Keeping liquids warm

Any kayak paddlers here who take hot tea or chocolate on your cold weather outings? If so, what do you use that’s compact and not easily breakable?

Thanks.

I have a metal “Thermos” I purchased at WalMart. Although I try to brace it a little in my hatch, it does end up rolling around a little and I haven’t had any issues with that. Originally I thought it had a glass vacuum flask inside but now I think it’s all stainless. Honestly I can’t be sure until one day when I drop it. :wink:

This looks like a slightly updated version of the one I have: “Compact” is subjective, but for what this does I consider it worth the space it takes up. With the big openning you can use it for soup, chili, stew, or whatever else you can think of. I’ve never had any problems with leaks.

https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/vacuum-insulated-24-oz-stainless-king-food-jar/6000188186421

I use it for my 2nd and 3rd coffee of the day at work. It keeps things very hot for an impressive amount of time.

Thanks for the recommendation. Late autumn I purchased a metal “Thermos” at WalMart. Think it was 16 ounces. When I got it home, unscrewed the top and removed the directions, the fine print said it was only for cold liquids. Nothing on the outside indicated that, which was irksome. Returned it as I have a very good bottle for cold stuff.

Will mosey around the aisles on my next trip and see if I can find one that is clearly marked for hot liquids.

I use a Kleen Canteen Hydro Flask 18oz for tea and the like. Does quite well with both warm and cold items. ike this, but only 18oz size - http://amzn.to/2DjDm24

And I got this Thermos brand one with wide top and integrated spoon for when I wanted soup or chili along on the paddle - http://amzn.to/2DpBCnk. Haven’t actually used it yet, but does say it will keep hot items hot for 9 hours (and cold items cold for 14 hours).

That Kleen Flask is a nice bottle. Like that it’s available in a standard mouth size. Thanks for the link Peter. The wide mouths on the Thermos bottles are fine, but I’d probably wind up with more of the contents on me if I used it in my cockpit. But it would work well were I to go onshore for a lunch break. Sounds like a good candidate to keep fresh fruit cold and crispy.

Much appreciation for the suggestions.

I do not take hot drinks with me when kayaking, but an insulated SS container that has worked GREAT for winter car camping is a Nissan Thermos-type bottle. I bought it from Campmor mail order many years ago. Double walls of stainless steel, a built-in pour dispenser in the cap, plus a top over that.

I would boil water for hot tea just before bedtime and then have still-hot tea first thing inthe morning! Some of the nights dipped into the teens, so I might wrap the bottle in a shirt before setting it on the truck bed floor, but that was the only extra insulation I provided.

A few years ago I bought a smaller version, intending to take it kayaking. Never bothered to bring it. But I oughtta dig it out of storage and bring it in the car on cold mornings.

@Rookie said:
… but I’d probably wind up with more of the contents on me if I used it in my cockpit. But it would work well were I to go onshore for a lunch break.

When I fill mine, I do it with water that has been very recently boiled… so, VERY hot. This ensures that if something happens and I want to have hot liquid available many hours later, I will. However, usually it’s only an hour or two later when I’m ready to drink or use it, and it’s still way too hot for comfort or safety. This eliminates the possibility of in-cockpit use, or even drinking directly from the container. I use it on shore and pour it into the top to cool while warming my hands on the cup. Since there are two separate caps, you won’t lose heat from the remainder while doing this.

This looks like the one I have.

https://www.espressozone.com/thermos-nissan-insulated-backpack-bottle?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2Z_m5ore2AIVhVp-Ch2ebQWYEAQYBiABEgIFu_D_BwE

@pikabike said:
This looks like the one I have.

https://www.espressozone.com/thermos-nissan-insulated-backpack-bottle?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2Z_m5ore2AIVhVp-Ch2ebQWYEAQYBiABEgIFu_D_BwE

Very much like the pop-up lid on that one. My Nike water bottle has a similar design; I use it constantly year-round. It doesn’t leak and I don’t have to worry about misplacing the lid. Thanks for that review.

What ever container you use wrap it in small towel and then in plastic bag. Makes everything blast much longer hot or cold.

I recently bought a Kleen Kanteen vacuum bottle. It works very well at keeping beverages hot (considerably better than a highly rated but bulkier Thermos brand vacuum bottle I bought a number of years ago, which surprised me). Unfortunately, contrary to their advertising, the lid does in fact dribble. I thought I could put up with a dribble but after several hours of kayaking (a little rocking, no rolls), when I went into the day hatch to get it and enjoy a nice coffee break, the entire thing had emptied. I bought another KK thinking my first one was defective, but same problem with the 2nd lid. I then bought a hydroflask (different companies) which didn’t leak but didn’t keep drinks quite as warm (probably fine though depending on how cold it is outside and how long you will be waiting to use it). I also experimented with using the hydroflask lid on the Kleen Kanteen bottle as they are interchangeable. That worked OK but best thermal performance was still the KK lid and KK bottle. I took apart and re-assembled the KK lid a few times and for now at least, it is not leaking. Anyway, it’s been a bit of an adventure.

I use a Yeti Rambler, 36 oz. Yes, they are pricy. Yes, there are knock offs that work like a Yeti. But they are real popular here and keep the hot -hot and the cold- cold. I’ve kept ice for two days in the dead of summer. Coffee lasts a day. Never seems to be enough of that.

@Monkeyhead Do you recall which lid was on the bottle? In reading about the Kleen products last night, Kleen states their sport cap is not leak proof. Their loop cap is, so they say.

I’ve found the Thermos brand works the best for me.

Th cap on the one I use, which looks to be the same as the one on the the Kleen Canteen I linked to in the earlier post, does not leak.

I use wide mouth Stanley for hot food . Then wrap as I said above.

@Overstreet said:
I use a Yeti Rambler, 36 oz. Yes, they are pricy. Yes, there are knock offs that work like a Yeti. But they are real popular here and keep the hot -hot and the cold- cold. I’ve kept ice for two days in the dead of summer. Coffee lasts a day. Never seems to be enough of that.

2nd the Yeti or knockoff. When I put my coffee in mine, I have to leave the lid off for a bit to keep from being burned.

Rookie - I have the wide mouth cafe cap 2.0. I have had a couple of sports caps also and HAVE found THEM to be essentially leak-proof. I also purchased the wide mouth loop cap. It also is leakproof, but I was surprised to find that the heat retention was not as good as with the cafe cap (which as in my original post, I have had problems with but hope that I have now fixed any leakiness by aimlessly fiddling with it).

I bought a couple of the Yeti ice substitutes last summer. Put them inside a cooler with a couple of old Coleman Chillers ice packs. Cooler was kept on the floor of my car with a few towels over it. At the end of the day the Yetis had thawed and were liquid while the Colemans were still frozen. Maybe Yeti uses different technology in their cups, but their ice packs are worthless.

Bought four more Colemans for less than the cost of one of the Yetis.