Inspiring Stories

It’s no secret that Stanley is made to last—and it’s not unheard of to see a Stanley flask still keeping coffee warm 50 years after it rolled out the factory. With that in mind, our series ‘Stanleys in the Wild’ tells the stories of your near-indestructible Stanleys—the places they’ve been and the things they’ve seen.  This time around, we’re pitching a tent in the Danish wilderness with all-round man of the outdoors Henrik Lindgaard and his enviable collection of Stanley  You’ve got some amazing Stanley camping kit. Can you run us through your collection?   I’ve got an old travel mug, the old version of the Stanley Classic Easy Wide Mouth Flask and my Stanley Adventure Stainless Steel cook set. I got my camp cook set as a Christmas present about six or seven years ago. I use it for cooking when I'm out camping alone, or to make sauce in it when there are more people out. I also use it for boiling water for hot cocoa in winter time or to make some cowboy coffee.   What do you mean by cowboy coffee?  That’s where you make coffee without a filter.  Tasty. What else do you usually pack for a camping trip?   It’s very different. It all depends on which kind of trip I am going on—whether that’s a canoe trip, hot tent camping, a hiking trip, a pack raft trip, big tent camping with outdoor cooking or a road trip. When I travel with a backpack I always try to keep the weight down—I’ve been doing this for a long time so I don’t pack things down which I don’t use.  What kind of things do you take on a canoe trip? I imagine there’s not much space for carrying things.   For canoe trips I’ll take a tent or a hammock, things for outdoor cooking, my sleeping gear and a cold beer.  When did you get into camping?   I was a boy scout for over ten years when I was younger, and then when my son was five, he was allowed to become a boy scout (even though you have to be six years old to start). In summer time there was a big scout camp where scouts from other countries came—I borrowed a tent from a friend and we slept in it for five days. And that’s when my adult outdoor life started.  What’s the score with camping in Denmark—can you camp anywhere?   No—not anywhere but we have something called free tenting—where you can camp in 275 forests without asking.  Where do you like to go?   I use the free tenting forests and I know people who own forests so I got permission to camp there.  You cook some pretty elaborate meals outdoors—have you got any tips for cooking away from the kitchen?   Start with what you got in your refrigerator at home—some of the things I always have in mine  are onions, carrots, spring onions, leeks, green peppers, sausages and a bit of butter—throw it on a pan over the fire and it will taste fantastic… or grab a can of cod roe and throw that on a pan.  I love cooking one pot pasta or a simmer pot—just something with some meat in it—if I have two or three hours in the morning then I love making slow campfire bacon. Food tastes better out in the nature.  What else do you like to do whilst out camping?   When I am camping with others, we always have small projects and we’ll spend a lot of time collecting firewood. And then when I am out alone I love to do a bit of carving. I’ve used an axe my whole life, and never had an accident with it yet.  Even with luxurious homes, people still love camping—what is it about sleeping out in the wilderness that’s so special?   It’s the fresh air…I think it has something to do with living a little more simply, at least for a while when camping. In these times we always have something to do or something we have to achieve or things we need to remember to do. My kind of camping is about slowing down and remembering to enjoy the small things.  Do you have a favourite memory from your camping trips?   I have so many… summer tent camping with the family in Sweden or solo hot tent camping in a snowstorm.  Sounds good. Wrapping this up, what’s your favourite hot drink to sip from your Stanley when you’re camping?  Coffee.  Find out more about Henrik’s camping adventures here.  Have you also got a Stanley with a story to tell? We’d love to hear from you. Share your story here and bag yourself £100 to spend on our website.

“I loved how food brought people together and brought people round the table. It just grew into a passion!”  Based in the Lake District, Harrison Ward aka Fell Foodie is an outdoor cook, mental health advocate and all-round lover of the hills. Cooking outdoors, bringing people together and sharing recipes has helped Harrison to boost both his physical and mental health. His ability to create delicious meals that can be pulled together halfway up a mountain caught the attention of many, inspiring him to share his story and since then he has not looked back. Harrison has encouraged many other nature lovers to upgrade their campaign cuisine. Watch this short film to find out more about Harrison Ward’s story and his life as the Fell Foodie.    Click here to see the other Stanley Stories. 

“I think you have to be a dreamer because you have to visualise the life you want.”Having moved away from her family’s farm when she was 12, Alison O’Neil always dreamed of returning to a life in the hills. 22 years ago, she finally managed to start a sheep farm of her own. Despite all the hardships of her seemingly idyllic lifestyle - the long winters, the early starts - she still feels her happiest as a shepherdess in the heart of the British countryside.  Watch this short film to find out more about Alison’s life as a shepherdess. Click here to see the other Stanley Stories. 

Three years ago Bas Rotgans decided to leave his corporate career behind to become a bike mechanic. Ever since, his passion for cycling kept growing and today he has been part of bike adventures and races across the whole world. He believes cycling can be part of the solution to the environmental crisis. Click here to see the other Stanley Stories. 

This is artist, trail runner, and organic grower Mikk Murray. In this short film, Mikk tells us how growing food in a market garden has given him a better understanding of the environment he lives in, and how that's had an impact on everything from the materials he uses as an artist to the hardy, long-lasting products he uses day to day. Click here to see the other Stanley Stories. 

Raised in the Netherlands, one of the flattest countries on earth, snowboard guide Bas Elhorst is most at home in the Austrian Alps. In this film, Bas tells us how heading off-piste helps him connect with nature, what it means to be a snowboard guide, and what he packs when he’s up in the mountains. Click here to see the other Stanley Stories. 

Stefan Weckert is a surfer, a shaper and the founder of Kun_tiqi Surfboards. He decided to start his business not because he saw a demand, but he found it necessary to build eco-friendly boards. His vision is that one day all surfboards should be made of wood. Click here to see the other Stanley Stories. 

Meet Anna Potter, a florist and wild swimmer from Sheffield, UK. In this film, Anna tells us how she immerses herself in nature, from foraging urban-growing wildflowers for her arrangements to finding peace wild-swimming in The Peak District National Park. Click here to see the other Stanley Stories. 

Coming from a background of skateboarding and graffiti, Peter Perch had gotten preoccupied making art he thought other people would want to see. It wasn't until he started drawing and painting something he'd been obsessed with since he was a kid that he found a new direction for his art that really made waves. As part of the Stanley and Peter Perch collaboration launch, we invited the fish artist himself to share his built-for-life passion. We sat down with Peter to ask him a few questions about his love for fish, fishing and his fish art. Stanley: Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your art? Peter Perch: My name is Peter Perch, I'm a fish artist. I paint fish. I live fish. I fish fish. I am a fish, fishing and wildlife illustrator based in the Netherlands, but working on projects worldwide. I'm not your grandfather's fish artist. I don't do realistic old paintings of trout. I come from a background of skateboarding and graffiti and I think that's also why my designs pop up from a distance. Stanley: What makes your art so unique and loved worldwide?Peter Perch: In hindsight it all makes sense now. At the beginning of my career, I was too preoccupied with making art that I thought people wanted to see. And it's only when I started to make art that I wanted to see, I realized that that is what other people want to see. I don't really stick to the traditional rules of fish art. I like to mix things up. I use different techniques. I use inside jokes that only fishermen will get or just make fun of fish, fishermen or myself. Stanley: How did you become interested in fishing, and how did you become a fish artist?Peter Perch: As a kid, I spent my days cycling around and spotting fish in the canals or in the river and catch them. Afterwards I would study them. I guess, from a young age I just grew up to be a fish artist. Actually catching fish might be one of the most important parts of my creative process. Only after I catch certain species of fish I really understand them. And only then I'm able to truly illustrate or paint them. I spend hours and hours every day just drawing scales. And this really is a meditation practice for me. I just zone out and I draw scales, scales and scales.Stanley: We know you use Stanley products in your everyday life, while fishing, and when working on your fish art. What excites you most about this collaboration with Stanley?Peter Perch: Basically every fishermen that I know already has a Stanley bottle. It's the bottle that your grandfather had while you were fishing. I'm really proud to do this collaboration with Stanley because it's such an iconic product. It's really a good product to put fish art on. Stanley: One last question, Peter, what does the future hold for you?Peter Perch: I'm very curious what the future will bring but there's one thing I know, it will be fish. Click here to see the other Stanley Stories. 

Since bottle innovator William Stanley introduced the first all steel vacuum bottle in 1913, the name Stanley has come to mean a trusted and reliable friend to generations. Whether it's the thermos that your granddad got for his 15th birthday that he still uses to this day, or the Trigger Action Mug you picked up for a long weekend camping trip, our bottles are made for life and for a lifetime. And when we say a #BUILTFORLIFE it truly is: we’ve got a Stanley vacuum bottle at our HQ that was run over by a truck decades ago and still has coffee in it. Not a single leak. When you get to be 100 years old and you make bottles as tough and beloved as ours, you hear some fantastic stories about how people use our products. It’s more than just having an old bottle kicking around that you break out for a sip now and then, it’s a way of a life. And to the people who cherish our bottles like a member of the family, the essence of #BUILTFORLIFE is about adventure, fun, and pushing things to the limit. These are the stories that define #BUILTFORLIFE, gathered straight from 100 years of real history from real customers. These are the story of the Unbreakables. 13,435ft - Hot Coffee At Low’s Peak, Mount Kinabalu “It was 1.30AM, the temperature had been near freezing for most of the night. I put on my jacket and long johns, headed out to the camp pantry with my Stanley outdoor vacuum bottle. Honestly it was the first time I’ve ever tried using it. “I poured in a few packets of coffee and sugar, added boiling water, locked it up tight and placed it in my bag and got ready for the hike to the summit at 2.30AM. By the time we were on the mountain, pretty much everything I froze. The warm water I brought in a separate - non Stanley bottle - was ice cold halfway up, so I had doubts as to whether my Stanley bottle filled with the hot coffee I made earlier could withstand what the mountain had to offer. My team reached the summit at approximately 6:00AM, by that time the sun was almost up and the temperature was at freezing point. We snapped a few pictures, and I finally took out my Stanley bottle, shared a cup with my buddy and I dare say the coffee was still boiling hot. Instant coffee never tasted as good as it did 13,435ft up in the sky. My Stanley bottle has proven its worth, no doubt.” -Mohamad Adam Bin Mohamad Yakob Like A Phoenix From The Ashes “My mother bought me my Stanley thermos in 1979 when I joined the plumbing trade. I was working in Maryland years ago and the hotel I was staying at had a freak gas explosion and burnt down to the ground. I was not there at the time, but all my belongings were. I lost everything I had on me there. After the fire was put out and the rubble sifted through, the only thing left standing, basically untouched? My Stanley thermos. “I’ve used that thermos every day since then. It’s not green anymore and has quite a few dents, but still keeps my coffee piping hot all day, every day. I use it at work and when I am hunting or fishing. It is very seldom not with me. It joined the workforce with me and it is going to retire with me!” -Greg Gillard A 1600 Foot Bounce “In 1978, I worked in an underground mine. While waiting to go down to working level, my Stanley was knocked from my hand and rolled into the shaft. I wrote it off, but later that day when checking the sump pumps, I found it floating in the sump. It was banged up from falling 1600 feet and the cup was missing, but otherwise completely solid. I’m still using the same thermos to this day!” -Monte L. Generation To Generation “As a young boy, I can remember with warm feelings my father getting up early in the morning much before dawn. Sometimes I would get up and see the Stanley sitting on the counter next to my father’s huge lunch box. I can remember dad mentioning that there was only one thermos worth packing into the woods - Stanley. He used to say that there was nothing worse than lukewarm coffee. I could remember thinking that one day I would grow up and proudly pack my Stanley into the woods. I soon grew up and went off to college. During the summers I worked in woods. I bought my first Stanley that first summer and proudly carried it off to the woods. When you had a Stanley it was a status symbol. “Now 35 year later, my own son has gone off to college and is working construction during the summer. I get up each morning at 5AM and pack his lunch and fill his first Stanley. He said that it is an amazing thermos. He too proudly carries it onto the job site. My grandfather, my father, myself and now my son all packed Stanley thermoses. From generation to generation, Stanley thermoses remain a family institution. Someday, my grandchildren will pack a Stanley.” -Dennis H. A Badge Of Honor, A Bullet Graze “My Stanley classic bottle has endured 10 years of extreme abuse across the US, Mexico, Central America, Chile, and Peru. While it is now officially the ugliest thermal bottle on the planet, it works like the day it was purchased. Its badge of honor is a bullet graze obtained on a construction site in Guatemala during a robbery attempt. I plan to be buried with Stanley.” -Dave Moreno Stanley Vs. An 18 Wheeler “This is short and sweet: My husband unknowingly dropped his thermos under his truck. He then rolled over it with all 18 wheels, loaded at 80,000 lbs. When he noticed it was gone, he backed up to find it - rolling over it again! “When he got out of the truck, he pulled out the thermos - which only had minor scratches on it! He poured out steaming hot coffee that had been there for at least 8 hours.” -Anonymous Have you had a life changing experience with your trusty Stanley bottle? Let us know! You can tag us on your favorite social media platform or just shoot an email to info@stanley-pmi.com! ABOUT STANLEY The Stanley brand has a rich 100+ year history. Born from inventor William Stanley Jr. who forever changed the way hot drinks were consumed, in 1913 he fused vacuum insulation and the strength of steel in one portable bottle, inventing the all-steel vacuum bottle we know and love today.