ice alternatives for coolers?

[rc51kid]

What are good ice alternatives for coolers? One of the biggest complaints i hear about coolers is that everything is floating in water. I have a bunch of freezer cold packs that i reuse and use in my crappy coolers. They work OK but honestly we mostly just use it for 1 day outings. So i dont know if this is a valid ice alternative. One time i also froze a bunch of nalgean bottles and water bottles and tried that. It didnt feel like things stayed cold very well. But i was using a super cheap 20 year old Colman. So i dont know if it was my "ice" technique or the crap cooler.

Yesterday i found a SMOKING deal on a Pelican 30qt. More than likely a fridge is in my future. But the Pelican was cheap enough that i bought it and might give it a try and hold off on the fridge. It still have the tags on it and was from REI. So if i change my mind in a few days i can return it. But with a good quality cooler what ice alternatives will work that keep the cooler dry? Are the cold packs a good idea? or do you guys freeze water bottles or buy the 5lb Pelican brand reusable things?

Or should i just keep it simple and fill a few gallon ziplock bags with water and freeze that?

 

[vartz04]

The problem with ice packs is the stuff has to be cold alreadyfor it to stay cold or it has to be touching the pack.

That being said I like arctic ice. They have different “temps” so frozen, beer cold, and refrigerator cold. I think the chillin brew ones work best as they “freeze” at 28 degrees so it helps keep things a little colder. I have a 5lb brick of the 34 degree model that works pretty good if you don’t want anything to freeze.

Look them up they are super durable. I’ve had 2 of the 2.5 lb chillin brew packs for 3 years and they get used almost daily in my “lunch box” cooler.

 

[outback97]

Just freeze some water bottles. Then at least you have something functional when they thaw out. Prechilling the cooler and only putting things in cold go a long ways towards keeping them cold.

 

[krick3tt]

In days of olde...we would freeze water in the waxed paper cartons used for milk. When the containers were cleaned and rinsed well they were quite acceptable and then we had cold water and when they were empty they were fire starters. They do take up room but so does ice.
Don't see them anymore in the stores. Newer is not always better.

 

[IdaSHO]

Just freeze some water bottles. Then at least you have something functional when they thaw out. Prechilling the cooler and only putting things in cold go a long ways towards keeping them cold.

+1

 

[v_man]

If you're going to get a 12v fridge eventually, just pull the trigger now. Going fridge solves all the problems you mentioned...plus you have a garage beer fridge.

 

[workerdrone]

Nobody's mentioning dry ice?

Also if you put some thought into how the cooler is packed, you can minimize the number of openings and the amount of time that lid is opened. Helps quite a bit. For instance, if know you're going to make cold cut sandwiches, have everything for that in a bag or plastic tray inside so you can have the lid open for only a second to grab one pack and get everything you need

 

[rc51kid]

I think frozen water bottles will work well. The nalgeens were great. Except that as they melted they still took up the same amount of space. It would be nice to be able to crush them down some.

Honestly I should probably just bite the bullet buy the MRO40.

 

[workerdrone]

Well, 1 and 2 liter soda bottles are free, tough, and mostly crushable.

 

[vartz04]

Yeah if you’re going to use it a lot by the time you figure the ice and a premium type cooler you can get a china fridge/freezer for not much more. My Della 50 liter cost $400. My RTIC 45 cost $190 I think and the Arctic ice packs were another $100 ish so for another $100 you can avoid ice all together.

 

[screwball48]

I have a 30 and a 65 quart pelican cooler. They are good but the ice does melt eventually. Pre chilling helps. I do use 4 of the previously mentioned chill n brew packs. They work nicely in my 30 and will keep things cool for a few days. To help with keeping items dry I purchased a twin pack of restaurant steamer trays from Sams club. These fit nicely into the recessed rim around the top of my coolers and keep items up out of any ice melt.


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[kmcintyre]

You need ice for so many different drinks though!

 

[Redman333]

I used dry ice for quite awhile. I would put dry ice on the bottom. Stuff I wanted frozen would sit right on top of the dry ice. Then a layer of newspaper and the cold stuff non frozen would be on top of that. This would last about 4-6 days in the middle of summer depending on how much you opened the cooler. I also just had a cheapo Coleman cooler. I eventually went and bought a fridge though because this process was a bit expensive. Figured if I kept doing it I’d eventually buy a fridge anyway money wise. If dry ice is cheap by you I’d go that route because it really did work quite nice but if not then just buy the fridge. I actually really like having the fridge though. It’s nice to have day to day as well.


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[slimscherer]

Google "diy polar tubes" to find some info related to pvc pipe alternatives to alleviate the "sloshing". Also, my wife and I subscribe to Home Chef meal delivery for a couple of dinners each week...they come in a box every week, and have reusable and biodegradable freezer packs. That's what I fill my polar tubes with. Find a neighbor who throws them away. Also...we have a small freezer at home, so I made them front-to-back "long" instead of width-wise long. That way I am not trying to fit 36" long tubes in our freezer, which is impossible. Along the lines of what others have mentioned, this is a temporary solution to a fridge. I just want to get more mileage out of our current Yeti Tundra aside from the week-long river trips.


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[john61ct]

Seawater makes a great polar tube solution, be sure to not fill beyond 85%, and use a strong glue