared to the Stanley. We highly recommend it to anyone who is thinking about adding thermoses to their camping gear. This is one product that you will not have to worry about replacing anytime soon.
Looking for a Stanley Thermos?
- Stanley 1.1Qt Classic Vacuum Bottle at amazon
Update: We have had a number or people write in with their own reviews which you can see below. The thermos we reviewed was from a couple of years ago and worked great for us. Sadly, that doesn’t seem to be the case with newer models — you can read the hundreds of comments below. You can find more Gear Reviews in our Survival Gear Section and our Hiking Gear Section.
I was interviewed in the San Antonio Express News Newspaper recently. You can find my article on Apple News.
The current owners of Stanley thermos import their junk from China. The old Stanleys from 1913 to 2001 kept cold drinks cold and hot drinks hot with excellent patent liners created by William Stanley. Old Stanleys at one time had enamel liners never glass and never proven charcoal filler. But what was once American made is not
i had one the original Stanley thermos made in USA, in Australia the advertisement back in the day over 4 decades ago was you could run over them with some thing like a bull bulldozer ( if any one remembers that add ? ) and they be ok if a bit customized. best thermos i ever had, working out on the main roads when i was 16yrs old on a youth work program they trailed, well i dropped it in the top soil the bulldozer had been stripping for a new highway, and the operator thought it was funny to drive the D10 track over it. well it survived although it was half flat over most of it apart from the neck was untouched, even with the bottom bulged out it did not burst. after i cussed them all out, for ruining my only good item i could afford, i opened it and, bugger me if it was not still perfectly hot and no leaks. it lost a little time it would keep my Coffey hot and held less fluid, though it never again had issue with rolling off the table if i left it on its side. those guys laughed their nuts off every time i used it, till i started pouring the Coffey out of the thermos on to their the seats of machines while they were on a break!, i said to them sorry it must some how got a leak, i don’t know how that could happen as it was a pretty good new thermos, they being old school type of guys some of them appreciated the payback the young guy gave the few that did the deed. well i used that thermos for 15 yrs till one day it disappeared from the work site, that old guy with the wet dozer seat must really kept a grudge !. We all suspected him that did the great Stanley thermos theft :P. so the day before he retired, his car seat got the Coffey seat treatment, unfortunately this time it was from a thermos with the name but made in china that was not a patch on the old one made in the usa, though from its neck poured pure hot justice to that guy :).
I’ve a wide mouth plastic thermos.
It’s so old the brand has faded but it’s way better than all modern stuff I’ve tested.
While plastic may be not as strong as steel it survived rough use for decades.
It’s a little lighter.
And most important it keeps warm better. Not a surprise because thermal conductivity of steel is much worse than of plastic.
Yeah, vacuum insulation and all that doesn’t take away the fact that the inner bottle is welded to the other bottle and at that point there’s zero insulation of any kind. That’s also why it’s always warm in the screw on lid/cap/cup
A common mistake is simply compare about everything and then conclude this one is better.
Take by far the most common thermos is made steel.
Steel is an extremely bad insulator. It’s the vacuum between the inner and outer bottle that insulates.
BUT that inner bottle is welded to the outer bottle at the top. That part is not insulated at all.
The area uninsulated steel of a wide mouth is much larger than of a narrow mouth. For that reason. if you only want liquids (coffee, tea, soup) take a narrow mouth.
Also make sure the bottle/pot has a cup that crews over the screw-in cap, to retain at least some heat that escapes trough the welded mouth.