Insulated Travel Mugs: What's Your Daily Driver?

[boarddad]

Listen to DJ Sapp. He knows what if he speaks.

[Gcooker]

Not a fan of the Contigo mugs.

This is my all time favorite. I like it better then the other thermos that was posted.

http://www.thermos.com/products/vacu...l-tumbler.aspx

This one is the best. I have to take the lid off for half an hour to cool my (black) coffee down an hour after it's poured, it seriously is amazing at keeping stuff hot. I also use it for beach and it keeps ice in my drink for hours. I've left the house at 6am, headed skiing, came back to the car at 4pm and my half full coffee is still suitably hot.

[iscariot]

I've left the house at 6am, headed skiing, came back to the car at 4pm and my half full coffee is still suitably hot.

Done the same thing many times with my Contigo.

[Supermoon]

contigo changed my life

This. 2 for $40 is hard to beat on Amazon. Keeps my coffee hot all day and won't dump all over my briefcase/pack/car

[DJSapp]

x2.

$25 and change on Amazon right now. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FFADO8A/...ing=UTF8&psc=1

This mug should end all discussions. 1000% spillproof. They have the same mug with a handle and that is what I have, the wife has the tumbler with no handle. I've had my mug for several years. It keeps coffee hot for 8-12 hours even when almost empty and even in the winter. Yes the trade off is that you have to screw the lid on every morning and back off in the evening, and to drink from it you flip a lever instead of pushing a button so you lose style points. This is mug for people who love drinking hot coffee more than they love earning style points.

Heat retention superiority proven here:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...e-test-feature

Heat retention and spill proofness is only as good as your own ability to CLOSE THE DAMN LID AFTER EVERY SIP.

Contigo closes the lid for you, every time. This is why Contigo is superior. It is not style, it is function. In fact, I think the handled versions of the contigo are fugly, but they still perform better as they take away user error.

[iscariot]

Heat retention and spill proofness is only as good as your own ability to CLOSE THE DAMN LID AFTER EVERY SIP.

Contigo closes the lid for you, every time. This is why Contigo is superior. It is not style, it is function. In fact, I think the handled versions of the contigo are fugly, but they still perform better as they take away user error.

Exactly.

The only thing I don't like about the Contigo I have (older version), is that there is no lock for the sip-button, so you can't just toss it in a backpack.

A sliding lock to keep the sip-button closed would solve this problem.

[uglymoney]

I concede that one could look at the Contigo if you normally chug an entire mug within the first three or four hours. I'd get the shakes.

[The Tortoise]

The auto closing lid is exactly why I don't like the Contigo. Pressing a button every time I want a sip wears thin.

I had the thermos with the button and it's hard to see if it's closed. No so with the lever.

[Danno]

I have the zojirushi: http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-SM-K...dp/B00CHOUI86/ and this one: http://www.amazon.com/Thermos-Insula...dp/B00K7CZHJ0/

They're slightly different but I like both; both keep the coffee warm but the Zoji is better at it. The critical thing with both, and the reason some of these others won't work for me, is that these have a lock on the button so you can throw it in a bag and there's no chance of it opening.

[Happy Fun Ball]

http://www.thermos.com/products/vacu...ravel-mug.aspx

100% spill proof, mine is 15? years old, still going strong. At the time was the only 100% spill proof (like close and throw into a bag) that I could find.

X2! Mine has survived some serious abuse and extensive travel clipped to a backpack. If I lost it I'd probably cry....for realz!!

[Caucasian Asian]

Another Contigo fan.

I take mine skiing with me. Fits in the back pocket of my Flak Vest.

C&D thinks they're great too.
http://www.caranddriver.com/features...e-test-feature

[PNWbrit]

Get a red one.

(I like mine. Couldn't have told you what brand it was until checked - Contigo)

I guess that's like a double blind travel cup test?

[Supermoon]

Exactly.

The only thing I don't like about the Contigo I have (older version), is that there is no lock for the sip-button, so you can't just toss it in a backpack.

A sliding lock to keep the sip-button closed would solve this problem.

Yeah. New ones have a lock, so no accidental discharge.

The one negative is that the cups aren't DW safe. The lids are, though.

[PNWbrit]

Y
The one negative is that the cups aren't DW safe. The lids are, though.

Shit I've been doing it wrong every day for years!

When will I begin to notice any problem?

[DJSapp]

Yeah. New ones have a lock, so no accidental discharge.

The one negative is that the cups aren't DW safe. The lids are, though.

It's bad form to run any vacuum cup through a dishwasher. Something about the external heat can cause the seal that holds the vacuum to break down and leak, thus killing the insulation.

That said, my first congitos went through the dishwasher for 4 years. They got pitched because the lids got nasty, and the new design locks and is much easier to clean.

[plugboots]

mntlion and happyfunball have the one my wife and I use. It does not rely on a fancy complicated button mechanism, (or shitty un-complicated prone to failure mechanism). You don't have to hold anything down at all. The best thing about it is the lid sits down INSIDE the threads, so when the threads or the button/goofy closure thing invariably fails, you don't spill coffee on your shirt. Never buy or accept a free one of these things that seals on the outside of the mug.

[balefulstare]

For some reason most places are selling the Thermos flip-top for $49 (!) MEC still has them for <$20 and with the Canadian $ sucking right now you 'Mercuns can score a sweet deal. http://www.mec.ca/product/5030-004/t...10+50130+50463 Worth every penny & then some IMO, red rad mug.

[klauss]

contigo via costco. locking mech means it can go in the bag when I decide to get frisky and is at home in the dishwasher

but my dedicated daily driver

[iscariot]

Yeah. New ones have a lock, so no accidental discharge.

The one negative is that the cups aren't DW safe. The lids are, though.

The lids are dishwasher safe, and so are the pure silver steel cups.

The only reason the coloured steel cups are not dishwasher safe is that the colour will come off.

NBD IMHO.

[Steven S. Dallas]

Pressing a button every time I want a sip wears thin.

This guy gets it.

I don't put my mug in a bag (don't carry one, or wear a fancy lawyering suit any more, for that matter). Easy drinkin' and easy cleanup are as important as the spill proof factor, with durability and insulation most critical. Disassembling a lid and going at it with a bottle brush, as I've had to do with some of the hinged/spring-loaded "spill proof" lids, is a drag- I like today's coffee, not yesterday's or last week's.

Clipping to a backpack? Is this a NOLS forum or something?

[Horu]

CamelBak Forge mug is like a mini-thermos. I have to let tea cool to nearly drinking temp before putting the lid on or it will be hot for an hour or two. Granted, that's after pouring near boiling water into it. With maximum heat retention efforts (leaving the lid on loosely while brewing, capping immediately after), tea is warm 4 hrs after brewing. The lid auto closes or locks open and is actually pretty easy to clean. The design is sleek, and it fits in a cupholder easily.

Zojirushi is excellent. I have the 1 liter thermos. It will easily retain heat for 24hrs and the pour spout works perfectly. These guys also make great rice cookers.

[DJSapp]

This guy gets it.

Easy drinkin' and easy cleanup are as important as the spill proof factor, with durability and insulation most critical.

If you hold your coffee cup near the top, with enough grip strength that someone wouldn't bump it out of your hand, you would be pressing the button on the contigo. Just swing by costco or target and stick one in your hand. If you hate it, you hate it, but it does everything you want it to do.



See the finger on the button, your hand is already there. As long as you don't have a grip like a little girl, you can do this.

[Beyond]

Whatever has a continuous metal interior, no press-on bottoms or welded seams, cuz those end up failing. Plastic caps also get a fail, unless they're simple screw on/off with a gasket. As far as ^^^^ sipping coffee while driving long hauls saves a lot more lives than it ends. Ban cell phones if you want to make driving safer.

And according to a friend in the company, BMW didn't bow to American tastes, it did a corporate reality check that its real market for a long while hadn't been uber-drivers but affluent middle aged parents who wanted to think they were. So it went to drive-by-wire, idiot proof overrides, and yep, cup holders. We Americans, besides thinking we're all that on the road, live in our cars. Euros don't.

[Skidog]

Picked up contigos. 2 at Costco $18.99

[Steven S. Dallas]

I got a couple of these maybe three months ago

... and you're right. The push button itself is non-intrusive and the ability to lock the lid is nice. The lid opening and locking mechanism itself, however, is shitty; it's hard to get clean and often comes apart. I just use a soft bottle brush and at this point I go pretty easy on it, but still half the time the little springs that power the whole deal pop off and are a pain in the ass to re-seat.

Conclusion: Contigo is pretty good, but still searching for the One True Grail.