I do a lot of winter backpacking/camping and have used Nissan and Stanley stainless steel vacuum thermos's on my winter trips for over 25 years. I received this Stanley Model at Christmas and it performed very well with daily use for about 2 months, then one morning I poured near boiling water into it to "check" it before filling with coffee and within 2 minutes the outside of the thermos was very hot. Seems the vacuum wall was leaking. I called LL Bean and they sent a replacement ASAP. ***Kudos to Bean People*** I have used the replacement for about 2 months and have now just noticed that my coffee is only lukewarm 3 hours into the day and the thermos gets very warm just below the plastic collar. Not sure if there is a batch quality issue, but I will keep an eye on this. I do, however, give great thumbs up for design and asthetics, but I hope this thermos isn't going the way of the first one. BTW, I never put it through the Dishwasher I only rinse and hand dry it between uses.
I sooooo wanted to love this mug. I was fantastic for the fist 6 months... Until apparantly the vacuum seal was lost and it started performing like and "average" travel mug. i lived with it until the lid broke on me. it cracked in the threads. wasn't dropped or anything - just noticed it leaked, opened it up, and there was a crack in the plastic along the thread lines. Sent it back, and LL Bean sent me another. Ruber seal leaked, so it went back. Got a 3rd, and it was great for about a year... then it cracked along the threads as well. finally gave up and went to the "Insulated Canteen". it's only 14oz - but a way better product. shame....
Worked well only for the first month. After a month hot beverages were lukewarm in an hour. Someway air is able to seep into the vacuum chamber defeating its purpose. I am very disappointed, given the brand name. While the cap mechanism is bit complicated at first, you get used to it (I had only one leaking event). Manufacturer needs to turn the "hook" into a full handle or replace it with something flatter on the surface.
This was purchased for my son-in-law to replace the travel mug he broke. He said it was the best he has ever used. Keeps his coffee hot from morning to night.
