Stanley 7QT Heritage Cooler with Classic 1.1QT Vacuum Bottle,10-01026-005

For years now I've worked in construction, and hate leaving the job site when I'm filthy to get in the truck to go grab an unhealthy fast food lunch. Once you drive to where you're going, wait in line, go back to the job site...if you've got a half hour lunch, you're lucky to have 10 minutes to wolf it all down. This is stressful. Maybe I'm getting more mature? Personally I like to have a little respite and eat in peace, but often I have essentially gone without a break to run around town chasing lunch because my choices are to literally "brown bag it", or take my enormous playmate cooler, that let's face it, isn't a cooler without a freezer bucket's worth of ice every morning. I have used the Stanley thermos for coffee before, Which keeps beverages either hot or cold), but have always carried it along separately with whatever other bulky crappy lunch container I brought with me. Every other cooler I've used, the lid pops off when you don't want it too, or it won't close. Now I've read other reviews from folks complaining about the Stanley's box size being too small, but my thoughts on that are unless you are eating like a horse, or are trying to pack one for lunch it's ideal for someone between 180 - 280 lbs. I guess if you need 5 sandwiches, family size bags of chips, and two liter bottles of pop for eats, this is probably not the lunch box for you. I bought two coleman reusable ice packs from Walmart for a couple bucks that fit perfectly in the Stanley's two compartments. I have no problem packing my average daily lunch of 1 banana, a full size sandwich, a ziplock bag of chips, a granola bar, some carrots, and sometimes either a bowl of salad, or a bowl of salsa for chips. It all fits WITH THE TWO ICE PACKS! And there's still room for cookies and a couple hard boiled eggs. When I get home at night I just pop the ice packs in the freezer and they're ready for my lovely wife who lovingly packs my lunch the next day. What's so nice about this lunch box is it IN'T TOO BIG... When I get out of the truck in the morning at work, I often have to carry two armloads of tools with me on the way to the job, saws, cords, tool belt, drill, tool box. So I like to make as few a trips as possible back and forth. This combo many times makes the trip, and I don't have to worry about bruising it, or yardsaling my lunch because of some other brands inferior lids or handles, etc. This is a pretty tough unit, it's solid, but I don't throw it around. The thermos nests in the top lid and is locked in when the handle is in the up position. I've found this thing to be the closest functional lunchbox to the old black metal or plastic lunchboxes that factory workers all over the country used to use, which were about the same size but were single wall design and didn't keep anything cold. Those old boxes kept a thermos in the lid too, but you can't find them anymore unless your old dad still has his, or maybe your grandpa and wants to part with it. Every company seems to make the big bulky vacationer size or fisherman size coolers, but Stanley remembered to make something for the working man. Up until I got this box, lunchtime was still work and a hassle, this has completely taken the hassle out of lunch.

I've gone through three of these. They're durable, don't get me wrong, but most of my replacment needs stem from unfortunate early morning incidents involving the stove. Twice, so far, I've managed to fill my husband's lunch box, and then promptly set it on the burner I'd just taken the kettle off of. I have no idea how or why, other than the fact that it was in the wee hours of the morning, and I was sending him sleepily off to work. Twice. More than a year apart. Finally, we just bought a Keurig (another amazing investment), so that should no longer be a problem. I hope. This lunchbox keeps his food cold for 10+ hour days, with only a couple of icepacks in it. I can fit a can of soda, a Redbull, two sandwiches, chips, string cheese, and a candy bar, and still have room for the icepacks. It does take a bit to fill up the thermos with the Keurig, but it keeps his coffee hot all day as well - I've had him come home after a 16 hour day in freezing temperatures, and still have the inside of the thermos be hot - not simply warm, but hot. It's amazing. It's easy to clean, a good size, not overly bulky, and holds enough food to keep him going for the enitre day. Best of all - the Amazon price can't be beat. Here's to hoping I don't melt the third one as well, but if somehow I do, I know I'll be buying another one!

Please don't let the negative reviews influence your decision. This is a excellent product, at a excellent price, at Stanley's own shop this will cost you nearly 80 bucks. Few things about the product that people raised were: Made in china: I hate this as much as the next guy, but while production is cheaper in China, they are not cheaply made. You will get the same quality as always from Stanley. (I know, i'm a Stanley collector). Cheap hard plastic: Hard yes, but definitely not cheap, Stanley is not known for making pretty things but durable, exactly what the plastic is, not pretty or nice to touch, but strong. Compartment separation make lunchbox impractical: If anything only more practical, you can put hot and cold stuff in the same container but separate compartments, its genius! The locking mechanism is confusing: Now this is simply not true, on the side you have a clip that you have to pull away from the box in order to move the handle to either side, it locks the flask and the lunchbox's lid in the upright position, only the lid if you swivel it to the one side so that you can remove the flask but the lid is still secure, and to the other side you can remove the flask and the lid, also somewhat genius. Hope this helps.

I'm extremely happy with this purchase. I'll list the pros and cons of each item seperately. Vacuum Bottle PRO) Keeps drinks hot or cold all day. PRO) Great size. You'd have to be a on the verge of dehydration to need much more than this bottle holds. CON) Plastic in contact with hot consumables. The lid liner is plastic and the bottles top is plastic. I'm sure it's BPA free but I'm leery about plastics and hot foods. There's simply no other realistic option however. Lunch Box PRO) Perfect size and smart division. You can put items in 2 separate spots so your sandwich and chips don't get crushed by a can or bottle rolling around. PRO) Well insulated. Just like the vacuum bottle this cooler will keep your foodstuffs cold even if you take a late lunch. CON) The tab that keeps the handle in place is ridiculously hard to operate. I understand the need for some mechanism to keep the handle from moving since it's what holds the vacuum bottle in place but this is a hard plastic extension of the handle fitting into a deep groove. It won't have a break in period where it will be easier to use later, it's simply going to be a hassle for the life of the product. Overall I highly recommend this combo to the ladies and gentleman of the construction or factory industry. It's well built and very functional with only a few flaws.

The thermos is amazing and keeps hot water hot for over 24 hours, the cooler is good with ice to keep your lunch cool for about 3-6 hours depending on how hot of an area you keep the box. Mine has held up well for being bounced around in tractors and in the back of my pickup for some time. The thermos is heavy steel and has dented and scratched but that is to be expected with hard use. It would be nice if the divider in the lunch box was removable, I have considered cutting it out of mine. Update: I have used this setup for some time now. I throw my lunchbox in the back up my pickup. On a day that was -18 outside the handle broke on the lunchbox. I contacted Stanley customer service via email and was sent a replacement lunchbox. I paid extra for the quality, and the quality shows up in their customer service. Now I can continue to use these quality products for many more years.

I first saw the Stanley lunch box/thermos combination over 15 years ago while working for a commercial electric company. This old timer had one and occasionally he'd share a cup of steaming hot coffee with me (late afternoon,wintertime) or a snack his wife had made. I was very impressed by the function of that thermos and durability of the lunchbox and I threatened to get one one day. That day came about 2 months ago and I am not disappointed. While I'm far from an "old timer" I still get a kick out of sharing a hot cup of coffee with a co-worker at the end of a long day. The divider in the lunch box comes in handy for separating hot and cold things and I like how the lid flips over to make a nice flat surface for setting your cup or food on. The saying "they don't make em like they used to" doesn't apply to this lunchbox/thermos combo. It's exactly like they used to make em! Quality.

Good box for people who snack. Like the build strength and keeps my thermos from rolling around the floor of the truck. However, there are a few issues. Firstly, the thermos is the smaller one ( which I knew going in) and my 2 quart Stanley won't fit in the slot even with the outer lid/ cup removed. I really wasn't expecting that to work, but it's worth mentioning. It's quite large externally for it's modest internal capacity. As far as that goes, the little divider is just mystifying to me. Many reviews mention cutting it out, but why is it even there? I get whatever soda is on sale at any particular time, and if said soda is 16 or 20 oz I'm just SOL. So if you need a lunch box that carries your medium sized thermos and a smallish lunch which can survive a great deal of abuse, this is it. If you need to pack for long days outdoors in construction or industry, it may not work

This lunch box was exactly what I was looking for: 1) it comes with a bottle that is easy secured to the lunch box for transport, 2) there are two compartments inside the box, one of which is big enough to house a food jar. When I initially bought this lunch box, I followed the recommendation and also purchased the Stanley 20oz. Bolt Vacuum Food Jar . The Bolt Vacuum Food Jar arrived broken, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I would not recommend buying the Bolt Food Jar unless you don't mind carrying the food jar separately from the lunch box, or unless you don't mind putting it into the larger compartment within the lunch box, which means you won't have much room for other stuff. If you want your hot food jar inside the lunch box, I would recommend Thermos Stainless King SK3000MB4 Food Jar, Midnight Blue . It fits nicely in the smaller compartment inside the lunch box. You can then put some kind of cold dish in the bigger compartment, and add a couple of reusable ice packs to keep the food cold. I've been using this lunch box for a week now. I split the food up so that I eat a little bit at a time, usually about five times a day if I can. I typically will fill the bottle with filtered water or ice tea. If I fill it with some ice cubes, I've kept the liquid cold for 24 hours. After eight hours, I can still get a brain freeze if I drink too fast! Inside the lunch box I may typically pack something like 16 oz of homemade chili in the food jar (I won't review that here, since this review is about the lunch box), a small banana and a small apple, and a small tupperware container filled with about 16 oz of green bean salad or potato salad. I'm on the road all day, and sometimes I can't stop for a proper meal. This lunch box works perfectly for me. And since either me or my wife makes everything that goes into the lunch box, I know exactly what I'm eating, and I know I'm not being poisoned by some punk parolee working in the kitchen of some diner.