Picked up a new cooler yesterday...a Coleman Ultimate Uber Super Duper Extra Extreme Marine cooler (now with additional superlative descriptors). After peeling the Ultimate Super Uber Duper stickers off, I got to looking at the inside.
Looks like with the purchase of additional adjectives, they include a cutting board sort of thing that doesn't quite fit on the shelf and doesn't quite sit in the slot on the inside left of the cooler. There's also a sliding tray that isn't really held in place by anything...one good shake and it's in the bottom.
Enter "Colorado Plastic Products". They sell scrap by the pound, and polycarb can be cut easily with a carbide blade. Polycarb = Lexan, what those indestructible Nalgene bottles are made from. Polycarb comes in colors, clear, opaque, whatever. It's easy to work with, won't shatter like acrylics (ie Plexiglass), and cleans easily. It can be used as a cutting board as well, as it's resistant to abrasion.
One piece will turn in to a divider, fitting in the slot on the inside left of the cooler. Now I have two deep compartments, great for storing block/bulk items or ice in the large section, and food in the small section...or block in the large section and cube in the small section. Next, a large layer fitted to the lip on the inside of the cooler. On the marine cooler, there are actually two lips, one is about halfway in, the other is near the top where the "built in tray" normally sits. Either would make a good divider...food on the bottom, sealed block ice on top, a couple of holes in the divider for air circulation. Now the cooler has three separate compartments, if I want.
They're checking the scrap bin right now to see if there's something laying around that's the right size
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