Thermos?

[flatfoot]

I'm thinking of getting myself a small thermos to use on daywalks as an alternative to carrying a small stove.

Can anyone recommend a particular brand/model? Any favourites?

[bushrunner]

It would certainly be more convenient than a stove. Not sure about any weight saving though as a thermos is relatively heavy. I would be interested in seeing what you come up with. Keep us posted.

[rucksack]

You could try a Tiger Sahara stainless steel thermos. The are made in Japan and the company has been around since 1923. I have their MMU-A030, which has a capacity of 300ml and weighs 190g empty. It keeps hot drinks hot for at least 6 hours. Works for me and with Tiger you can always get spare parts and replacement 'O' rings. I bought mine in Shanghai (of course), but the brand is widely available, if their web sites are anything to go by.

rucksack

[johnw]

I'm thinking of getting myself a small thermos to use on daywalks as an alternative to carrying a small stove.

Can anyone recommend a particular brand/model? Any favourites?

I just bought a Thermos brand 500ml one at the camping show at Rosehill on the Anzac Day long weekend. I haven't used it yet but it's quite light and compact. Exactly what I'd been looking for as I occasionally use an ancient (70's) glass Thermos on bush regeneration day trips. But it's heavy and bulky, so this modern version looks ideal. It came in a pack with a s/s travel mug for $20. From memory I bought it from Amazon Outdoors. This is it:
http://www.thermos.com/product_details.aspx?ProdID=487&CatCode=BEVG&q=

[Jaxter]

I use an Alladin 500ml thermos - just big enough for a few refreshing cups of hot tea. I prewarm it with boiling water before putting the tea in and it keeps the tea quite warm until well after lunch.

[adventurerichard]

Sigg used to make some and they gave some sort of rating on the box so you knew how hot the water would still be after x amount of hrs, which was useful. I had one once but the fairies stole it and haven't replaced it yet. The lid design was a bit crappy (too wide) but I had a Sigg fetish at the time so i forgave it.

[rucksack]

And Primus do too, in 5 sizes. I saw some just the other day. You can find details on the Primus web site. I don't need another one though!

rucksack

[abowen]

I use an Alladin food flask. Can't remember what size. A big lid is useful so that you can easily use a spoon. To reduce weight I ditched the top cover lid and the s/s spoon on the Alladin and use a titanium long handle spoon instead. Even though it weighs a bit, I often enjoy a warm/hot lunch sitting on a summit somewhere. It holds quite a volume of food as well and at times I split the meal into two - some for lunch and some for later in the day.
Some of my walking buddies take theirs on multi day walks and use it for rehydrafing a meal in hot water and then having a hot lunch and for having a hot breakfast prepared the night before.
Cheers
Andrew

[flatfoot]

I'm thinking of getting myself a small thermos to use on daywalks as an alternative to carrying a small stove.

Can anyone recommend a particular brand/model? Any favourites?

I just bought a Thermos brand 500ml one at the camping show at Rosehill on the Anzac Day long weekend. I haven't used it yet but it's quite light and compact. Exactly what I'd been looking for as I occasionally use an ancient (70's) glass Thermos on bush regeneration day trips. But it's heavy and bulky, so this modern version looks ideal. It came in a pack with a s/s travel mug for $20. From memory I bought it from Amazon Outdoors. This is it:
http://www.thermos.com/product_details.aspx?ProdID=487&CatCode=BEVG&q=

I like the look of this one. My daypack has side-pockets with vertical zippers that look to be the ideal size for something like this. I'll see if I can find this or something similar.

[flatfoot]

I ordered one of these and it arrived today. I'm going to try it on a daywalk on Saturday.

I like my coffee on the super-hot side and I'll let you know how it goes.

[johnw]

I ordered one of these and it arrived today. I'm going to try it on a daywalk on Saturday.

I like my coffee on the super-hot side and I'll let you know how it goes.

Excellent! Mine is still in the box so I'm keen to hear your evaluation. Have a day trip planned for July 3 where I'll probably use it. I also like my coffee super-hot.

[wander]

Which ones leak? We have 2 Kathmandu's that leak. Something to do with the lid components getting hot and differential expansion I suspect.

[flatfoot]

I ordered one of these and it arrived today. I'm going to try it on a daywalk on Saturday.

I like my coffee on the super-hot side and I'll let you know how it goes.

Excellent! Mine is still in the box so I'm keen to hear your evaluation. Have a day trip planned for July 3 where I'll probably use it. I also like my coffee super-hot.

I tried the thermos today and was very disappointed with the results. I used boiling water to pre-heat the thermos and then fill it at around 5:30am this morning. I then packed it amongst other gear in my daypack. On the walk we stopped at about 11am for morning tea. The water was only luke-warm. I will test it out at home before using it on another daywalk. If I can't get adequate results I might just use my jetboil on daywalks. I might also just switch to having a brew at the meeting point before a walk commences.

[photohiker]

I used to carry a small stainless thermos on daywalks, but I compared the weight of the thermos against my ti stove+100g gas and it was no contest, so I now pack the stove and boil the billy. This also helps with focussing on taking a decent break which helps the body. Without it, I tend to eat and run...

[ninjapuppet]

if you're not in such a hurry, then consider this set up: i use it for day walks


- - stainless nalgene 500ml cup that fits perfectly on the end of a nalgene. boil directly with the cup
- - soda can stove
- - small bottle of alcohol
- - cardboard tube to hold the alcohol stove alcohol bottle, matchsticks and some tea/coffe/sugar (from post office & fits perfectly)

The whole set up including the tea & coffee is UNDER 200 grams.
it takes under 10 minutes from opening up the cardboard tube to having 2 cups of coffee to drink. can boil even more if you need in cold weather.

I used a thermos when I worked on a farm and had only 20 minute breaks, but i'm sure an extra 10 minutes on a Sunday hike wont matter much.

Attachments

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[ninjapuppet]

I forgot to mention that i also add a sheet of kitchen aluminium foil, folded several times to make a windscreen. weight is negligible.


This setup is much slower than your jetboil, and more fiddly, but its half the fun.

[johnw]

I ordered one of these and it arrived today. I'm going to try it on a daywalk on Saturday.

I like my coffee on the super-hot side and I'll let you know how it goes.

Excellent! Mine is still in the box so I'm keen to hear your evaluation. Have a day trip planned for July 3 where I'll probably use it. I also like my coffee super-hot.

I tried the thermos today and was very disappointed with the results. I used boiling water to pre-heat the thermos and then fill it at around 5:30am this morning. I then packed it amongst other gear in my daypack. On the walk we stopped at about 11am for morning tea. The water was only luke-warm. I will test it out at home before using it on another daywalk. If I can't get adequate results I might just use my jetboil on daywalks. I might also just switch to having a brew at the meeting point before a walk commences.

Thanks for that. That's disappointing . I think it says something like keeps fluids hot for 12 hours on the side of the box. If I don't get close to that I'll be looking for a refund.

[flatfoot]

Thanks for that. That's disappointing . I think it says something like keeps fluids hot for 12 hours on the side of the box. If I don't get close to that I'll be looking for a refund.

Mine doesn't say anything like that on the box. Model number is "VAC 50 SL" and it's 0.5 litre. I also tested it overnight on the Kitchen bench. Since I was quite tired this meant that it was sitting on the bench for 10hrs. Room temperature would have been around 10 degrees minimum during the night. Not surprised that the water in the thermos was about the same temperature after 10hrs.

[flatfoot]

I forgot to mention that i also add a sheet of kitchen aluminium foil, folded several times to make a windscreen. weight is negligible.


This setup is much slower than your jetboil, and more fiddly, but its half the fun.

The amusing thing is that I was carrying the JetBoil anyway. I suppose I really wanted to satisfy myself that the Thermos was a bad idea by drinking the luke warm coffee.

[Moondog55]

Many factors at work here, thermal mass being one of them, the weak point always seems to be the lid.
The thermal isolation in the lid probably isn't a full vacumn and is usually plastic and hollow.
my experience says that as a thermos anything smaller than 1liter doesn't work. But the bigger the initial thermal mass the hotter it stays


I know it adds weight but I have always kept my thermos in a tube made from an old Karrimat and some duck tape or an old wool sock doubled over.
How-ever in winter being able to cook lentils and beans for dinner while you ski can make up for it in fuel saved.

Comments about waking up to hot porridge are seconded

[timmy_pete]

I took a 500-700ml brandless stainless steel thermos up Mt St Gwinear (Near Baw Baw in Victoria) in the snow yesterday and, preheated, it held its temperature pretty well. Coffee was still very hot after approx 5 hours despite an outside temp probably not much above 0. Whilst I've never took it hiking/snowshoeing before today I've found it in the past to be fine for a bit longer when ambient temps have been higher and often take it kayaking.

It was given to me new by a family member, who received it as a freebie with a magazine subscription or similar. Happy to post a photo if it assists in identification, unlike others, it hasn't leaked on me before, and has a second cup.

[flatfoot]

I took a 500-700ml brandless stainless steel thermos up Mt St Gwinear (Near Baw Baw in Victoria) in the snow yesterday and, preheated, it held its temperature pretty well. Coffee was still very hot after approx 5 hours despite an outside temp probably not much above 0. Whilst I've never took it hiking/snowshoeing before today I've found it in the past to be fine for a bit longer when ambient temps have been higher and often take it kayaking.

It was given to me new by a family member, who received it as a freebie with a magazine subscription or similar. Happy to post a photo if it assists in identification, unlike others, it hasn't leaked on me before, and has a second cup.

That will be helpful! Thanks!

[timmy_pete]

Apologies for the slow reply. As mentioned earlier, I don't know the brand or the exact spot the relly got it from.

Closeup of thermos top, lid, cup.

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Closeup of dual cup arrangement.

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Shot of top and interior.

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Size comparison (without lid)

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Size comparison (with lid)

2010-06- BtThermosShot 5 [IMG_0258].jpg (58.39 KiB) Viewed 18782 times

[johnw]

Thanks for that. That's disappointing . I think it says something like keeps fluids hot for 12 hours on the side of the box. If I don't get close to that I'll be looking for a refund.

Mine doesn't say anything like that on the box. Model number is "VAC 50 SL" and it's 0.5 litre. I also tested it overnight on the Kitchen bench. Since I was quite tired this meant that it was sitting on the bench for 10hrs. Room temperature would have been around 10 degrees minimum during the night. Not surprised that the water in the thermos was about the same temperature after 10hrs.

OK, I finally field tested mine today on a bush regen. trip at Springwood in the lower Blue Mtns. I filled it with boiling water at 0730 and had my first cup of coffee at approx. 1030. It was plenty hot enough. I had a second cup at about 1330 and it was still sufficiently hot for coffee, but had noticeably cooled. So it passes my requirements (just). I had earlier bench tested it during the week but forgot about it and left it for 24 hrs before checking it. It was actually still better than warm but not hot quite enough for coffee etc. I've noticed that it gets quite warm to touch around the top quarter so assume the heat is dissipating at that point. I was thinking of trying some type of insulated sleeve over the top to minimise this, maybe one of those beer stubby holders.

p.s. I was wrong about the claim on the box, I think that info actually came from the Thermos web site.

[flatfoot]

A friend put me onto the 600ml Cheeki brand insulated stainless steel bottles. It significantly outperformed the crappy Thermos brand unit that I had previously purchased. After 2.5 hrs on the bench I poured water from each into separate glasses. The water from the cheeki was to hot too put my finger into for more than a second or 2. The water from the thermos (500ml stainless steel) was not particularly hot.

This is the one I purchased:



I purchased it from Shop Naturally (no affiliation).

It's unbelievable how bad the thermos brand 500ml flask is!

Last edited by flatfoot on Thu 28 Oct, 2010 11:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

[ninjapuppet]

It's unbelievable how bad the thermos brand 500ml flask is!

and yet they're the ones you see sold everywhere.
sounds like you've found a good way to keep hot water hot

[johnw]

It's unbelievable how bad the thermos brand 500ml flask is!

Yeah, I have to admit I'm somewhat disappointed with mine also. I've used it again the last two weekends in a row, in mild/warm conditions, and it was only just hot enough at lunch time for a second cup of coffee. Seems to lose a lot more heat near the top than I would have expected from an insulated vessel. OK it does the job I intended, just, but I had expected much better performance from that brand, based on their past reputation and an ancient Thermos I own. I can't see how their claims can be substantiated. On the plus side it's quite light and compact, and easy to stow in the pack. It'll do for now I suppose but I might look at the Cheeki later on.

[ninjapuppet]

DOnt know if anyone has seen this, but these heatsticks might be a good alternative to replace a thermos of they're cheap enough

http://heatgear.dk/company/our-technology/

[stepbystep]

A tip:

NEVER put Jerusalem artichoke soup in a thermos and leave it there for more than a cpl of hours.... kaboom