Primus Trail Break EX Bottle

The ubiquitous vacuum flask has been around for many years, over 100 in fact, and there can’t be a household without at least one! Their ability to keep food and drink either hot or cold has made them highly useful and are even used in hospitals. I use one at least once a week, as I love a cup of coffee when out after foxes. I also use one in the summer for iced drinks.

Primus is a household name and hail from Sweden and they know how to make quality products. The new Primus Trail Break EX vacuum Bottle looks to be a well designed and made unit, with a removable silicone rubber outer sleeve to protect the stainless inner from knocks and bumps. The sleeve has several textured sections, as well as ‘PRIMUS’ in relief, so in use it’s pretty non-slip. With a capacity of 750ml, there’s enough capacity for several tea or coffee breaks on the go, but thick soups can also be carried thanks to the wide neck.

Two styles of stopper are included; the regular stopper is for maximum heat retention and screws off to access the content and the other ‘Clickclose’ stopper allows you to drink directly from the flask. The Clickclose stopper is great, as you simply rotate the top part 45% and it opens the internal valve. One word of warning though; if you intend to carry hot drinks, be careful that you don’t scald your mouth drinking from the flask! If you are going to drink from the flask, it’s a good idea to prepare your drink slightly cooler than normal. I personally prefer to drink from the insulated, screw-on cup.

I always like to thoroughly test any item that I’m reviewing, so I boiled a kettle one night and pre-warmed the Trail Break. I then filled it with boiling black coffee, screwed on the regular stopper and went to bed! When I opened the bottle seven-hours later, the coffee was still piping hot, which is very impressive and it was still a decent drink.

I can therefore highly recommend the Primus Trail Break EX Vacuum Bottle. The bottle is available in Barn Red, Moss (green) Coal (black) or Tangerine and is around £35. A one-litre version is also available for around £5 more.