Yes of course I did …
The results were unequivocal.
After 18 hours the grandfather Stanley thermos had minded my hot water so well it was too hot for my fingers to enjoy more than a quick plunge.
CONCLUSION: This ‘thermos’ is old but it still works .
I suspect the original corks filled the entire neck so as to effectively insulate from the inside, and so save the need to apply second flasks that had not been invented when the Stanley was made .
When was it made?
I read there is a way to tell from reading the bottom.
… And spilt my hot water bowl trying to set up this photo but I know any other vacuum flask devotees (surely there are more than two of us?) will appreciate my efforts .
Sadly it is NOT signed by the late Sir Edmund nor his companion Tenzing Norgay but there is a 60 and a 44 along with some other scratchings on the left side of the photo
…… This is a code I do not understand although it probably proves that, as well as not signing it, they did not even carry my Stanley on their famous trip in 1953 when, according to Wikipedia, they reached the summit of Mt Everest, highest mountain in the world at 11.30am on May 29.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Hillary
Time Magazine named Tenzing one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th Century.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenzing_Norgay
And I forgot to post my experiment findings and it is all their fault.
Anyway my conclusion for ‘Best use’ is:
This quart-sized flask (almost a litre) might be ideally used at SEA LEVEL as part of winter beach equipment, filled with boiling water and carried in a bucket which would be then part-filled at an ocean side tap.
After your dip the Stanley water could be used to warm the bucket prior to a dipper rinse at the end of your swim.
If you also have a 350ml Thermocafe, then once you are warm and dry again, you could eat your porridge out of that one (try it heated with fresh chopped apple, cinnamon, good raisins and a lick of cream at the top before screwing the lid down), whilst enjoying the sunrise
cheers
