coolers?

[salmo]

I suggest that you use plastic gallon water jugs for cooling. I love my Yeti. It will keep ice for 3 days plus but the loaded weight is too much for my sorry old back. I would not have spent that kind of money but my wife and kids are overly generous. I have to put it in the back of my SUV empty and then load it if I’m alone.

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

Yep, that's what I do. Drink the water after they thaw a little and then add bag of ice.

 

[salmo]

Yep, that's what I do. Drink the water after they thaw a little and then add bag of ice.

Yep

 

[Bamboozle]

Plain old empty 12 oz. plastic water bottles work good too, they fit in nook & crannies better and are more plentiful that plastic milk jugs in most households.

You can even freeze a few unopened bottles if you were planning on bringing bottled water to drink.

 

[CRB]

Plain old empty 12 oz. plastic water bottles work good too, they fit in nook & crannies better and are more plentiful that plastic milk jugs in most households.

You can even freeze a few unopened bottles if you were planning on bringing bottled water to drink.

I freeze my bottled water use them for work on the shop floor frozen hard till about 9am then able to sip them through out the rest of the day.

 

[Bamboozle]

I freeze my bottled water use them for work on the shop floor frozen hard till about 9am then able to sip them through out the rest of the day.

Just don't freeze soda...

When I was kid going on a Cub Scout field trip, my mom packed me a great lunch and bought me a can of Coke which was a special treat because we didn't drink much soda in our family. She thought it would be a great idea to freeze it to keep it cold...

...but it was chilly that day so it never thawed. I couldn't wait to drink that Cole at lunch but when I opened it, foam shot out about 10 feet and 3/4 of it was still frozen solid...

Ruined the whole day but I forgave her...

 

[Kyle]

thanks for all the tips and suggestions. i think ill try the spray foam the lid idea and see how that works before i buy an expensive cooler.

 

[Tigereye]

2 pages of posts on coolers and freezing water. Boy, April can't get here fast enough.

 

[salmo]

My rule of thumb is to expect to buy a bag of ice a day which to me negates any reason to spend $100's on a cooler so all I own are some ancient Igloo's....

Two things that help keep food cold a lot, bring a smaller separate beer/drinks cooler since that will most likely be opened most often and if you go the regular inexpensive cooler route...

...Insulate the lid of the cooler which most often is hollow.

All you need is a can of spray foam insulation and a 3/8" drill bit.

Drill holes in the molded voids, allow it to expand until it pops out of the holes. When it hardens, trim off the excess and if you want you can buy 3/8" push in plugs to make it look pretty.

Insulating the lid makes a BIG difference!! I've done it to all of my coolers many moons ago...

Have fun!!

Wow. Ingenious. You should patent that idea

 

[jeffroey]

Coolman Extreme.

This. Reasonably priced and rated for dry ice. If you're camping several days, you may want to consider dry ice. Requires a little research to ensure you don't freeze what you're storing but most supermarkets carry DI these days. Have a shed of igloo and Coleman coolers. Consider the extremes the most versatile.

 

[salmo]

This. Reasonably priced and rated for dry ice. If you're camping several days, you may want to consider dry ice. Requires a little research to ensure you don't freeze what you're storing but most supermarkets carry DI these days. Have a shed of igloo and Coleman coolers. Consider the extremes the most versatile.

I didn’t know that supermarkets carried dry ice

 

[jeffroey]

I didn’t know that supermarkets carried dry ice

Most of the big chains like Acme and Giant around me in SEPA do. You can usually find it stored and sold out of chest coolers up front by the check-out in ~12x12 blocks.

I usually wrap it in cardboard befor putting it in a cooler and always plan for some separation between it and the items I'm storing. I've dealt with all of my stuff in a cooler being frozen solid on day two of a trip without a little pack-out planning.

I always look for dry ice rated coolers. Ones that aren't are at risk of dry ice freezing and cracking the inner lining of the cooler.

Now, if you're car camping a 1/4 mile from a Sheetz or WaWa, dry ice may be over thinking it a little.

 

[falcon]

Things to consider with dry ice. It is very cold and can burn you along with causing frostbite. Handle with gloves. When CO2 disolves in a air tight container it can build pressure. CO2 is not healthy to breath in a enclosed area such as a cooler in a car.

 

[Swattie87]

Dry ice? Seriously?

I can’t think of any place in PA where that’s even remotely necessary, assuming you own a car a possess a driver’s license. Unless you plan on shipping your cooler to your campsite as opposed to putting it in your vehicle. But seriously? I see zero upside here for the PITA it is to deal with versus regular ice. As mentioned earlier in the thread, you can get block ice, or essentially make your own at home with old milk jugs or OJ containers…I prefer OJ containers as the plastic is a little more solid.

 

[Bamboozle]

Dry ice? Seriously?

I can’t think of any place in PA where that’s even remotely necessary, assuming you own a car a possess a driver’s license. Unless you plan on shipping your cooler to your campsite as opposed to putting it in your vehicle. But seriously? I see zero upside here for the PITA it is to deal with versus regular ice. As mentioned earlier in the thread, you can get block ice, or essentially make your own at home with old milk jugs or OJ containers…I prefer OJ containers as the plastic is a little more solid.

Yes, but you can put dry ice in a giant caldron with some green water, dress up like a wizard and say some incantations over it and scare the other fisherman away from your campsite & fishin' spots...

...you can't do THAT with block ice.

 

[Swattie87]

Yes, but you can put dry ice in a giant caldron with some green water, dress up like a wizard and say some incantations over it and scare the other fisherman away from your campsite & fishin' spots...

...you can't do THAT with block ice.

Riiiiight. Good call. Offer a sacrifice of a Brown Trout to the Native Fallfish gods. Didn’t think about that. Easy mistake, could happen to anybody.

 

[dryflyguy]

I use a rather old Igloo ultra cold cooler - 55 quart.

For shorter trips, I put a few blue ice packs in. And I'm good for 3 days
Longer trips, I'll use a block ice. And that lasts 5-7 days, depending on the weather.

This cooler is all plastic, and is lighter to lug around too.
These newer Yeti type coolers are made of steel, and rather heavy IMO
Also rather heavy on the wallet too.....

Interesting reading about adding insulation to the lids.
Guess the only way to know if it is insulated, is to drill a hole in it?

And how do you pre - chill a cooler?
Just put the ice in a certain amount of time earlier than the food?

 

[Swattie87]

And how do you pre - chill a cooler?
Just put the ice in a certain amount of time earlier than the food?

Yes, usually overnight. See further up in the thread for a more thorough description.

If it’s cold out, I’ll just leave it outside on my deck overnight too.

It’s also important to pre-chill your contents, anything you can anyway. For example, put your beers in the fridge overnight so they’re cold before you pack them. Chilling a case of room temp beer burns through a lot of ice.

 

[mt_flyfisher]

What’s all this talk about cold beer?

 

[dryflyguy]

Yeah

Yes, usually overnight. See further up in the thread for a more thorough description.

If it’s cold out, I’ll just leave it outside on my deck overnight too.

It’s also important to pre-chill your contents, anything you can anyway. For example, put your beers in the fridge overnight so they’re cold before you pack them. Chilling a case of room temp beer burns through a lot of ice.

I missed that procedure I guess.
Anyway, I wonder about putting ice in the cooler 8 hours or so earlier than departure time.
Especially during hot weather.

Food and drinks are always in the fridge before going into cooler