best camp cooler

[sdm74]

What is the best cooler to use to keep stuff cold?
Any tips or secrets to keeping stuff cold?

Thanks
Steve

[ScooterGirlinALA]

Re: best camp cooler

Hi Steve, I've found tips all over the Internet on keeping things cold. Things like cooking meals in advance and then freezing them. Freezing water in old milk cartons and freezing your water bottles. Also it is suggested to have two coolers, one for food and one for drinks. Have a meal plan and put the last meals first in your cooler and your first meals at the top of your cooler, thus eliminating the need to dig around in the cooler. The less you go in the cooler, the longer food stays frozen.

As for coolers I have a Coleman 54 quart, but can't remember the model. Yeti is reported to be the best cooler on the market, it comes at a price.

Have fun!

[astrowolf67]

Re: best camp cooler

We use a Igloo cooler that we've had for years. I think it was called Igloo Max. When we camp, we use two coolers. One for food, which is the Igloo, and, one for drinks (seperate because the beverage cooler will get opened more often). If you take kids, you might want to put their cold snacks in with the drinks. The less a cooler is opened, the longer it will keep cold. I like to keep all the food in air tight containers or bags, so I can let some water stand in the bottom of the cooler. I place one of those reflective windshield screens over the cooler, then lay a blanket over it. We also prefer to use block ice when available, instead of normal cubed ice, as it seems to last a lot longer.

David

David

[05Kingquad700]

Re: best camp cooler

I think David pretty much hit all the bases. I also use a bungee cord to keep the coolers shut, and keep them out of the sun.
I use coleman xtreme series. Would like a yeti, but can't justify those prices.

[coloradowalt]

Re: best camp cooler

Cool the cooler down before using. Freeze any of the foods that are freezable.

[MacGyver]

Re: best camp cooler

I place one of those reflective windshield screens over the cooler, then lay a blanket over it.

Not sure, but I'm thinking the blanket might be blocking the reflective quality of the screen. Have you ever tried using just the windshield screen? I've been using a Space Blanket for a couple of years now and have found that the Mylar by itself does a great job of keeping my dark colored cooler from getting heated up.

[James.]

Re: best camp cooler

Not sure, but I'm thinking the blanket might be blocking the reflective quality of the screen. Have you ever tried using just the windshield screen? I've been using a Space Blanket for a couple of years now and have found that the Mylar by itself does a great job of keeping my dark colored cooler from getting heated up.

Along those lines putting the blanket around the cooler with the reflective stuff on the outside of the blanket would probably work best.

Also, use an appropriate sized cooler. The biggest one isn't always the best. The more empty space you have the faster the ice will melt. This is, of course, a double edged sword. You want enough ice to last as long as possible but as you use up food and the ice melts you have more empty space. I heard somewhere someone took a foam brick to put in the cooler as space became available to help keep the dead air to a minimum but have never put this to the test.

[MacGyver]

Re: best camp cooler

Along those lines putting the blanket around the cooler with the reflective stuff on the outside of the blanket would probably work best.

Also, use an appropriate sized cooler. The biggest one isn't always the best. The more empty space you have the faster the ice will melt. This is, of course, a double edged sword. You want enough ice to last as long as possible but as you use up food and the ice melts you have more empty space. I heard somewhere someone took a foam brick to put in the cooler as space became available to help keep the dead air to a minimum but have never put this to the test.

The foam brick idea makes sense 'cuz it'll keep the area you want to keep cool as small as possible. I think I've mentioned on here before - I keep a sheet of corrugated cardboard on top of everything in the cooler and it definitely helps. I always liked the idea of the cardboard because it's cheap, disposable, readily available and a good insulator. But I never thought about foam. Now I'll be looking for a thick sheet of foam to see how that works. That'll have the added benefit of being waterproof.

[James.]

Re: best camp cooler

The foam brick idea makes sense 'cuz it'll keep the area you want to keep cool as small as possible. I think I've mentioned on here before - I keep a sheet of corrugated cardboard on top of everything in the cooler and it definitely helps. I always liked the idea of the cardboard because it's cheap, disposable, readily available and a good insulator. But I never thought about foam. Now I'll be looking for a thick sheet of foam to see how that works. That'll have the added benefit of being waterproof.

I was thinking of either using the construction foam they use under the stucco or (because I don't think that has much r value) I thought I could use the Great Stuff expanding foam insulation and using a mold, make a custom fit divider for my cooler.

[sdm74]

Re: best camp cooler

Thanks for all the ideas. I agree 500$+ on a yeti did not seem justifiable.

[coloradowalt]

Re: best camp cooler

You can find "Yeti type" coolers cheaper. I have had an icey-tek for years for the boat. IMHO they do keep ice better on longer trips. I bought it for it's ruggedness. You can't stand on Igloos and Colemans, they are just not built for that. The icey-tek is a beast. These coolers will last a lifetime.

Now the cons. The cooler by itself weights a lot. If you are going on a long trip you MUST cool the cooler down prior to loading. The extra mass of the these coolers hold a lot of heat. They are an investment.

If I only asked my cooler to keep food cold for 1-3 days not sure I would spend the money on a "Yeti type" cooler. But if you are looking for a cooler that you can abuse AND keep your stuff cold, get one.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: best camp cooler

Hi Steve, I've found tips all over the Internet on keeping things cold. Things like cooking meals in advance and then freezing them. Freezing water in old milk cartons and freezing your water bottles. Also it is suggested to have two coolers, one for food and one for drinks. Have a meal plan and put the last meals first in your cooler and your first meals at the top of your cooler, thus eliminating the need to dig around in the cooler. The less you go in the cooler, the longer food stays frozen.



As for coolers I have a Coleman 54 quart, but can't remember the model. Yeti is reported to be the best cooler on the market, it comes at a price.
Have fun!

Yeeeeehup!
I use 3 coolers for my 2 week plus trips. One acts as a freezer, another as a fridge and the last one is the bev cooler. I'm coming to the conclusion that the drink cooler can be a cheapo when close to an ice re-supply point since it's opened so often that no amt of insulation will really make a difference. Drink cooler in my life just needs to be tall enough to store a bottle of Campari or opened wine w/ the cork in. I'm using an Igloo MaxCold 6 Day 62 QT for my bev cooler. It's actually a hunk of junk and thank goodness I paid little for it at Costco. Horrible placement of drain (center back and inset to boot) and if this is a 6 day cooler..I'm a monkey's uncle. Is tall which is the only reason I've never tossed it. When I replace my drink cooler I'll prolly just buy a good soft side since it'll take up less storage space.

My other coolers are both Colman Extremes; one is a 6 day, the other a 5. The 6 day is about 58 QTs and the 5 day is 100 Qts. Wuvvvvvvvvvv them both good good good. Sometimes I start with the bigger cooler as the freezer and then move the food stuff to the smaller cooler mid way thru the trip; other years I start with the freezer as the smaller cooler. Really depends on how much make ahead meals and frozen foods I've on hand.

To keep water out of a portion of my large cooler I place a plastic cutting board in the grooves of one of my food coolers. This keeps fresh produce and dairy from getting water logged. Got the perfect thickness and height from an IKEA set of 3 for dirt cheap.

I also buy rectangular and square shaped seal + freeze plastic food containers. They use less space than round containers and stack well atop each other creating less warm air pockets. They look like this:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cook-Pro-6...ingMethod=p13n

I use rectangular juice 1/2 gal juice bottle like the OceanSpray styles instead of milk containers because I find the shape perfect for the height of my shorter coolers and again there is that air pocket solution. I fill some of the juice bottles w/ lemonade and iced tea before I freeze them so I can use em to drink towards the end of my trip when they no longer function as blocks of ice. Reiterating ScooterGirlinLa's good advice: freeze everything you can: drinking water, fresh, brined and marinated meats; chopped and sliced onions/peppers/garlic, berries (flash freezing is your friend for these items. You can pull em outta a bag individually).

My new trick for this year to avoid unnecessary searching for frozen foods: use colour coded book clips to differentiate frozen stuff by day's/ meals' portions.
Got them here:

http://www.staples.com/Staples-Binde...product_943855

You can also colour code with painter's tape, CorrectType liquid(name is prolly wrong), or bread ties.
Be sure that when you are making a meal plan that you use items like fish and chicken first.

HTH and welcome to all the newcomers.
May your camping days be glorious!

ETA: I think GlitterHiker won a Yeti as a prize @ Cabela's and I'm looking forward to her further review on how it works.

[sunnymw]

Re: best camp cooler

We use one of the Coleman extreme coolers for our food and it lasts several days (in the Florida heat). We use an old cooler for beverages because our world won't end if juice, water, or beer isn't ICE ice cold. (But still it ends up staying pretty dang cold).

[NYCgrrl]

Re: best camp cooler

You can find "Yeti type" coolers cheaper. I have had an icey-tek for years for the boat. IMHO they do keep ice better on longer trips. I bought it for it's ruggedness. You can't stand on Igloos and Colemans, they are just not built for that. The icey-tek is a beast. These coolers will last a lifetime.

Now the cons. The cooler by itself weights a lot. If you are going on a long trip you MUST cool the cooler down prior to loading. The extra mass of the these coolers hold a lot of heat. They are an investment.

If I only asked my cooler to keep food cold for 1-3 days not sure I would spend the money on a "Yeti type" cooler. But if you are looking for a cooler that you can abuse AND keep your stuff cold, get one.

Good to hear that about a Yeti type cooler and I concur that it's not necessary for a long weekend trip. On the flip side the least insulated coolers by Thermos/Coleman(those party stackables)/Igloo etc tend to not hold cold for more than 12 hrs. I'm gonna give the Styrofoam idea a try this year as well as the Mylar sheet. I already use a fleece blanket or quilted fabric atop the coolers.

[gatordude]

Re: best camp cooler

We've got a Colman 50 qt., 5 day cooler. Before loading, I freeze 3 or 4 half gallons (or 2 gallon) containers of drinking water, and wet a bath towel , but don't freeze the towel solid. Everything else going into the cooler gets put in the fridge. When I load it, of course, the frozen water goes in first, surrounded by the other smaller items, with holding a few drinks for traveling. Then spread the frozen towel over the items on the bottom of the cooler. Then place the traveling drinks and any other cold items on top of the towel. Keep the cooler covered while traveling, opening only when necessary. We've gotten a week plus using this method. Happy camping.