I have a Durabrand alarm clock I bought from walmart 20 years ago for $5. It still works flawlessly.

Hahaha touché

You bet!

Pretty much. We play cards, watch football, talk, eat fried fish and jerky. Possibly drink beer. It’s not bad.

I don’t like mixing my coffee and soup together.

It’s tough!

Thinner stainless, likely a lower grade or poorly alloyed stainless, and not charcoal filled liners anymore. Also, poor quality control and checks (at least this used to be the case. I can’t speak to the newer ones).

I got torn between Chrono and color… kinda did both which isn’t satisfying for anyone.

Nothing wrong with that. There are days I wonder why we do it.

We do! Whole villages pop up on the frozen lakes up here.

Here

This post has sparked some reading and it appears that you can now buy more robust versions of the Aladdin vacuum bottle that have the charcoal liner and thicker stainless. Perhaps the market spoke and they responded?

Couldn’t decide to do it by color or date. I thought about it more than I should have. Ultimately decide the different 1990s should be alone and the greens together.

In case one breaks or gets stolen! Haha. I also want to gift a couple to my son when he’s old enough to need them.

We also bring several with on hunting/camping/hiking trips. Usually carry hot coffee, hot soup, and hot water with us. Then you don’t have to make a fire right away when you make camp or in the morning when you wake up.

2002

That’s awesome! Stanley is a pretty great company from what I’ve read. They seem to be doing a lot of good with bringing their brands back to the US.

In case one breaks or gets stolen! Haha. I also want to gift a couple to my son when he’s old enough to need them.

We also bring several with on hunting/camping/hiking trips. Usually carry hot coffee, hot soup, and hot water with us. Then you don’t have to make a fire right when you make camp or in the morning when you wake up.

High quality materials, robust design, and good quality control/survivor bias is my guess.

You bet! Visit your local thrift stores and hunt around during garage sale season. That’s where I got all of mine.

The vinegar kills bacteria and breaks down any coffee stain residue which is why I use it. I rinse mine out and then fill it half full, put the lid on, shake it vigorously, and drain it upside down in my drying rack. Never had a tainted taste. I clean my percolating coffee maker the same way.

Keep in mind that these are the older US made versions which appear to be made better and of higher quality materials. From what I’ve read, there’s also charcoal in the walls which make them much more robust. They don’t do this anymore. That’s why new ones are much lighter than the old ones.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence suggesting that the quality control is lacking and the chances of getting a good one is hit and miss. There is likely survivor bias as well: the US made ones that stopped working got thrown away, so all that’s left are the good ones.

All of these have been tested by me to -30°F (-34°C) ambient with wind and have kept coffee hot for at least 8 hours. In warmer temps and coffee is too hot to drink from morning to night. I put ice water in them in the summer and even at 95°F (35°C) and 70% humidity they still have ice in them after 12 hours. To me that’s flawless.

That’s awesome! Truly BIFL.

Aren’t they great? I love hearing stories like yours.