Category: Reflection

For the past few days, I’ve been reviewing tumblers for staying hydrated while traveling in the heat. Later this month, we’ll drive a little over half of Route 66, beginning in Chicago and ending in Albuquerque – and it’s blazing hot out west in June. As one who experiences heat sensitivity and is especially prone to dehydration, I need a tumbler that can keep ice frozen overnight and hold enough water to last me for several hours until the next refill. I’ve completed my reviews of the 40 ounce Hydro Flask and the 30 ounce Stanley Ice Flow. Today, I’m reviewing the Stanley Quencher H2.0 tumblers in the 40 ounce and 30 ounce sizes.

Each of these tumblers comes with a 3-position lid that allows the user to twist the middle bar so that it 1) seals itself shut, 2) opens to a small slot for drinking hot beverages, or 3) twists to the straw insert slot for drinking cold beverages. Each tumbler has a side handle that, when held in the user’s right hand, has the logo facing the user and straw emerging from the tumbler just above the Stanley logo if twisting begins at the 9:00 position. They’re ultra-versatile, and the lid twists on like a silicone-lined dream, sliding softly into a seemingly watertight fit on the rim of the mug. (This is where the Stanley Iceflow lid could use improvements to become more like its Quencher siblings in terms of the ease of the lid twisting).

And as if you didn’t already know, these tumblers can be accessorized. Go to any little league sports games where the mommies are gathered and you’ll see all the options – there are hand covers, pouch packs, and straps for shoulder carrying. If I could wear the same clothes every day for a week, I could go to Europe for a week with just a Stanley pouch pack as my luggage. These tumblers are practically more dressable than a new baby girl.

So here are the pros and cons of these tumblers.

Pros

1. 40 ounce tumbler fits comfortably in my RAV-4 cup holder.
2. 40 ounce tumbler holds enough water to get me from breakfast to lunch.
3. The color choices on both are a rainbow of possibilities.
4. No bottleneck makes both sizes easy to fill with ice.
5. The 3-position lid means these can also be used for hot drinks.
6. They both have good straw flow once you find the sweet spot just above the bottom of the cup.
7. They can be accessorized to carry phone, keys, cash, cards. Maybe even a small t-shirt.
8. They both come in a matte textured finish that feels leathery and looks gorgeous – I held mine that have this finish on the body and there is less slipping and better gripping if the cup gets wet.

Cons

1. If you want the logo to face outward to proclaim to others that you’re part of the Stanley craze, you have to hold the tumbler in your left hand and experiment to find the clockface starting twist position for the straw to be where you want it to be. Stanley could improve this by either imprinting the logo on both sides or making a handle that twists like the lid bar.
2. They both leak when held upside down in the seemingly watertight position. I have more than one of each of these Quencher model sizes, and they all leak.
3. The handle is a blessing and a curse. It makes the cup bulky and prevents the 30 ounce from fitting in either cup holder.
4. They are heavy – the water amount obviously adds to the weight difference between the 30 ounce and the 40 ounce, but the empty vessel, in each case, is weighty.
5. They don’t fit in the side pocket of a backpack because of the handle, so for those who strive to travel lightly and fit things in compact spaces, these cups are not sleek.

Tomorrow, I’ll share my overall winner decision and the reasons why I am choosing it as my preferred Route 66 Traveling cup.