A few people have written in asking what flask I use, so I thought I would start a reviews page. Gary showed me how to add a page before he moved to Swindon and it has worked first time, more or less.
I will say this before I start. Most reviews on the internet are written by people who have had the item three days. I don't think you can say owt useful about a piece of equipment inside two years. So I will only be reviewing things I have used properly, in all weathers, over a fair stretch of time. That is why there is only one review at present.
Bought March 2011 from the hardware shop in town, £19.99. Our Linda thought that were a lot for a flask. I said you get what you pay for, and two years on I stand by that.
Background. My previous flask had a glass liner, which went on a stile near Scammonden in 2010. You only make that mistake once. This one is steel throughout.
Heat retention. This is the main thing. Tea goes in at seven, milk in. First cup is usually around ten, and it is properly hot. Second cup at dinnertime, still hot. I have had a third cup at half two that I would describe as warm going on hot, which for January on Wessenden is remarkable. I have tested it in frost, wind and steady rain and the results have been consistent.
Pouring. The stopper is the pour-through sort, so you can pour with your gloves on, which matters more than people think. No drips down the side to speak of. The cup screws on firm and doesn't rattle in the bag, which Our Linda appreciates as she packs the bag.
Capacity. Three cups if you're not greedy. In practice two and a half, as the last pour is never quite a full one. I have made my peace with that.
Milk. Some say milk separate. I have tried both ways and milk in has never let me down. I mention it because people ask.
Durability. Dropped once on the towpath at Slaithwaite, onto stone. There is a dent near the base. No effect on performance. The dent is useful, in fact, as I now know which way round it is in the bag without looking.
Rating: **** (four stars out of a possible five).
The fifth star is withheld pending long-term performance. Two years is enough to review a flask but not enough to finish reviewing it. I will look at the position again in ten years.
I intend to review the folding stool in due course, once I have owned one long enough to say anything useful.
Update, February 2024.
Thirteen years now, which is past the ten I said, but I wanted to be sure.
The washer in the stopper perished in 2019. I wrote to Thermos and they sent a replacement free of charge, which I thought were decent of them. That is the only maintenance it has needed. Heat retention is as it were in 2011. The dent is still there and still useful.
Rating revised: ***** (five stars).
The fifth star is awarded. I don't award it lightly, and I would ask anyone reading this to bear in mind it took thirteen years, so a five-star review elsewhere on the internet may not mean the same thing.
The folding stool (acquired spring 2016) is coming along, and I expect to be in a position to review it in 2026.