Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

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Mike Sales
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by Mike Sales »

Thanks all for your different recommendations. I must have bought the wrong (cheapest) ones. I shall have to be more careful buying when my glass flask breaks.
It's the same the whole world over
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rogerzilla
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by rogerzilla »

The glass ones also had silvered surfaces to reduce heat loss through radiation. The only significant heat loss from them occurred where the neck and base were supported by the casing.
Carlton green
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by Carlton green »

Mike Sales wrote: 7 Dec 2022, 7:06pm Thanks all for your different recommendations. I must have bought the wrong (cheapest) ones. I shall have to be more careful buying when my glass flask breaks.
Carry the glass flask upright, be careful not to shock load it and it’ll be good for years. I’m not sure how durable they are on bikes - probably fine and particularly so the smaller ones - but they seem fine for walking (less shock and vibration).

My steel flask is a Thermos, I’d be surprised if it didn’t last at least a couple of decades of frequent use - assuming the seal on the cap lasts out and I don’t loose the cup. List price for something similar is £20, but I reckon that they can be had for a bit less by a savy shopper.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
Mike Sales
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by Mike Sales »

Carlton green wrote: 7 Dec 2022, 7:42pm
Carry the glass flask upright, be careful not to shock load it and it’ll be good for years. I’m not sure how durable they are on bikes - probably fine and particularly so the smaller ones - but they seem fine for walking (less shock and vibration).
So far the glass vacuum flask has survived fine in my SQR, and so do the egg sandwiches and Lincolnshire plum bread..
Apart from a few tools and a couple of tubes I like to carry a light down jacket.
So when I reach the bench by Billingborough Spring Well I enjoy my duck watching and church admiring.
billingborough.jpg
Last edited by Mike Sales on 7 Dec 2022, 8:02pm, edited 1 time in total.
It's the same the whole world over
It's the poor what gets the blame
It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
Bmblbzzz
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by Bmblbzzz »

A bit about the history and use of various materials here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_flask
Tangled Metal
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by Tangled Metal »

Thermos isn't the brand it once was. They have various performance and quality levels so you have to be careful which you get. Take the times it keeps things hot with a pinch of salt. Also larger tends to with better with longer insulation times.

Isn't Stanley's flasks now owned by the same company that owns thermos?

When I used to take a flask into the winter hills I used to read hiking magazine reviews on flasks. Often the Japanese brand zojirishi comes out best. Certainly in the smaller, more portable flask capacities.
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Mick F
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by Mick F »

SA_SA_SA wrote: 7 Dec 2022, 5:40pm Even if the Uk couldn't make their own (why not other /than due to patents) an enterprising person could have imported them?

MickF the original stanley steel vacuum flasks used a vacuum too.
I wasn't aware of that, but these days, I'm fairly sure that steel flasks don't have a vacuum but use polystyrene. At least the cheap ones do.
Mick F. Cornwall
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simonineaston
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by simonineaston »

Why did the Uk persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.
Perhaps the two markets are different enough to favour one product over the other. In the US, the Stanley product would have been aimed squarely at blue collar workers. Over the pond, the usual practice was to take your own food and drink to work with you. Thus the typical blue collar worker needed a product that was a) large enough to contain a day's worth of hot beverage (hence my earlier remark) and b) be tough enough to withstand the rough and tumble of a working environment.
The UK's workers engaged in entirely different practices with regard to mid-shift refreshment. Factories were more likely to provide tea etc in a works canteen. Thus the UK's Thermos flask was more likely to be bought by a different market, for use in leisure persuits like hiking, a day out at the races etc etc and so was more likely to be carefully looked after. May even have been sold to an entirely different demographic ie middle class, who might have treated the item with the extra care needed to keep it safe. The larger size and weight of the US import may have been seen as unneccessary. Stanley tools have been available and popular over here for ages so it's unlikely the flasks weren't available... just overlooked.
S
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fastpedaller
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by fastpedaller »

rogerzilla wrote: 7 Dec 2022, 7:21pm The glass ones also had silvered surfaces to reduce heat loss through radiation. The only significant heat loss from them occurred where the neck and base were supported by the casing.
You've reminded me of a 'quote' from a fellow classmate in a science lesson.........
"Most of the heat loss from a thermos flask is through the stopper - Therefore leave off the stopper" :lol: :lol:
Jdsk
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by Jdsk »

Isn't Stanley's flasks now owned by the same company that owns thermos?
Stanley tools have been available and popular over here for ages so it's unlikely the flasks weren't available... just overlooked.
Thermos is owned by the Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermos_LLC

(William) Stanley flasks are now produced by Pacific Market international:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_bottle

(Frederick) Stanley hand tools are made by Stanley Black & Decker:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Hand_Tools

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simonineaston
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by simonineaston »

re Stanley flasks / tools, I'd assumed they were the same company (and we all know where assumptions get you...) as my dad bought me one, at the beginning of my interest in hiking etc.. As I already had a number of Stanley tools, I put 2 and 2 together and got 5, in this case.
S
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pete75
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by pete75 »

simonineaston wrote: 8 Dec 2022, 9:45am
The UK's workers engaged in entirely different practices with regard to mid-shift refreshment. Factories were more likely to provide tea etc in a works canteen. Thus the UK's Thermos flask was more likely to be bought by a different market, for use in leisure persuits like hiking, a day out at the races etc etc and so was more likely to be carefully looked after. May even have been sold to an entirely different demographic ie middle class, who might have treated the item with the extra care needed to keep it safe. The larger size and weight of the US import may have been seen as unneccessary. Stanley tools have been available and popular over here for ages so it's unlikely the flasks weren't available... just overlooked.
Hmmm except that in the fifties and sixties there were large numbers of people employed on farms where there were certainly no canteens. I worked on the land in school holidays during the late sixties and early seventies, and everyone had a glass flask.
I can assure you that working class folk are just as capable of keeping a flask safe as people from the middle class.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
SA_SA_SA
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by SA_SA_SA »

simonineaston wrote: 8 Dec 2022, 9:45am......Thus the UK's Thermos <glass vacuum> flask was more likely to be bought by a different market, for use in leisure persuits like hiking, a day out at the races etc etc and so was more likely to be carefully looked after. May even have been sold to an entirely different demographic ie middle class, who might have treated the item with the extra care needed to keep it safe. ...
Its possible to be middle class and clumsy
(and presumably working class and careful and non-clumsy).....
Discovering you hot drink is a now a suspension of glass is a real downer and once is enough, so the option of a stainless one would have seemed useful to me back in the day.
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simonineaston
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by simonineaston »

I'm not so sure - I'm thinking about the roughty tufty types - maybe Mellors out of Lady Chatterleys' Lover or that Lieutenant - later Captain - Sharpe and comparing with the nice sorts from, say, Enid Bylton adventures or indeed the Swallows or the Amazons and I'm fairly certain of the outcome...
S
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Nearholmer
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Re: Why did the UK persevere with glass vacuum flasks for so long when stanley steel ones existed since 1915.

Post by Nearholmer »

You folks have cost me money now: I was thinking about buying a robust “thermos” for winter bike rides, and having learned of Mr Stanley, and that Go Outdoors stock his indestructible flasks, I just bought one.
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