Best Car Camping Cooler

[Evergreen]

Hi,

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a new cooler but I am not that happy with it. It is the Igloo 3 Day Marine Cooler (48qt). The walls weren't very thick and they seemed to be the same as a less expensive cooler. I paid $39.99 for it at Dick's Sporting Goods.

Throughout the 3 days I used it I had to add lots of ice and drain tons of water. It was in the shade most of the time.

Does anyone know of a cooler about the same size that performs well for about 3 days (and also has a drain plug)?.

Thank you for your help. Any thoughts or info would be great.

[Gearspoke]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Well to be entirely honest your main issue is the ice. You cannot use the 5lb ice bags, no matter what temperature they will melt rapidly. What you really need is to purchase a 5lb ice block. The blocks melt slower and keep your coolers cooler. But if you feel it might be the coolers go coleman all the way. My parents used coleman way back in the day and I still use coleman, their supplies are only getting better with age. There are a few coleman classics,

http://goo.gl/5B47Pp ---> Tis is a coleman classic 54 qt cooler that is stainless on the outside and it goes for 162.99
http://goo.gl/MygcjH ---> This is another coleman classic 54 qt but with black exterior and goes for 132.99
http://goo.gl/S4WhfH ---> This is a coleman xtreme 70 qt cooler and goes for 71.99 its plastic though

The steel coolers are able to keep cooler temperatures while the temperature outside is hotter. Even if sitting in the sun the steel cooler will remain at a cooler temperature than the plastic coolers. Remember, when it comes to camping gear, you truely get what you paid for.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[Evergreen]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Thanks Gearspoke, this is a big help. I never knew the benefits of steel coolers. They sound like a great way to go.

The Coleman Xstreme cooler look like it could be a good choice for me. If I put in a 5lb block of ice it sounds like it work work very well. Thanks for this tip.

I'll be returning the Igloo Marine to Dick's this week.

Thank you again for your help.

[a65hoosier]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Hi Evergreen and Welcome to the Forum! Coolers are a popular subject. A very good recent thread on coolers, ice type, ice maintenance, drain/don't drain, pre-chill cooler and foods, etc can be found in this link:

http://www.campingforums.com/forum/s...ht=best+cooler

I am a huge fan of the Coleman Xtreme series of coolers. I've had my 5 day for 3 years. Plastic. Thick insulation. Love it. Works as advertised as long as you follow some basic cooler/ice habits. I use block ice. Big performance for your buck. Depending on size you need $30-75. They go on sale periodically. I generally use 2 coolers per trip (depends on length/#campers)...one for meat/food that I open only a couple of times a day and another one for beverages/snacks which gets opened more often.

The steel coolers are able to keep cooler temperatures while the temperature outside is hotter. Even if sitting in the sun the steel cooler will remain at a cooler temperature than the plastic coolers. Remember, when it comes to camping gear, you truely get what you paid for.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Gearspoke - I'm going to disagree with you on the steel coolers in the sun. Metal absorbs and retains heat better than plastic. Have you ever slid down a metal playground slide on a hot sunny summer day? lol -hot hot hot. Seriously, I always thought the steel band/lid was to add camping durability (and weight) to the cooler, not for insulation purposes.

[Gearspoke]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

OK agreed, the steel on the harder coolers will remain hot for longer, you are correct. Sorry about that! But they are more durable and can insulate phenomenally well! Guess, since I have been camping, I have always used the metal ones. They last so much longer than the plastic, which in the end, you save all of that money!

[hwc1954]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Unless you want to spend big $$$, go with the Coleman Xtreme. They have nearly 2 inches of insulation and keep ice almost as well as the super expensive coolers.

The steel exterior Colemans are durable, but aren't much better than a cheapo cooler for keeping ice as they only have 1 inch of insulation. It's just simple physics. Double the insulation means better performance.

Solid blocks of ice are better than cubed or bagged ice. Rather than buy it, gather up some plastic jugs and freeze your own. Nalgene bottles work great for this.

[hwc1954]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Speaking of coolers. I loaded up my Engel 35 quart cooler last Tuesday morning with Nalgene bottles of ice. Three 2-liter jugs and five .75 liter jugs after pre-chilling the cooler with some ice packs overnight. After camping for four days, I brought the cooler in the house and took the food out but left the ice along with a temp probe. This was Friday afternoon and the temp in the cooler was 35 degrees. Still 35 degrees on Saturday morning (4 days). On Monday morning (6 days), the internal temp was 46 degrees. That's without adding so much as one cube of ice.

Granted, conditions were favorable -- upper 60s for daytime highs, lower to mid 40s at night. But, 2 inches of insulation really does work.

[howl]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

The Coleman extreme five day sounds like about what you want. There's a link in a thread a little further down to where another forum member found a great price on the five day.

[James.]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Hi Evergreen and Welcome to the Forum! Coolers are a popular subject. A very good recent thread on coolers, ice type, ice maintenance, drain/don't drain, pre-chill cooler and foods, etc can be found in this link:

http://www.campingforums.com/forum/s...ht=best+cooler

I am a huge fan of the Coleman Xtreme series of coolers. I've had my 5 day for 3 years. Plastic. Thick insulation. Love it. Works as advertised as long as you follow some basic cooler/ice habits. I use block ice. Big performance for your buck. Depending on size you need $30-75. They go on sale periodically. I generally use 2 coolers per trip (depends on length/#campers)...one for meat/food that I open only a couple of times a day and another one for beverages/snacks which gets opened more often.

Yeah, I would suggest that you check out that thread. It is pretty detailed.

[Oldcoyote]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

I have a Coleman Xtreme 5-day which is good for the price. It does not appear to have any insulation in the lid, however.


If I were buying another, I would get the Coleman Ultimate Xtreme Marine 6 day which does have insulation in the lid and better hardware. $82 for the 58 quart. And yes, block ice. I make in the freezer.


http://www.cabelas.com/product/Colem...h-All+Products

[Evergreen]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Great info guys. Thanks. I appreciate the tips and links. I've also enjoyed the conversation.

I'm leaning towards the Xtreme and now need to take a few measurements to determine the best size for my 10 year old Camry. I'd still like to have access to other things while the cooler is in the trunk. The 36 qt seems a little small inside do to the insulation but if I can get away with it I will. I'll just keep my drinks in a separate cooler. I'll use this mostly for solo camping for 2 to 3 days at a time so I don't need a ton of space.

I never heard of the Engel coolers before so I took a look. Man, those things are awesome.

[Evergreen]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Thanks for all your help guys. I went into Walmart 2 days ago to check out the Xtreme coolers. They only had like the 70qt but I was able to check out the construction. I'm leaning towards a smaller size.

What imazed me most about the cooler was how much room was inside with regards to the insulation. For some reason I was thinking the insulation would be like 4 inches thick. I'm glad to hear the coolers work great.

Thanks for everyone's help. I enjoyed reading everyone's responses.

[gatordude]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

Here's a couple of hints. Use block ice, put only cooled items the cooler, then wet a bath towel and almost freeze it. Put it over the items in the cooler. Open only as needed. Keep a blanket on top of the cooler.

[SmokeEater2]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

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. 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

[tplife]

Re: Best Car Camping Cooler

The high R-Values of Reflectix mean slow heat transfer to achieve equilibrium - things stay at different temperatures longer as heat is conducted at a slower rate. Ain't science a gas?