Hi, New poster but not new to T1D. I just read the thread about storing insulin in a thermos… Any recommendations for a larger double walled thermos that would hold around 15 vials of insulin? My family and I are moving from the US to Australia but we are going the long way and stopping in several countries along the way such as India, Dubai and possibly Kathmandu, Nepal… We are bringing our son’s supply with us. I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations for keeping them cool (we have 2 Frio bags) as it will be his 3 month supply that Australia will allow us into the country with - Side note… that 3 month supply rule is weird considering our son was diagnosed in Australia and when we moved to the US we had a 1 year supply with us and no one said a word… Anyhow… Any tips? Thanks in advance!
@typethreethatsme, welcome! How old is your son? Mine is 13, but many parents here have kids of a different age.
We just moved to Spain from the US for a year and also took our son’s insulin for almost a year with us in thermoses.
Are you taking vials or pen cartridges with you when you write about a thermos for for 15 vials? I have the thermos than can take about 15 cartridges, but 15 full-size vials would be pretty darn big.
Hi Michel, Nice to meet you! My son is 12 
We were considering a move to Valenica but in the end I think Oz has won out as my husband and kids are citizens there and its just easy as we know the schools and they are already registered with the Medicare system. How do you like Spain? What city did you land in?
We travel a lot as a family… Sam has already been to 15 countries since being diagnosed with T1D. I’ve never actually brought more than a vial with us on holiday as we usually travel with a script but this is different.
I’m thinking we will just find a large double walled thermos (or two) and carry it in our carry on. When we moved from Australia to the US back in 2012 we had a Styrofoam cooler with ice packs in it. We copped a lot of flack from TSA about the ice packs in New Zealand and in Los Angeles so from that point on we have switched to using just baggies of ice and then refilling them on planes and in hotels to keep the insulin cold.
@typethreethatsme, here is the thermos we use. We tried several models until we got this size just right:
Klean Kanteen Insulated Wide Stainless Steel Coffee Mug with Café Cap 2.0, Brushed Stainless , 20 oz (please note the default listing is 12oz but we use the 20oz version, as the 12 and 16oz are too small)
We substitute this top to the original (less space etc.):
Klean Kanteen Stainless Steel D- Ring Flip Cap
(Still available but not on Amazon)
This model takes about 15 cartridges, plus a few plastic ice balls that we freeze the day before and add right before we leave:
42 Reusable Ice Cube Balls Plastic Refreezable Ice
The system works very well for us! But we have not tried it with vials.
Coming to Europe, we used 4 such thermoses, each inside an insulated sleeve, with a bunch more ice balls in the sleeves. Each one of us had 1-2 thermoses in a backpack that we carried on (along with pump and CGM supplies). We told TSA about it as we went through security and we had no problems at all. We have been traveling with this system in Central America, the US and Europe with no trouble.
This Klean Kanteen model is also just long enough to take any kind of insulin pen as well, in case we need disposable insulin pens.
We would love to try Oz also! We though hard about Australia and New Zealand for a year, but, in the end, decided for Europe We are in Granada, Spain right now, for another 5 months or do. Them we will move on to France, Italy and probably the Balkans.
If you stay long enough we’ll come visit
@typethreethatsme Welcome to my part of the world - we’re practically neighbors. Australia is a beautiful country. I haven’t spent lots of time there, but have occasionally needed a place to stop on our travels. I’ve also successfully used thermoses to carry insulin.