Stanley Vacuum Flask

Not to be confused with the identically named British manufacturer of hand tools (though the US company does make some rather snazzy lunch boxes), Stanley has a heritage of building very tough outdoor products that stand the test of time. In the words of the makers themselves, Stanley flasks often get handed from generation to generation not because they’re lovely (and they are) but because they last longer than their original owners. The tagline might be Built for Life; what it perhaps should be is Built for Several Lifetimes.

The reason for this extraordinary hardiness was the invention stumbled upon by the enterprising founder of the company, one William Stanley Jr, in 1913. As described rather grandly in the text of patent application US 1071817 A, William Stanley Jr announced that he had “invented certain new and useful Improvements in Heat-Insulated Receptacles”. To put it more plainly, he was the man who invented the all-metal vacuum flask. His patent text ran to 3,000 words; but, essentially, his flask removed the need for a glass inner by constructing one of stainless steel instead. “My invention...” continued Stanley, “may be applied to milk cans and many other devices and arrangements.”

Applied they were, and Stanley became the first company to manufacturer the durable all-metal thermal flasks we know and love today. Given their rugged, utilitarian look it’s not difficult to see why they were at first adopted by the US military; and indeed Stanley’s vaults feature letters from owners across the 103 years of the brand’s heritage telling tales of bullets, B-52 bombers, owners pledging to be buried with their flasks, truckers clocking up 3 million miles with their Stanley at their side, and many, many more. Any product that engenders this kind of affection is a keeper. Though, as these fond tales of ownership suggest, it’s not like you really have much of a choice.