Anglers are used to flasks. They probably use them more than most to take hot drinks to the waterside. In the days before stainless steel flasks I used to get through two or three every year. Forgetfulness was the main culprit, for I’d forget the flask was in my rucksack and throw it down on the ground. When I heard the tinkling of broken glass I soon knew what I’d done, and I always vowed to remember in future. Of course, I never did.
|
|
| |
When stainless steel flasks hit the market I must have been one of the first to buy one, for although they are expensive compared to ordinary glass-innered ones, they’re not expensive when you realise that I’m still using that first stainless steel flask several years later. I’ll always remember the first time I used it and how I thanked my lucky stars I’d bought it. A pal and I had just come to the shore in a boat on an Irish lough and I was throwing the gear out of the boat to my pal who was supposed to be catching it. His catching was good enough to qualify him as an English cricketer, for as he stepped forward to take my rucksack off me he dropped it straight on a rock. There was a loud clang and I knew instantly what it was. The flask carries the dent to this day, but it still works perfectly.
They do have a downside though. For one thing they’re heavy compared to ordinary ones. They also make excellent electrical conductors, which brings me to my next flask story.
I had a small 12 volt battery for powering my echo sounder. The battery was small enough to fit in my rucksack which is where I used to carry it. Then one day I stopped doing that, for when I pulled the battery out of my rucksack at home it was hot and the plastic sides were buckled from the heat. I pulled my stainless steel flask out next and that was warm and had two brownie-purple burn marks on it where it had been resting across the battery terminals. But it hadn’t burned any holes through and it still works. The flask that is. The battery didn’t survive.
|
|
| |
Anyhow, enough of flask stories. What about this wide topped food flask from Chub?
It’s a cracker, as Frank Carson would say. It’s 1.2 litre capacity and, as you would expect from a wide-topped flask, it has a wide top opening for easy filling with food. And easy emptying I must add, which is important to us hungry anglers.
Course, you’re not restricted to filling it with food. You can fill it with an ice-cold drink in summer and then drop some ice cubes in. It has a nifty one-touch pouring system which means you don’t have to keep taking the top off and thus lose either heat or cold. The ‘Getter’ feature eliminates tiny particles of gas between the liner and the shell in order to keep the insulation capability in excellent condition. The copper plated liner prevents heat/cold loss and increases insulation.
In use I found it to perform every bit as good as the claims (in fact hot drinks and soup stayed hotter for longer than the claimed 12 hours) and there isn’t a great deal I can add to that.
At £ 24.99 it’s not cheap, but Chub seem to be following a policy of supplying a small range of top quality products. They have a winner with this flask.
It comes with a fold-flat handle, an adjustable carrying strap and two cups. It keeps drinks and food hot for 12 hours, and cold for 24 hours.
Enquiries to Chub Leisure Ltd.
Telephone: 01376 331609
Fax: 01376 552955
E-mail: enquiries@chub.org
Website: www.chub.org
