Coolers and Packing Them for Travel.

[Honu]

OK back to my fridge did another 4 day trip with our coolers and this time last day we ran out of cool hahaahhah
BUT did not do the frozen water this time ? wanted to pack a bit less

another group camp we do so not a big deal but for sure going back to the fridge and use the cooler for the extra ice kids drinks and fun things only

and again fun to switch up and try old things again

 

[chuppie]

I have two 50 qt Coleman xtremes and one 70 qt Coleman xtreme.

I use the 70 qt for sodas, booze, beer and water bottles. This is a "clean" cooler that is opened and closed a lot.

One of the 50 qt is used for cold food like lunch meats, veggies, condiments etc. It is also a "clean" cooler

The other cooler is used for uncooked meat. The meat is put in zip locks bags but I still assume this is a "dirty" cooler.
Nothing goes in it except uncooked meat. I always wash my hands after touching any of the contents of it. The ice is never used elsewhere.

For ice, We buy milk in 1/2 gallon plastic cartons and save the empties. After cleaning them, I fill them 3/4 with water and freeze them. We have a lot of them. If I need additional ice, we fill zip lock bags and freeze them as well.

Following Colemans guide, we jam the coolers with ice. This will last us 4 or 5 days in hot weather. Sometimes we must buy ice for the drink cooler if we have a lot of people but usually not.

The Xtreme 50 qt coolers are inexpensive. You can order them from Walmart with free shipping for around 30 bucks. The wheels are handy when they are full. Having coolers for a specific use, makes it more sanitary. I got severe food poising so bad in Mexico about 30 years ago, I was afraid I wasn't going to die. It was over 6 months before I could eat normally again. So yea, I am a little anal about it, but it has worked well for the last 30 years 3 kids a lot of friends.

We have a lot of space since we pull a utility trailer. I can see how 3 coolers would be hard if you are space constrained.

Cheers

 

[notdeankane]

I am not doing overland expeditions, but I also boat/fish here in FL; the same thing we do for runs over to Bimini apply...especially since ice is expensive over there.

For camping I just repurpose my 120qt boat cooler...i think it is a Coleman or an Igloo...basic off the shelf white. I can't justify the cost of a Yeti.

Also pointed out in other posts, a couple of my habits keep my food and bevs cold, and (on the boat) keep the catch cold for the return trip.

1. always keep the drain plug open on the cooler. meltwater will kill ice (air is a better insulator than water).
2. frozen jugs of water...got kids, so always have plenty of 2qt juice bottles (Juicy Juice) filled and frozen in my deep freezer.
3. on the frozen jugs I put frozen vac sealed stuff; I always make extra portions of meals and bag them for work lunches or quick meals at home. allows some variety at camp.
4. I do use a bag or three of cubed on top; some great ideas here to keep stuff from getting soggy!
5. Plain old newspaper makes a decent insulation between 'day layers' although it can get messy if it gets too wet. I use cardboard a lot in my bait cooler on the boat. Pulled out and tossed into the campfire is easy disposal.
6. for my vac-bagging, I try to componentize meals in pint and quart bags, (sauces, vegs, starch, main item) then seal them all together in gallon bags. this way I don't need to fish around longer in the cooler to find everything for one meal. Obviously uses more bags, but there are pretty reasonable when bought in bulk.

 

[MuckSavage]

I have a Coleman extreme & I'm happy with it. You guys that freeze the water bottles....do you worry about all the BPA/cancer stuff that supposedly comes from freezing plastic bottles?

 

[Robert Bills]

You guys that freeze the water bottles....do you worry about all the BPA/cancer stuff that supposedly comes from freezing plastic bottles?

I worry more about invaders from Mars.


http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/plasticbottles.asp
http://www.plasticsmythbuster.org/M...ic-Water-Bottles-Releases-Dioxins-into-Water-
http://www.jhsph.edu/dioxins

 

[Chili]

I posted my process in a similar thread a while back and figured I would add it here for those interested. Did this again for our Colorado trip this past July and we still had ice in some of the bottles when we got home over a week later. We did have to replenish the cubed ice twice, but just a bag each time. And really I could have gotten away without but wanted to drain some of the water that had accumulated:

Knowing this is old but I will add my process, which includes several of the ideas already posted. Using this process we get a full 7-8 days in moderate temps in our Coleman marine cooler.

• 2 days before departure I bring the cooler into the house from the garage. This is important since we live in Texas and the garage gets pretty warm.
• The night before departure I dump in a couple bags of cube ice to condition the cooler
• Any freezable meats that we will not be using in the first couple of days are frozen
• We don't take a lot of soda, mostly bottled water, so I freeze at least half of the water and the rest is refrigerated until loaded
• For the primary cooling on the trip I save, fill and freeze 4 apple juice bottles (3 qt size)
• Day of the trip I drain any water, put the apple juice bottles in the 4 corners, then load in everything else
• Frozen meat is put into freezer bags to prevent from getting wet, that and the frozen bottled water go to the bottom of the cooler, everything else sits on top of that.
• Once the cooler is loaded I backfill with cubed ice on top if I have extra

While camping we try to minimize the opening of the cooler by always asking if anyone needs anything when opening it for ourselves. I know this sounds trivial but it cuts down the opening in half, at least. I like to use the apple juice bottles instead of milk jugs because the lids are more secure and they just seem to fit in my cooler better. And once the milk jugs start to melt some, jostling of the cooler sometimes pops the lids off. When filling the apple juice bottles I make sure not to top them all the way off (leave an inch or so on top) and before closing the lids I squeeze the bottles to bring the water level all the way to the top (getting out all of the air). This help keep the bottle from deforming as the water expands when freezing, and eliminating the air helps the same since we are usually going from about 500' elevation to 11,000' elevation.

We have also stopped taking beer on camping trips due to the amount of space they take, the weight of the bottles (my wife and I don't care for canned beer), and the trash that results. If we are going to be drinking we take liquor and / or red wine, so we don't use cooler space.

As I said, this process nets us a good 7-8 days, and when we get home the apple juice bottles are still mostly frozen.

 

[IdahoXJ]

Great thread. Thanks for sharing all your ideas and experience.

 

[Gearspoke]

I agree with what everyone has been saying! Anything Coleman is fantastic, and when it comes to ice, always do blocks never the cubes, they tend to melt faster. Just keep you cooler in the car when you are not around or at night time, and during the day just make sure to keep it in the shade. Now if you have beers/drinks that you would like to make cold and you don't have room in your cooler there is an easy fix, if you are near a river. Just place in a netted bag, or any bag that will have a hard time of ripping in a current. Place your drink in the bag, and tie to a tree that is on the bank near the river. Then place in river. I go camping at Tioga Pass in California a lot, and their a river next to our camp site, makes for a great temporary refrigerator. Have a wonderful time camping!

 

[Black Dog]

Now if you have beers/drinks that you would like to make cold and you don't have room in your cooler there is an easy fix, if you are near a river.

Just be sure to check that glass containers haven't been banned on that river first, cans are always allowed.

 

[verdesardog]

The best thing to do with coolers is to pre cool them with ice from your freezer. I have several used juice bottles in the freezer at all times for this purpose. Then buy your ice the day before and put it in your home freezer overnight to super cool. Store bought ice is held at minimum temperature to keep it from melting, your home freezer should be zero degrees F. With the same outside temps it takes much longer to melt 0 degree ice than 32 degree ice.

 

[JIMBO]

:sombrero: Well, there are enough ideas to keep your cooler "cool" for up to a week--

I have the good old Coleman and an ENGEL, for the cooler I use my wifes Meatloaf baking pot and freeze drinking water , usually weeks before we go--

Put two of the BIG CUBES in a zip lock, on one end of the cooler and one at the other end--

lasts over 4 days, with minimal openings-and you have icy drinking water-!

:costumed-smiley-007:wings: JIMBO

 

[SmokeEater2]

I just spent 10 days camping in temps ranging from 87 degrees to a low of 43. I had an Igloo max cold and an old Coleman metal 3 way convertible cooler for the trip, Both coolers were cooled with a bag of ice for a day before being loaded for the trip.

I had lined the Coleman with Refectix and used it as my food cooler. It had 4 blocks of ice and all the meat I put in it was frozen, It also held eggs,cold cuts,cheese etc. It was opened at the most twice a day and kept in the shade.

The Igloo held drinks and was opened quite a bit. It had a couple of blocks, pre-cooled drinks and cube ice to fill it. It was kept in the shade also.

The Coleman with Reflectix lining still had 2 blocks of ice that were about 1/4 of their original size on the 9th day, The last pack of foil wrapped bacon was still partially frozen and the last 2 eggs were cold. This is MUCH better than this cooler has done in the past.

After this little experiment every cooler I own is getting a Reflectix lining, It seemed to make a huge difference.

This is the video that gave me the idea. I did the same thing but mine wasn't as nicely done as his. http://youtu.be/SKO-oopGvfQ

 

[mattiep11]

i have a 150 gt Rubbermaid marine with built in fillable /freezable dividers... used a discount code and free shipping...we go to moab hot hot heat and it will last a week... once the ice melts u got drinkin water so it saves space and multi functional...

link http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/...tId=MarineCoolers&Prod_ID=RP091226&Redirect=1

 

[NoCOFJ]

i have a 150 gt Rubbermaid marine with built in fillable /freezable dividers... used a discount code and free shipping...we go to moab hot hot heat and it will last a week... once the ice melts u got drinkin water so it saves space and multi functional...

link http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/...tId=MarineCoolers&Prod_ID=RP091226&Redirect=1

Do you just use the one cooler? We do a 10 day trip every year and use multiple Coleman Extremes so we limit opening those that contain food for later in the trip. I've considered a marine cooler but wondered about how well it can handle multiple openings each day and still keeping frozen food for later in the week in good shape. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[mattiep11]

ya i got a cheapie igloo for the beer but if u drink it as fast as u replenish it no worries... i will try to get a block ice for it so it will last longer.. but usually just the 1 cooler is necessary for our needs...those free coolers from omaha steaks also work real bomber. grab a can of plastidip and coat it so it will withstand abuse...