Last summer we’d regularly meet up with friends at our local beach after school and take the kids surfing. After an hour or so we’d light the fire pit and break out the hot chocolate.
This is where we ran into a problem that’s frustrated us for years.
Serving hot drinks outside means either scalding ourselves using traditional metal camping cups (our friends call them knuckle burners), or we have to fill half our bag with bulky insulated cups.
And so started a 6 month cycle of designing, prototyping and iterating to make something better.
Inspired by traditional stacking ‘stirrup cups’ we wanted to make something that was better than the existing solutions, that would last for generations and that’s neat enough to find a place in your bag on every expedition - whether that’s half way round the world or for a walk through your local woods.
So today we’re really proud to be introducing the Fieldtrip 10oz Expedition cup set - a set of stacking insulated cups that store neatly into the included waxed cotton bag.
These have been designed not only to last a lifetime, but to age beautifully and be something you’re proud to own and take with you for years to come.
Each cup holds 10oz (which is a half pint), and they’re tapered towards the bottom to easily stack into each other. We’ve even made sure that the cup opening perfectly fits the head of an aeropress coffee brewer or V60 filter holder.
The bag of cups is about the size of a metal water bottle, meaning you can tuck it into the side pouch of most rucksacks, plus the stacking design means they won’t rattle or clank as you’re walking along.
The cups are made from two layers of 18/8 Kitchen grade stainless steel with a vacuum between, which means they keep your hot drinks hot (without burning your hands) and your cold drinks cold.
18/8 stainless steel means that the steel contains 18% Chromium and 8% Nickel - what that means is that it’s incredibly strong, won’t rust, doesn’t add any taste to your drink, and is completely dishwasher safe.
We get the 6oz waxed cotton for the bags from British Millerain - a family business that has been making waxed fabrics in the UK for over 120 years. We chose this fabric not only because it’s incredibly durable, but because it will develop a beautiful patina the more you use it.
The fabric is then sewn into bags for us by the social enterprise ‘Devon Disability Collective’ and are hand finished by us here in Tynemouth with an ultra-strong black and white drawstring and a stainless steel slider.
Whether it’s watching the sunrise with a fresh cup of coffee after a cold dip or admiring the view from the summit while you share out the hot chocolate, it’s the little things that can help make every day an adventure and we hope our cups will play a part in many of yours.