Contigo Autoseal West Loop Stainless Steel Travel Mug

Update, 28th Jan 2016:Well, almost a year on, and how has it fared? Well, extremely well. I am very impressed with the durability of it. It still works exactly the same as the first day we bought it, keeping the tea/coffee hot for several hours, and it has been used almost every day fo rthe daily commute to work. The elegant red paint has slowly been chipped and scratched, and eventually come away a little (mainly at the bottom, but most of it is still there on the rest of the bottle however), but then it has been thoroughly used - thrown onto empty car passenger seats and bouncing into the footwell, turned upside down and shoved into bags, squashed next to whatever else is in the bag that day (most likely a ton of paerwork and plastic files), dropped and kicked (accidentally). In all that, it still has not leaked, though it did suffer one very small dent on the bottom, but that didnt affect the functionality. Recently, my wife left it somewhere and lost it (NOOOO!!!), so i immediately ordered exactly the same product again, and i'm delighted to see it is still the same reliable product i purcahsed almost a year ago. Buy with confidence - the paint may get scratched, but the main function of this mug will continue to work as intended - its a keeper.Original Review: 12th March 2015:Really great item for what it is made for - as long as you know what it's made for :)Ok, first things first - For those of you looking for a THERMOS FLASK, in other words, a product that will keep your chosen beverage boiling hot for hours and hours on end, THIS IS NOT THE PRODUCT. I've had a proper Thermos flask and after 24 hours i poured out my tea and it was still hot. This product will not do this.This product will keep your tea/coffee hot for a few hours tops - 3- 4 hours max. Which is exactly what it startes in its claims. The product doesn't contain glass, nor is it a superbly vacuum insulated product - the stopper design is ingenious, but will still allow heat loss - much more so than the traditional screw-top Thermos flasks. It consists of a double walled steel container, which means it will transmit heat more than those made of glass and plastic/ glass and metal. As a result of both of these factors, its function is very specific - short term insulation.So, why would you use this?Well, remeber, it is designed as a travel mug. Its not a massive flask with a cup on top. It's purpose therefore is to simple last you on your travels and keep your drink nice and hot.So, its 7am in the morning. You make your 400ml cup of tea, pop it in the travel mug, and off you go - driving/train etc. When you want a drink, you press the button and take a sip. 8am - you can still sip. 9am - still sipping and happy. 10am still sipping and well into my mornings work. 11am - just about still nice to drink. Then just refill if your workplace has a kitchen/tea making area. And of course do the same for the journey home.So its function is just that - a very convenient, excellently made travel mug - exactly as it states, nothing more, nothing less.Try this with a THERMOS flask? In a moving car where you are a passenger, just think of unscrewing the cup, unscrewing the lid pouring the flask whilst cradling the cup on your lap, risking the liquid falling onto your lap - and if you are the only person in the car and driving..well it's clearly dangerous to even attempt! Even in a parked car, there is still that risk! And you have to stop of course :) Wasting your precious time. Then you have to drink it carefully without letting it spill on yourself as you go over bumps and turns. Then you have to repeat it again if you want another cup.IN short,What this IS: this is a perfectly designed TRAVEL MUG, suitable for commuting, and also a little bit into your day :)BUY THIS IF: You want to drink your tea/coffee while you commute to and from work, or on your travels in the car.What this IS NOT: This is NOT a thermos flask. It will not be suitalbe for anyone going camping/fishing/hiking for extended periods of time. If you take this on an 8 hour hike, your tea will be cold.DON't BUY THIS IF: You actually want boiling hot tea.coffee after 24 hours. Instead, buy a real thermos flask.My wife loves it - she makes her tea in the morning, and gets to sip it as she drives along and also when she gets to work. Perfect. It's also very easy to clean, and the new design has a lock button which stops the button being pressed accidentally. We bought the Red Contigo one 470 ml. ALthough it says 470 ml, you can only realistically put in just under 400ml, as the rest of the space is needed for the lid.

This is a great flask for my morning commute. I can happily get 450 mls in this flask - more then that and it spills over when you screw the lid on. When you pick up to drink you have to press a button on the back of the lid and keep that depressed whilst you drink. As soon as you take you fingers off that button nothing more comes out. This is useful in the car in case you drop the cup or if you knock the cup over. There is also a lock button on top of the lid which means you can no longer press the 'drink' button. Useful I suppose if you are putting in a bag and the drink button might get pressed by accident.I only need this to stay hot for my hour commute and it certainly does that. I use my Grunwerg flask for golf as its slimmer so fits in my bag better. This flask is slightly fatter - it does sit in the cup holder in my car but not all the way in (although that cup holder isn't far wide! It also fits in the bottle holder in the car door - a better fit.I am very disappointed by the colour - it's grey - definitely not polar white or even slightly white. OK - it's a slightly shimmery grey but I took a photo next to my WHITE Grunwerg flask which clearly shows how not white this is. This is the only reason for dropping one point. Although it doesn't change anything about the flask and how great it is - if I wanted grey I would have ordered grey and I was genuinely disappointed when I opened the Amazon package

In common with a lot of people I hate to get up for work and as a consequence don't get up early enough to have sufficient caffeiene for me to operate in the world. I have tried various travel beakers and on the whole the drinking experience has been less than adequate. My favourite up to this point was my sagaform cup (see my separate review). Having dropped and broken two sagaform mugs i decided it was time to try something more robust.In comparison to them this is bigger, often i didnt have enough coffee left to fill it in the morning.It is absolutely taste free - again better than the sagaform cup.It is great to drink out of, I didnt like the idea of having to press a button to get fluid, but it is very soon intuitive.It isnt just hype you really can throw it in your bag - i dont think i know of another one you could do that with confidently.I don't think even i could break it. I will comment when/if I do.Note you can dishwash the lid but not the base but the base is not fiddly to hand wash. If the coffee has been sat in the filter base for a while the drinking temperature is fiine, but beware this cup keep things hot, if its too hot to drink when it goes in it probably will be when it comes out.Finally dont take the fiendish wrapping off with a knife (especially if you are "in your cups" - drunk) I did and i scratched off some of the colour.6 months in & I've managed it! It flew out of the side pocket of my rucksack and landed with a a fair amount of force onto a tile floor. It happened to land on the edge of the lid and the seal cracked. I think this is my clumsiness and unfortunate positioning though. I immediately bought another as I rely on it, but noticed soon after that replacement lids can be bought, but never mind.