Thermos Ice Mat, 6 Cube

I use some 6-cube packs to complement some 9 Cube mats that I used for a full semester of lunches, and they are still working well. No leaks yet, and there is little visible wear on the packs. Even if they were to break, it's just clean water, and by the time your ice has melted, your lunch items will likely be long gone anyway.The water remains isolated in the cube shapes, so the pack is flexible even when frozen. They are quick to freeze, and seem to last long enough for a late afternoon lunch even in my cheap, lightly insulated lunchbox. These mats don't take up too much space and distribute the ice over a large area.Very functional at a very reasonable price. I recommend buying a few extra to keep in the freezer, just in case you forget to pop a used one in the freezer at the end of the day.

I use these to send with school lunches. I freeze them overnight, pack them with a sandwich and other cold items in the morning, and when they come home at 3 PM the ice is thawing but they are still cold to the touch. They are filled with a liquid that freezes solid so if you use an insulated lunch pouch they take a while to melt, especially if the lunch bag can be stored in a fridge (not an option at our school). I first bought these about 3 years ago, and replaced that batch with a new set because over time they do get holes and the water leaks out. I thought 3 years was a good lifespan for the product.

I bought two of these. One of them worked out great. I've been using for 4 months now and no problems. On the other one two of the bubbles tore open and leaked out. Make sure to keep them in the plastic bag they come in.Other then that I'm happy with how long they stay cold and how well they fit into my lunchbox.

This is nice reusable ice....nothing more. It's not going to last any longer than a regular ice cube, so don't expect the super chilly performance of that blue gel stuff.It's perfect for my lunchbag (covers a sandwich-sized square, stays fairly flexible when frozen, and is light, and lasts about 5 hours in a cheapo insulated fabric lunchbag at room temp.It's all plastic/foil outside so it's easy to clean :-) and I think it'll last a good long time for the price. I'm glad they didn't use that nasty fake fiber cover stuff.

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.

I ordered this product to use with my Thermos Lunch bag I ordered previously from Amazon. The lunch bag while small works great. The first time I used the Ice Mat I noticed the inside of my bag was when when I removed my sandwich and yogurt. I figured it was condensation...until I realized everything was slimy. That's when I noticed not one but two of the cubes had burst. It hadn't been under any sort of pressure or "smooshed" so I'm not sure what happened. Either way I was forced to toss my sandwich and buy something else for lunch. Kind of defeated the purpose of packing a lunch to save $.

We were looking for something to replace some ice packs I had gotten years ago with a medication order. The ice packs seemed to be leaking a substance and even though I had them in zip lock bags, I still didn't want to continue using them around food. I found these and they work very well!!! They keep my husband's lunch cold in a thermal lunch bag throughout the morning and just seem to be defrosting when he brings the bag home after 10 hours!!! GREAT PROS include the price, the fact that are filled with a non-toxic substance that does not "leak" out as the product "defrosts" and super easy to keep clean. I will buy larger sizes for my cooler!!