Would somebody let me in the cooler secret?

[calamaridog]

The SWR method works well with those heavy duty plastic juice containers. They are certainly more durable than milk cartons.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Well thanks for noticing Bryan!

I found this pic of the exact bottles I use.

The tops screw on very tight. I also like them because they are kind of rectangular and fit together well when stacking in a cooler, they seem to take up less space....much better than huge round milk jugs.

I just thought of this.....I wonder if it would work just as well to just drink down the juice drink a bit (could just include one with juice in it)......then freeze it. Then when it's almost melted I have a cold juice drink....that had been used as an ice block!..........:ylsmoke:

 

[strap22]

This works for me. It is a big investment but if you do alot of off-roading it is well worth the investment. Doesn't use much to keep it cold.

 

[VikingVince]

I used ice for years before getting my Coolmatic fridge/freeze and I agree with all the tips posted here. I have a little different take/suggestion on the block ice, though, which I don't think I saw here...I made my own block ice with a small wastebasket...obviously, just fill it with water and put it in the freezer for 3 days or so (it takes considerably longer to freeze through than an ice cube tray plus you may have to remove a shelf in the freezer) The larger the block of ice, the longer it will last...(duh!) So you can tweak the size of the block you want to make depending on the wastebasket size. Of course, the trade-off is that the larger the block of ice the less you can get in your cooler...I had a big cooler! The frozen plastic bottles are a clean, neat, and easy way to go (no daily draining) but they won't last as long as a large block like I used to make. Also, one large block will last a day or so longer than two set-apart smaller blocks equaling the same size as the larger block...something to do with mass and thermal dynamics! Best tip: save your $$$$ for a fridge/freeze :wavey:

 

[Grim Reaper]

Pack in layers and plan your meals.

We have a food saver vacuum packer deal. We freeze our marinate then throw it in the bag with our stakes and vacuum and seal. They will help keep things cool while frozen and after they thaw a day or so later they are already marinated ready for the grill.

We drain off a little off the juice bottles and again freeze.

We carry a couple coolers....one for foods that is only opened to get out meals and a small one with beverages for day use.

We also use Tupperware for produce that we cant pre freeze and keep the empty container to minimize airspace. Its pretty easy to get 3-4 days meals in one regular sized cooler with some planning without hte need to get more ice.

on 2-3 day trips we can usually get buy with a small block and the prefrozen drinks and food. 3-4 days we go to dry ice or big blocks. After the 4th day we hit a local grocery and restock. I have gone longer with a third cooler packed as full as possible with ice and a little food but 2 regular sized coolers and a small cooler tent to take a lot of space so in most instances its not real practical unless you are really out in the boonies.

In the vehicle we set the cooler on a closed cell pad to insulate it from any heat coming off the floor and cover it in a blanket and keep it in the shade whenever possible.

It was mentioned before but anything that goes in the cooler must be pre cooled. I even precool the cooler by packing it full of ice a few hours early before I put the food in.

 

[perterra]

New guy here, be careful with the dry ice in a closed vehicle. As it sublimates you can displace the 02 in your vehicle.

Also, I go with block ice, and have never had a problem with warm butter or cheese. Never had it go bad in a reasonable amount of time. Cheese can be wrapped in cheese cloth and washed down with vinegar and keep at room temp for weeks. Butter has hardly ever gone rancid, might turn liquid, but it hasnt gone rancid.

Trying to remember my times on cold beer and soda in dry ice. From 80º to frozen in 3 minutes on the soda, 5 minutes on the beer.

 

[Scott Brady]

New guy here, be careful with the dry ice in a closed vehicle. As it sublimates you can displace the 02 in your vehicle.

Great advice.

Welcome to Expedition Portal. Great to have you here! :camping:

 

[perterra]

Thanks, so far I can see my self going broke looking around in here.

 

[Pskhaat]

something to do with mass and thermal dynamics!

Just that the the smaller the block, the more surface area/volume ratio allowing for greater heat transfer.

One problem with block ice is that it does not cool as fast as crushed ice though it lasts of course significantly longer. If you need to chill something fast, crushed ice is a quicker way.

 

[paulj]

I use empty 64oz. Juice bottles (like Ocean Spray)......rinse them clean.....fill with water I can use to drink later. Place in freezer several days before I head out on my trips (when my truck is working!...UG!).

These flat sided juice bottles worked quite well on my recent 2 week trip in BC. 3 of them in a small Igloo (5 day) cooler lasted a week in cool weather. After that I bought block ice, and used the bottles for camp water. As water bottles they turned out to be a very convenient size and shape. They are easy to handle, and to fill at campground faucets and pumps. They also fit nicely just inside the tailgate when on the road.

paulj

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Paul.....

Some nice country you are exploring there! (from a former Seattle boy!).

I'm glad the "ice bottles" worked well for you on your recent trip!

I used my ice bottles as I headed out Sept. 2nd for Arizona, Utah and Colorado.

Mine only lasted just over 5 days because my first afternoon was spent heading through Arizona in over 110* heat.

I had my cooler covered with two towels....but I don't think this is enough.

So my new idea was to also hang a towel for shade at my rear window, on a bungee cord directly in front of my cooler to block the direct sunlight. This helped a lot....and is my new strategy for summer time!

This is just the width of one towel which hangs directly behind the drivers head and does not block the rear view.


I thought about using the dry ice. But what I did was also bring a smaller cooler that fit well up on my passenger side floor. It was easy to just head into a McDonalds......have a burger.....then fill the smaller cooler with free ice for a few brewskies later at camp!:beer: .........:ylsmoke:


You can see my Towel for shade, hanging down in the back window of this pic. If you can say "Bears Ears" 10 times Really Fast after you've had way too many beers.....I'll take you to my secret campsite with a view of ALL of SE Utah!:sombrero:

.

 

[vanguard]

Hey look my thread from this spring has come back to life. Since then I've found the secret to a long lasting but cheap cooler.















































Camp when it's cold out. :shakin:

 

[devinsixtyseven]

lol!

there is a ton of great advice on this thread...the only thing i might add is that getting a cooler with a drain spigot, as tight a seal as possible and as good insulation as you can afford is critical. i had three coolers in the truck for a july Maze trip, we were in the maze for three full days, and a prior day at Elephant Hill in the Needles district of Canyonlands Natl Park. Peak temp was around 105 every day. The smallest of the coolers, about 1.5 cubic foot, did not have a good seal nor good insulation, no spigot, and the ice cubes inside would melt in a matter of hours. It was relegated to cold drinks and cube ice, and we used the melt water for hygiene. The medium-sized cooler had a tighter seal but again not terribly effective insulation, probably owing to "feature creep" (wheels, three handles, cup holders, blah blah etc) rather than sticking with good, simple insulation everywhere. Also, the small cooler is dark blue with a white lid, and the medium cooler is orange everywhere. The cooler I actually paid for is one of those "Extreme Cool" things, it's silver with a white lid, doesn't have cupholders, the handles are mounted outside the box rather than flush when hanging, the seal is extremely tight, and the insulation is great. The orange cooler still had ice at the end of the first day (half-melted block), but again was relegated to drinks and wash water. The KISS-principled, silver & white (color is important too) cooler was eventually loaded with a pair of blocks and the cracks filled with cubes. Tupperware, even the cheap thin disposable stuff, is perfect...with a little air space, it even floats . If the cooler is clean, the melt is great for putting ice cold water direct to the camelbak via the spigot, and there's no need to open the cooler--solves the runoff problem and conserves water.

We worked each day with two coolers, the large silver one and the medium cooler. In the morning, at or before sunrise (coolest temps), we'd switch the evening's food (frozen) from the large cooler to the medium cooler with some ice (water for washing up) and drinks (frozen in advance). by the end of the day, everything would be thawed, but still cold, and with the tupperware the food was uncontaminated. we pretty much just ignored the small cooler after the first day in Moab. The block ice in the large cooler was still intact at the third day, and we were able to put somewhat melted cubes in the camelbak the second and third days.

Another good trick we used was packing frozen burritos (homemade and precooked) in the smallest (mostly useless) cooler...beans+rice+chicken+salsa+cheese will freeze rock solid to the point that if it's in a cooler and wrapped in aluminum foil it will last for days. They kept the drinks cool, and we also found we had to leave them on the dash all day long if we wanted them to be warm all the way through by evening. Any food you can precook, freeze, and use the sun or the vehicle to reheat is a good thing, plus they taste a lot better than MREs.

The color of things makes a huge difference, as does insulating material like a blanket or tarp like someone mentioned. I have a black canvas topper, with the top down it's downright suffocating in 105* heat. The white top would be better. The silver cooler with the white top is better suited to sit in a hot bed than the blue or orange coolers. As for insulating material, after eight hours hiking in the Maze at 110F+, I and a buddy of mine both had ice remaining in our camelbaks--insulated inner water pouch, surrounded by the canvas pack and emergency gear. A "cooler cover" would probably be a great investment...just grab some fleece or neoprene or something at the fabric store and sew it up.

On future trips I'll be doing the same two cooler deal, pre-freezing everything I can.

-Sean

 

[coloradocarlisle]

Good cooler the extremes work good for the money. My extreme will last two to three times longer than my regular cooler

Fill cardboard milk containers with water and freeze, then peel the cardboard off for good cheap block ice

drain water

Keep in shade

Keep closed

Containers

Dont store in your tent or truck

 

[slepe67]

While draining the melt water makes it easier to keep the food dry, I doubt if it helps slow down the melting of the ice. That melt water is at 0C, and still can absorb a lot of heat. I tend to drain the melt water only when adding new ice.

paulj

me 2, I hauled deer meat from MT to FL in November. It's cold in MT, not FL. Put ice on in Great Falls, MT; then in Omaha NB. Worked like a champ. 32 hours of windshield time. Bad weather....