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 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.

They are water--they are made in USA. I feel so safe putting these in my diaper bag to keep my daughter's food cold or my husband's lunch cold- and they stay cold for hours. A couple of squares busted, but I'm pretty sure it's more of a result of our rough handling and our daughter's penchant for chewing on things than because they're poorly made.Overall, buying more so we have a few extra on hand. (For when we forget to take them out of the bags)

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've been using this item for 3 months and it has worked well. I wish that the material is a bit thicker. So far, one "cube" has leaked. I wish I would've taken another reviewer's advice and kept them in the zip lock bag that it came in. Ah well...no biggie. I could just throw it in a sandwich bag.Yes, it's just water so it won't stay cold as long as the blue stuff. I don't mind since I don't want to worry about weird chemical goop leaking on pumped milk that I am taking home to my son. Just to give you an idea of how long the cold lasts: I keep them flat in the freezer during the day at work and take it out to put it in my little velcro-close insulated lunch bag at 4:30pm. The bag contains a couple of bags of cold milk that's been sitting in the fridge. I then make my commute home on a bus/shuttle. By the time I get home around 6pm, the ice is somewhat melted and the milk is still cold.I wouldn't use it to keep food cold all day long but it works for my purpose. It might work better in a cooler but I've never tried it.I would knock off half star for having lost a cube after 2 months of use. So, really 4.5 star rating :)Overall, would buy again.

These did work well to keep my lunch items really cold through to lunch, however by the end of a work day, they are fully melted (while remaining inside my insulated lunch cooler). Also, within a few days two of the little "cubes" had popped (not sure how, I didn't have anything especially sharp in my bag). I actually think the holes happened while they were in frozen state (maybe when they flexed?), because I didn't notice it until the end of the day when they had fully defrosted and gotten the water from inside all over my lunchbag.I'm going back to the hard plastic "brick" design to avoid further problems.