Thermos Revival Flask review: classic looks and top class performance

A retro-themed Thermos Revival Flask keeps your brew or stew reliably hot for over 18 hours (or cold drinks chilled for even longer)

By Pat Kinsella
published
Thermos Revival Flask
(Image: © Pat Kinsella)

Advnture Verdict

Classy, reliable and very functional – the Thermos Revival is a beauty of a flask that should last for many years.

Pros

  • +

    Very reliable at keeping fluids hot or cold

  • +

    Cool classic look

  • +

    Drip-free pouring method

  • +

    Cup screws on

Cons

  • -

    Only one cup

  • -

    Cup is small

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Thermos Revival Flask: first impressions 

The Thermos Revival is a hiking flask that has some serious heritage appeal. With a history stretching back well over 100 years, Thermos flasks have been keeping adventurers’ thirst at bay in all sorts of outdoor scenarios since 1904, reliably storing life-saving liquids (like hot tea and coffee) for hours on end, even in the most extreme conditions.

Specifications

• List price: £30 (UK)
• Volume: 530ml / 18.5 fl oz
• Other available volumes: N/A
• Weight (empty): 300g / 10.5oz
• Height: 23.65cm / 9.5in
• Lid-opening style: Push button stopper
• Colors: Blue Tartan /  Green Tartan / Orange Tartan 

And what adventure isn’t improved – or, indeed, made possible – by a hot cuppa halfway along the trail or just below the top of the hill? The technology used in the Thermos (named after the Greek word for heat, therme) still owes a great deal to the invention the vacuum flask by Scottish scientist Sir James Dewar in 1892, which he created when he was supposed to be working on cryogenics. 

Holding a pint of steaming hot tea, coffee, soup, mulled wine or cider – or whatever your poison is – the Revival is part of a retro range recently released by Thermos. These classic-looking, tartan-emblazoned '60s-chic flasks are direct replicas of the brand’s much-loved original Model 18 design, seen everywhere from family photos to Famous Five books for as long as anyone alive today can remember. 

Thermos Revival Flask: on the trails 

Thermos Revival Flask

It looks like it comes from the ’50 and could possibly have kept some soup warm for all that time too* (* this is clearly hyperbole, but it does keep hot liquid hot and cold liquid cold for an impressively long time) (Image credit: Pat Kinsella)

Since fall has set in with a vengeance, I have given the Revival several real outings onto the trails of the Lake District and Snowdonia, where it has lived up to its name and kept me going with a grin on my face. 

This flask may look dated, by design, but it still works like a dream, keeping fluids hot for up to 18 hours and chilled for over 24 hours, while maintaining a neutral outside temperature so do don’t get any build up of condensation in your hiking backpack. 

The cup is quite small, but at least it screws securely to the top of the flask so it doesn’t become separated, and the system for opening and closing the main container is simple and functional.

Pat Kinsella
Pat Kinsella

Author of Caving, Canyoning, Coasteering…, a recently released book about all kinds of outdoor adventures around Britain, Pat has spent 20 years pursuing stories involving boots, bikes, boats, beers and bruises. En route he’s canoed Canada’s Yukon River, climbed Mont Blanc and Kilimanjaro, skied and mountain biked through the Norwegian Alps, run an ultra across the roof of Mauritius, and set short-lived records for trail-running Australia’s highest peaks and New Zealand’s Great Walks. He’s authored walking guides to Devon and Dorset, and once wrote a whole book about Toilets for Lonely Planet. Follow Pat’s escapades on Strava here and Instagram here.