Thermos Ice Mat, 6 Cube

I bought this to use in my lunch bag and they work great. They are flat, so they don't take up much room either in the freezer or the lunch bag. They were still cold after an eight-hour day.

I bought several of these at the start of the school year, figuring that if I got even a few months out of each one, they'd be worth the price. Well, now at the end of the school year, I'm still using the first one I opened no leaks, no problems. It's survived a year of daily lunch box use, as well as use on the weekends. The 6 cube mat slides in nicely in the Vera Bradley lunch tote, and works just as well in a Pottery Barn lunch box with plenty of room to spare.

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My old Blue Ice packets were inadvertently thrown out by my movers, so I came here looking to buy some new ones. As I was looking around, I noticed these Thermos Ice Mats, and thought, hey, that's new and looks pretty cool! I ordered 2 of the 6-cube mats and 2 of the 9-cube mats; I also purchased a Blue Ice pack just in case these didn't work out.

My initial impressions of the cubed mats were mixed. I really like how they are able to be folded around an object, however, the individual cubes are filled with waaaaaay too much water. They have soooo much water in the little pockets (with no air) that the plastic is stretched to maximum capacity and it feels like they are about to burst. This is bad for a few reasons...

1. Water expands as it freezes, need I go further?

2. Unlike the Blue Ice packs that are filled with a water mixture that stays cold longer than just water, the Thermos "cubes" are filled with water.

3. Folding a packet around an object is impractical when the individual cubes have so much water in the them.

4. The cubes are rounded so you are unable to have a great deal of the cold surface area be in contact with your items.

5. If something jabs the cube when it's stretched out so much, it has a MUCH greater chance of rupturing. Think of blowing up a balloon with just a little air, and then tap it with a fork. The fork will just push the balloon into itself. Now, blow that same balloon up to where it's just about to burst and tap it with the fork. Chances are pretty high that you just popped that balloon. That same principle is going on here. Thermos could really solve a good many problems with this product if they'd just decrease the amount of water in each cube a little.

I froze both mats, put them in my lunchbox and went to work (FYI, my Blue Ice mat was the same relative size as the Thermos mat.) At the end of the day, the Thermos mat was melted and cool, while the Blue Ice pack was still half-frozen. I think the reason the Thermos mat was still cool was because it was in the box with the Blue Ice. Regardless, I was stunned at how poorly the Thermos mat performed.

On the second day, one of the cubes on the Thermos mat ruptured. On the third day I used a different Thermos mat and a cube on that one ruptured as well. On the fourth day, I threw them out.

The last Blue Ice packs that I had I used for YEARS, and had little problems with them leaking. Every now and then one might leak, a little, but it wasn't to the extent that I'd have to throw them out since they would stop leaking and I could still use them. I think it wasn't so much of a leak, but rather, some blue dye would eventually work it's way through the heat seams and get on something that made it look worse than it actually was. This is not an issue for me because it's so minor that it's almost not worth mentioning.

The Blue Ice packs are SIGNIFICANTLY more durable, you can even feel it in the thick plastic vs. the thin plastic of the Thermos mats. **Also, and this was new to me, but when I got my Blue Ice pack, I noticed that the dye they are using in them is MUCH lighter in color and is now a gel instead of a water-like substance.** For the last 20 years or so they've been that same deep, dark blue that everyone knows, but now they are a very, very, faint baby blue. If it were much lighter it'd be clear. So, for those that didn't like getting the dark blue ink on themselves if/when they leaked, that's not really an issue anymore. It's a good change.

Anyway, I'm not saying you should buy Blue Ice packs, but I am saying don't waste your money on this junk. I read the reviews about these leaking and thought people were rough with them, but no, they really are just that bad. It's a shame too, because there's really only 2 things Thermos needs to do to dramatically improve these ice mats, and it's exceedingly simple. Implement some quality control on the amount of water that goes into each cell so they are all the same and not filled to 110% capacity, and use a slightly thicker plastic.

**If you really want to stick with this same type of product and stay away from the Blue Ice chemicals, Flexi Freeze makes some ice cube packs that are MUCH better. They have the same amount of water in every cube, they're not overfilled, and the plastic that they use is tougher. All-in-all, everything that I've said Thermos needs to do to improve their product, Flexi Freeze has already implemented. You also get way more for your money.**

*************************************** Update *********************************

It turns out that I still had one of these packs left in my freezer when I threw the others out that were leaking. I'm a long distance runner and after a run I ice my knees for 20 min. I decided to give this ice mat a try in doing that and I have to say, it worked quite well. I still keep it in the plastic case, which I hate, but I know if I take it out it won't be long before it starts to leak. So yeah, even though it does work well for icing body parts, a 99 cent bag of frozen peas does the same job, if not better, and won't leak. Even though I have a new use for this product, it's still a 5-star concept with a 2-star implementation.

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A well-made ice pack. Seems to be sealed well, and though I haven't owned them long I am hoping they will last longer than most freezer packs without leaking or breaking (which tends to happen with cheaply made packs.) The design is great for most lunch boxes, but the 6 cube pack is fairly small, so you will want a few of them at least, or perhaps some of the larger versions as well. (I initially ordered 1 6-cube, and 1 9-cube for a lunch box scenario and found myself severely lacking in cooling power and needing to pick up a couple more.)

I would currently recommend this product to anyone needing some ice packs, and I will update this review if anything changes.

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I pack this item for my son's lunch box. Despite sitting at the bottom of lunch bag without anything disturbing it, it leaked during firs time use. I ended up returning it.