Leather Covered Thermos

I purchased this thermos online from Velo-Orange on a lark. It looked kind of neat and I thought it was cool that it fit in a water bottle cage. Honestly I didn’t think I would ever really use it that much…

Velo-Orange info.
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We found this little kit to make a leather covered stainless steel thermos bottle that fits perfectly into a water bottle cage. All there is to it is sewing on the leather strip and putting some leather conditioner on it. You could also tool a design on the leather if you have an artistic bent. I just put neatsfoot oil on this one and it turned a nice light honey color. I’ll try some shoe polish on the next one to make it brown. The bottle holds 12oz and has a handy push button top and a lid that serves as a cup.
$19.75

Well that was then and this is now…
I love this thing, really. I use it almost daily. It is a double walled thermos, all stainless steal. The lid doubles as a cup and has a plastic lining. The pour cap is also plastic.

I use this daily at work now.

Instead of buying that extra cup of coffee from Starbucks I bring my little thermos along and have my “other cup of coffee” mid morning at my desk. Piping hot by the way, and I mean PIPING HOT! I can commute to the office with this thermos, set it on my desk for an hour or two and still have hot coffee. As pathetic as this sounds I have more then recouped the money for the thermos by steering clear of Starbucks each day.

It’s not that big. This isn’t coffee for you and a friend. It only holds 12oz. It’ll fill the little cup 4 or 5 times. I like how small the lid is. You drink what’s in the cup before it gets cold. Anyway, I’ve already had my morning cup or two at home before take off and this is a nice amount to have with me at the office.

I use this on cold day rides.

The most fun I have with this thing is not my commute though. As fall is crawling in I have started filling my thermos with hot herbal tea and honey, or hot soup! It again is just the right amount. Half way through a long ride I usually stop to eat my lunch and now have something warm to go with my sandwich or whatever. (don’t try and pour soup through the spout! )
This little thermos is great at holding the heat. I have never gone to drink from it and not found hot liquid awaiting me… I haven’t tried it in the dead of winter though. I know if I half empty it, the contents will cool down a little quicker then if I leave it full. That’s no big deal though, because the size is such that I usually finish the contents off the first time I open it up. I do think that on the coldest of rides I might throw it in my saddle bag as opposed to putting it in a water bottle cage.

It will dent easily.

The only real negative about this little thermos is that it easily dents. I guess I’m clumsy but I have dropped it a couple times and I have a little reminder on the thermos for each one. Not that big a deal…

Arts and Crafts

The thermos comes with a leather strip, a needle, and the necessary elastic tread. It also has directions for the artistically challenged so there is no mucking up the stitch pattern. What can I say; it was fun putting it together. The added bonus is the leather helps it not “rattle” in the water bottle cage.

All in all this is a fun little item that I am starting to depend on.