WTB Good Quality Cooler

[greenhorn]

Would using dry ice last longer?

 

[Arivalsend]

Good suggestions

Ok guys thanks for the 101 in cooler strategy. That is why this forum is great. I am so set in my ways when it comes to camping ect. And sadly those are not often the best or most efficient routines. The dry ice idea is a good one, but I am really into the convenience of bringing my own or picking some ice up in route. And often on the road, even block ice gets difficult to find. Leaving the water inside the cooler is not something I would have thought would help a bit. I always drain it and I am excited to try leaving it all afloat to see if that helps with ice life. Dry bags are also a thought, I generally employ a decent quality zippy, but often these are better at letting in water and keeping it in than for actually keeping anything sealed and dry. The only reservation I would have is accesibility to my foodstuffs. But hey if they are dry foodstuffs it may well be worth it. Can't tell you guys how many soggy cheese sandwhichs I have eaten. To say nothing of having those luke warm beers after a hard day out hiking or on the bike. :beer:

So thanks and keep it coming

 

[Arivalsend]

Are you in Colorado?

If things go right, I may be selling my older Norcold freezer. It's a 40qt and runs like a top on 110 or 12v. I'll know for sure by the end of next week.

sounds even better

 

[DaveM]

ok one more tip, then thats it!

use a large tupperware containers for things you want cold and dry, they are usually pretty water tight and if it's a wide container will float on the ice and water mix! "its a good thing"

I'm like the Martha Stewart of ice chests.

Ok guys thanks for the 101 in cooler strategy. That is why this forum is great. I am so set in my ways when it comes to camping ect. And sadly those are not often the best or most efficient routines. The dry ice idea is a good one, but I am really into the convenience of bringing my own or picking some ice up in route. And often on the road, even block ice gets difficult to find. Leaving the water inside the cooler is not something I would have thought would help a bit. I always drain it and I am excited to try leaving it all afloat to see if that helps with ice life. Dry bags are also a thought, I generally employ a decent quality zippy, but often these are better at letting in water and keeping it in than for actually keeping anything sealed and dry. The only reservation I would have is accesibility to my foodstuffs. But hey if they are dry foodstuffs it may well be worth it. Can't tell you guys how many soggy cheese sandwhichs I have eaten. To say nothing of having those luke warm beers after a hard day out hiking or on the bike. :beer:

So thanks and keep it coming

 

[Arivalsend]

I'm like the Martha Stewart of ice chests.

Yeah you are! Thanks for the info. Some great suggestions so far. Im getting ancy to head out into the wilds.:REOutCampFire03:

 

[Uticon]

Yeah you are! Thanks for the info. Some great suggestions so far. Im getting ancy to head out into the wilds.:REOutCampFire03:

I agree about getting ancy.
We just took alittle 2 hour trip up one of the local canyons and let the dogs out to run.
I have been using (2) Coleman coolers for the past 5 years.
The are the plastic ones with wheels but they have worked out really well.
There are a few things i think are very important when choosing a cooler.

-It must have good latches. All the insulation in the world isnt going to make a difference if the top isnt secured.
-Must be sturdy enough to stack things on or step on.
-2 smaller coolers work better than on larger one. Better to pack or even a load, easier to move (even better with wheels), 1 for beer and drinks, 1 for food. I tend to use block ice for the food and bags of cubes for drinks.

I think this year or next i will be moving onto 2 Coleman steel belted.

Good luck:av-7:

 

[ExpoMike]

We recently bought a stainless steel Coleman Steel Belted cooler and love it. What we did was used a modified idea from Scenic WonderRunner when he talked about freezing 2 lt bottles. Since these tend to take a fair amount of room, it happened that my wife was drinking Mountain Dew from 12 oz. plastic bottles. They are heavy duty like the larger ones. We filled them about 3/4 the way up, left the caps loose and froze those. They worked great at keeping everything cold and dry. Got about 4 days from this setup and as a side benefit, you have water in an emerency.

First time we tried this and it worked much better then bags of ice. Last time we did that my bag of cookies did not survive the melted water.

 

[UK4X4]

Coleman has two good cool box's..the Extreme found at walmart etc and there's the "ultimate extreme" too which is a six day cooler.

Less room inside as the walls are over 2" thick but the ice lasts longer.

I use two of the ultimate ones...1 with just ice, the other with food etc.

no beer's as they take up too much room an use up too much ice..

drink wine and spirits add ice to taste....

The one cooler with food etc is the one that gets openned all the time, the other just once a day to re-stock the used one

after a 5 day trip the ice only cooler still has ice....unless we drunk to may cuba libres:wavey:

 

[RHINO]

i've had ice after 10 days in 100*plus heat while camping, its no biggie and much more simple than you think, heres my secret, line a regular cooler (top, bottom and all four sides) with 1" styro sheet you can get at home depot ect. i have also found that wrapping a coole in an old sleeping bags helps, but the styrofoam is the ticket.

 

[86cj]

I have had the stainless Coleman for several years now including several trips out west and the deep south. It has held up great as a table and seat but still looks better than any plastic cooler.....
We camp for 4 days in August with 2 other families and store our coolers in the same spot, the stainless Coleman is only out performed by the Extreme coolers with the thicker lids.......

I kind of figure as much as I stop for gas, ice is easily available. I can go for 3 days or more after initial fill and a bag a day after that......
I would like an Engle but for now the price buys alot of ice..