I’m not really one for taking anyone on the hill that isn’t essential – fundamentally I hate carrying wasted weight – light and (not so) fast is the aim .

I don’t sacrifice essential safety kit such as torch, layers, first aid kit, blanket etc but Flasks of coffee tend not to be something I pack.

That said – both my wife Sam ( my main hill partner) and my regular climbing buddy Fraser both love a coffee on a hill and I can’t say I don’t love the boost it gives you on a cold day, so when Sam and I headed to Schiehallion a few weeks ago we did take a coffee and had a chance to try out a thermo flask Sigg had sent me ( a sort of reward for posting #siggstories through the years I guess) .

We were up at 6am so poured the coffee into the flask ( 1 sugar and a little milk if you’re interested) at 6.30 and it went in the pack .

The flask is the Sigg 750ml Thermo Flask ( a link to it’s s here ) so pretty compact and certainly easy enough to get in a normal or even small 25L day pack ( what I used in this case) . Construction is pretty light and it’s got the usual screw down thermos cap and also a lid that double as a good sized cup . The cup had a couple of ridges on it which adds just enough grip if needed .

When we got to the Schiehallion car park it was -5c , foggy but dry so off we set along and up the well made path.

In total we stopped for coffee twice – once on ascent and once at the summit – both times the coffee was still hot and finally arrived back at the car close to 8 hours ( 7hr 40mins to be more precise) later and when we had the last cup it was still hot , not tepid or lukewarm but actually still hot – frankly amazing to me.

I’ve tried a few flasks over the years and tbh usually they aren’t great after a few hours so this impressed me .

All in all it’s a strong solution – compact but big enough for a few cups , robust and light , has a cup for a lid and ( most importantly) has around an 8hr heat life ( it may go longer but this is as long as I tried it for) – for £29.99 ( RRp) it’s not a cheap option but as with all kit of its cheap but fails it’s not cheap ! If it performs then it’s worth the cost . Simples.