Ripshod
07-06-2009, 11:14 PM
I have to have coffee in the morning. In the past, I've always carried a small plastic coffee mug from REI which I'd lifted from a girlfriend years ago. It had a lid but it wasn't the kind of cup that you could actually carry on the bike. My camping buddy was always bringing some fancy coffee cup, a different one every trip, but then he started carrying a tall thermos bottle and I was intrigued. In fact, I was so impressed that I got one too and I think every coffee drinker should get one.
It's the Stanley Outdoor Vacuum 16oz. Drink Bottle (http://www.stanley-pmi.com/shop/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=10-00163-002).
http://www.st-owners.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=662&pictureid=9565
I never noticed how my coffee habit slowed me down in the mornings. We make our camp coffee in a percolator so it comes out of the pot way too hot to drink. I'd pour a cup, bring it to my lips and put it down quickly, then come back to it periodically, sipping and sitting, while the packing went undone. If I wanted to get the Minimum Recommended Daily Amount of caffeine in my belly I had to drink it all before we hit the road, so all that stopping to sit and sip added a lot of time to my packing.
No more. Now I just fill up my Stanley Vacuum Bottle and let it sit. It'll still be there, and it'll still be hot when all the packing is done. Then I just hook it to a D-ring on my seat bag with a carabiner and the coffee stays fresh and hot for hours.
http://www.st-owners.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=662&pictureid=9566
It has an airtight lid that actually whooshes when you open it. To take a drink, you just rotate the top of the lid and a stopper lowers itself into the top so the coffee pours out equally well from all sides and it doesn't come out in little sips and you don't have to suck the liquid out. It pours just as fast as you tip it. When you twist that top closed, there is no way that a drop will escape. If I had to, I wouldn't hesitate to pack it lying down, rolled into my sleeping bag. I'm that confident that it won't leak. The fact that it doesn't have a handle is actually a plus. While it's easy to secure with the strong, small grommet lip (which makes it easy to carry in a crooked finger), the lack of a large, protruding handle makes it much easier to pack. Don't worry about burning your hand. It insulates so well you'll never feel the heat of the contents.
http://www.st-owners.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=662&pictureid=9567
The bottle on the left is closed, the one on the right is open. It looks like a
subtle difference but there's nothing subtle about it. When this sucker is
closed you can't shake a drop out of it and when it's open it flows freely in
any direction.
Now I don't have to rush my morning cup or spend valuable packing time trying to gulp down the precious life-giving nectar. Since I'm not big on eating an early breakfast, I like to stop after an hour or so on the road and nibble on a Fig Newton or a Clif Bar. With my Stanley bottle, I can do that while sipping on my fresh-roasted, fair-trade Sumatran roast and it'll be just as hot as when it came out of the percolator.
The bottle has an MSRP of $30 but I got mine from Amazon for $26 with free shipping. Apparently they're out of stock now but several places (including Campmor) sell them.
My wife liked it too. I loaned it to her to take her coffee to work one day and she was surprised to find it still hot when she got in the car to get lunch. I'm no fool. I got her one too. She wanted the dark grey color. It comes with a green lid. My copper bottle came with a black lid. I gave her my black lid so that her bottle won't clash with her car's upholstery. The copper color of my bottle keeps me from confusing it with my buddy's cup at the campsite. That would just be wrong.
This is part one of my Liquid Management Tools Series. The second picture gives a hint at what will be the subject of the second installment.
It's the Stanley Outdoor Vacuum 16oz. Drink Bottle (http://www.stanley-pmi.com/shop/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=10-00163-002).
http://www.st-owners.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=662&pictureid=9565
I never noticed how my coffee habit slowed me down in the mornings. We make our camp coffee in a percolator so it comes out of the pot way too hot to drink. I'd pour a cup, bring it to my lips and put it down quickly, then come back to it periodically, sipping and sitting, while the packing went undone. If I wanted to get the Minimum Recommended Daily Amount of caffeine in my belly I had to drink it all before we hit the road, so all that stopping to sit and sip added a lot of time to my packing.
No more. Now I just fill up my Stanley Vacuum Bottle and let it sit. It'll still be there, and it'll still be hot when all the packing is done. Then I just hook it to a D-ring on my seat bag with a carabiner and the coffee stays fresh and hot for hours.
http://www.st-owners.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=662&pictureid=9566
It has an airtight lid that actually whooshes when you open it. To take a drink, you just rotate the top of the lid and a stopper lowers itself into the top so the coffee pours out equally well from all sides and it doesn't come out in little sips and you don't have to suck the liquid out. It pours just as fast as you tip it. When you twist that top closed, there is no way that a drop will escape. If I had to, I wouldn't hesitate to pack it lying down, rolled into my sleeping bag. I'm that confident that it won't leak. The fact that it doesn't have a handle is actually a plus. While it's easy to secure with the strong, small grommet lip (which makes it easy to carry in a crooked finger), the lack of a large, protruding handle makes it much easier to pack. Don't worry about burning your hand. It insulates so well you'll never feel the heat of the contents.
http://www.st-owners.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=662&pictureid=9567
The bottle on the left is closed, the one on the right is open. It looks like a
subtle difference but there's nothing subtle about it. When this sucker is
closed you can't shake a drop out of it and when it's open it flows freely in
any direction.
Now I don't have to rush my morning cup or spend valuable packing time trying to gulp down the precious life-giving nectar. Since I'm not big on eating an early breakfast, I like to stop after an hour or so on the road and nibble on a Fig Newton or a Clif Bar. With my Stanley bottle, I can do that while sipping on my fresh-roasted, fair-trade Sumatran roast and it'll be just as hot as when it came out of the percolator.
The bottle has an MSRP of $30 but I got mine from Amazon for $26 with free shipping. Apparently they're out of stock now but several places (including Campmor) sell them.
My wife liked it too. I loaned it to her to take her coffee to work one day and she was surprised to find it still hot when she got in the car to get lunch. I'm no fool. I got her one too. She wanted the dark grey color. It comes with a green lid. My copper bottle came with a black lid. I gave her my black lid so that her bottle won't clash with her car's upholstery. The copper color of my bottle keeps me from confusing it with my buddy's cup at the campsite. That would just be wrong.
This is part one of my Liquid Management Tools Series. The second picture gives a hint at what will be the subject of the second installment.