refrigeration without a refrigerator...

[Conrad_Turbo]

I tried dry ice on one camping trip, works great for it's weight. If there was ever a next time I would definately line some 1/8" foam around it since some items got a wee bit too close to it and froze absolutely solid. We did wrap the dry ice in a few layers of newspaper too.

What we do now is use our Coleman Extreme (59L capacity) cooler and an aluminum mold to allow us to freeze a block of ice in our deep freeze. The block of ice is laid into the bottom of the cooler before the food is packed into it.

It takes a few days to freeze and we are still adjusting our block size to minimize weight but still keep our food/drinks cold. 8-10L block along with some loose ice cubes kept all our food cold for 4 days easily. Our friend's brought another cooler (same as ours) and we had a similar sized block in theirs which lasted the 4 days as well. We will probably be trimming down to 6-8L next year, since we always seem to have extra ice left over.

 

[jeepmedic46]

Coleman extreme is the way to go.:REOutIceFishing:

 

[bmonday]

what is the best cooler made?

Look into the coolers made by Iowa Rotocast. Cabelas sells these under their store brand (Outfitter series). Best cooler made for any price, in my opinion.

I have also seen similar coolers at my local Sportsman's Warehouse, for slightly cheaper.

BMonday

 

[IH8RDS]

The last extended trip I used my Coleman marine 150. It is rather large, but I is able to internally seperate it into compartments. It came with dividers/cutting boards. I prefroze some of the meats and froze two 2 liter bottles a week prior. I packed the "freezer" side with the frozen bottles, meats and ice real good and and the other side was full of beer/soda and other fridge stuff, milk, eggs etc.. On the drive down I left the cooler drain open and it consumed about 1/2 of the ice due to the beer/soda being warm. Before I hit camp I bougt more ice and closed the drain and it lasted me the rest of the 5 day trip. One of the meats on day 4 I still had to set out for a little while to thaw. When I got home I still had ice cubes left and cold cold beer while I unpacked.

I would of used even less ice if I would have cooled the beer/sodas first. You could also do with this with 2 coolers. You have to minimise the opening of the freezer cooler for this to work efficiently

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I can't imagine anything superior to a Coleman Ultimate Extreme and for $50, I can't imagine a better value.

X2. They seal well and last.

I've been out 8 days and had a few of the frozen bottles with ice in them still. The bottles are nice as they melt they provide cold drinkable water and don't make a mess.

 

[pnorvell]

Wow, I would have never thought of half of the ideas! Great info

Peter

 

[Hatari]

One of the things that my brother and I used when canoe camping in the Everglades is to freeze 1 gallon jugs of water and use those to keep everything cool. We were able to keep everything cool for 5 days in 90 degree temps. Also +1 on only opening the cooler at meal prep time.

 

[Cackalak Han]

If you only have a few things to keep cool (meats and such), you can also buy what's called a food jar. It's like a thermos but has a larger opening to store hot/cold foods in. I bought one to carry lunch in and it works really well. If you put frozen meat inside of that, then put that in a cooler, I'd think it would stay cold for a long time. I bought mine at Target for ~$20.

 

[EricG]

I bought one of those coleman 4 or 5 day coolers, only kept ice for a day or so, may have been me getting beer our every 15 min for 2 days.

 

[michaels]

i'm still on my trip, but i stopped at a friends house near the area where we were for a few days before i return back to birmingham. i bought the coleman five day one for $45. the steaks are still frozen along with teh water bottles frozen on the bottom. the eggs could probably be tossed, but overall this was very succesful witht his cooler and the trip has beeng reat so far. thanks guys.

 

[Hilldweller]

Coleman Extreme here too.
I use my vacuum sealer for the steaks, freeze them, etc. Everything is portioned-out into serving sized bags.
I also vacuum seal some of the ice; it makes it easier to move around to get to the food quickly. And when the ice is melted and the trip waning down, it's nice clean cold drinking water.
Our ice lasted 4 days in 85 degree heat last week.

 

[off.track]

Coleman Extreme .

long time ago, coleman used to make a tin cooler that was the best, hands down.. it held food cold with just ice cubes for 3-4 days.

i make block ice in my deep freezer.. in my old beat up cooler that's good for 3-4 days in the summer heat. i also freeze everything for at least 2-3 days prior to the trip.. i have used frozen bottles in the past.. also agree on having at least 2 coolers.. one for the main long term storage and then a small one for drinks and snacks.

i also like to wrap the main cooler with sleeping bags ro blankets what whatever.. i try to kind of burry it, basically

 

[craig333]

Must use block ice. I like using gallon milk jugs. Not too tall. Dry ice is fine if you plan well. Get a little careless and you have rock hard eggs (don't ask me how I know that) and exploding beer bottles (see above).

Want to start an argument? Drain the water or not. Coleman says not to drain.

COLEMAN® XTREME™ COOLERS
How to use and clean
To achieve five-day performance in your new Xtreme cooler you must use it properly. Use plenty of ice and pre-chill items before you put them in the cooler. The following guidelines will allow you to achieve extreme performance.
37.5 lbs. for the 50 qt wheeled ice chest (model 6263-707)
43.5 lbs. for the 58 qt ice chest (model 6273-707)
27 lbs. for the 36 qt wheeled ice chest (model 6251-707)
Coleman recommends using .75 lbs. of ice per rated quart of the coolant. We highly recommend using cubed ice.

For best performance, always pre-chill food and drinks.
Two six packs or one gallon (3.7L) of liquid will use approximately 2.5 lbs. (1.13kg) of ice just to cool from room temperature. So plan ahead and cool off everything before you head out. You can even empty a few trays of ice into the cooler to pre-chill its interior.

Put the ice in last
Cold air travels down, so if you want your beverage well chilled, load cans and bottles first, then cover with ice.

Do not store cooler in hot location.
When storing cooler, avoid hot places such as the garage or the trunk of a car. If this is unavoidable, bring the cooler inside at least 24 hours before use.

Keep cooler out of the sun.
Ice lasts up to twice as long when the cooler is in the shade.

Choose cube or block ice.
Use cube ice to quickly cool food and drink, block ice to keep it cold longer.

Don't drain cold water.
Recently melted ice keeps food and drinks cold. Melted ice water preserves ice better than empty air space.

Close lid quickly after opening.
Do not leave the lid open longer than necessary.

Use separate coolers.
Use one for beverages you'll want frequently, another for the bulk of the food. The latter will keep ice longer because it will be open less frequently.

Protect perishable foods.
Place perishable foods like meat and dairy products directly on ice. Sealed plastic containers will keep food dry.

Use dry ice to keep food frozen.
Place the dry ice on top of the food. Be sure that the dry ice is wrapped in heavy layers of newspaper. Do not let dry ice come in direct contact with the interior liner or your hands.

Cleaning Your Cooler

Clean the inside and outside
Clean the inside with a solution of mild soap and warm water, especially before first use. To remove tough stains, use baking soda and water to clean the inside.

Remove odors with a diluted solution of chlorine bleach and water.
If odor persists, wipe the interior with a cloth saturated with vanilla extract, then leave the cloth in the cooler overnight.

Always air-dry the cooler with the lid open before storing.

 

[Yudda]

Great advice everyone.

What about buying or making a cooler blanket.

Heres an example. Im going to be purchasing one of these soon.

what do you all think ?


hope it helps,
rob


http://www.offroadtrailtools.com/shop/index.php?l=product_detail&p=92

 

[GetBentFab]

I think the blanket is a great idea. We always pile our sleeping bags over the cooler during the day and it seems to help a lot.