Cooler question

[Jsusluvsyou]

I heard someone talking about a 5 day cooler. Went camping a few weeks ago and had to go out for ice. My wife likes ice for her diet coke so slush water won't work. Any one know a cooler that will keep the ice good for days?

[handbuilder]

I have a green steelbelted cooler from Cabelas that keeps ice for 3 day trips. Have come and.poured ice out. I take along 5 bags of ice & only place prechilled items in the cooler and on trips, I keep the cooler out of the sun, usually tucked under the trailer or canopy. I love my cooler!

[Tiggerdad]

My son has a Yeti that keeps ice forever but I can't spend the hundreds of dollars for one. I use an Igloo and buy when needed.

[jcrayford]

If you've got the space for them, place 2 BLOCKS of ice in the cooler along with some cubes. Then everything else. The blocks melt slower than individual cubes and will keep things cooler, longer.

Keeping the lid closed as much as possible greatly helps too....

I've kept food safe for days using the block method.

J.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by jcrayford

If you've got the space for them, place 2 BLOCKS of ice in the cooler along with some cubes.

My step-dad would freeze gallon jugs of water and use them as blocks.

[Jeep4Two]

A buddy of mine highly recommends the blue Coleman XTreme, or the green one if the price doesn't bother you.

[tanddc]

We have one of the old Colman green steel belted coolers. Put a gallon milk jug of ice in it and after 5 days it is only half melted. It's not real light and I am not sure if you can still get them outside of a yard sale.

[StephanieLynn]

Even though we have a fridge, we usually take two coolers. A large one and a smaller one.

This is the larger one.
Igloo Coolers Max Cold Ultra 60 Roller - Sport Chalet

We line the bottom with milk cartons of water, frozen or blocks of ice. then the rest is filled up with ice. The more it's filled, the better it is at keeping the ice frozen. Once a day, we take out the ice we'll need for the day, and put it in the smaller cooler. This way the big one isn't being opened and closed a lot during the day. Mostly all we use the coolers for is ice. The smaller cooler, doesn't have to be very big, think of it like an ice bucket.

Doing it this way, the blocks will still be 70-80% frozen after 5 days and most of the cube ice will still be frozen. There will be melting, but you'll still have ice. We use a lot for iced tea and Dh's cocktails.

[D-mo]

we take an good quality cooler and our icemaker if we go on extended trips ... with electricity .... ice maker works very well ... and so far since we have had it .. has paid for itself at least 2 times over ..

d-mo

[ko777]

Good idea for the ice maker...I like making smoothies.

This is the biggest cooler that could fit my TV:

Since I sometimes leave my trailer on site, I have room to put all my stuff from the fridge when I head home

What I do is freeze a lot of water bottles enough to cover 2 layers in the cooler. Put all my frozen food and ice cubes in a bag at the bottom and cover it with the frozen water bottles. Drinks and other food goes on top. After 5 days the water bottles is less than half melted then I put them back to my freezer at home for the next trip. First time I did this, I filled the cooler up then drag/carry it to the TV, wow that was too heavy, I managed but will never do that again lol. I fill the cooler in the TV from now on.

During cooler days, I set my fridge to the max and use it as a freezer. All my frozen food that were not consumed were still frozen after the trip. The cooler with the frozen water bottles at the bottom makes it a good fridge replacement.

PS. Using the frozen water bottles eliminates water in the cooler from melted ice

[Weezer]

DH and I bought the 45 quart Yeti last week and took it with us for our maiden voyage this past weekend. Some claim 7 days of ice with the Yeti. We were gone three days and had to replace the ice on day two because one of the can sodas froze and bursted. Yes, it froze and split wide open! And we didn't pre-cool the sodas. So we poured that ice out and bought a bag on day two. Didn't empty the bag, just placed it in the Yeti. When we got home Sunday it was still frozen, so DH put most of it in gallon ziplocks and put it in the freezer at home.

Yes, the Yeti is pricey but if you think back at how many coolers you've bought over the years and no longer use because the hinges broke, they started leaking, etc. the Yeti doesn't seem so bad. Five Year Warranty!
Replaceable handles too.

We compared the Coleman Xtreme, in fact we own one we no longer use..hinges broke.

One thing is certain though, we didn't take walks at the RV park without lockin' that bad boy UP!

[WEMig]

Originally Posted by HERmit

DH and I bought the 45 quart Yeti last week and took it with us for our maiden voyage this past weekend. Some claim 7 days of ice with the Yeti. We were gone three days and had to replace the ice on day two because one of the can sodas froze and bursted. Yes, it froze and split wide open! And we didn't pre-cool the sodas. So we poured that ice out and bought a bag on day two. Didn't empty the bag, just placed it in the Yeti. When we got home Sunday it was still frozen, so DH put most of it in gallon ziplocks and put it in the freezer at home.

Yes, the Yeti is pricey but if you think back at how many coolers you've bought over the years and no longer use because the hinges broke, they started leaking, etc. the Yeti doesn't seem so bad. Five Year Warranty!
Replaceable handles too.

We compared the Coleman Xtreme, in fact we own one we no longer use..hinges broke.

One thing is certain though, we didn't take walks at the RV park without lockin' that bad boy UP!

X2 on the Yeti. Expensive but I'm pretty confident I won't have to buy a replacement any time soon. BTW, I wouldn't have bought it if not for the deal I got on it ($120 for a 45 qt).

[doodler]

I always find it better to pre-chill my cooler a couple days before I leave then add more ice just before I head out. also the bigger the cubes the longer it will last.

[Camping Buddys]

Originally Posted by ko777

Good idea for the ice maker...I like making smoothies.

This is the biggest cooler that could fit my TV:
Attachment 32177
Since I sometimes leave my trailer on site, I have room to put all my stuff from the fridge when I head home

What I do is freeze a lot of water bottles enough to cover 2 layers in the cooler. Put all my frozen food and ice cubes in a bag at the bottom and cover it with the frozen water bottles. Drinks and other food goes on top. After 5 days the water bottles is less than half melted then I put them back to my freezer at home for the next trip. First time I did this, I filled the cooler up then drag/carry it to the TV, wow that was too heavy, I managed but will never do that again lol. I fill the cooler in the TV from now on.
During cooler days, I set my fridge to the max and use it as a freezer. All my frozen food that were not consumed were still frozen after the trip. The cooler with the frozen water bottles at the bottom makes it a good fridge replacement.

PS. Using the frozen water bottles eliminates water in the cooler from melted ice

X2
Have the same cooler for more than 7 years, still good, i fill the cooler with frozen bottle water and still with ice after a long weekend. And for the summer i made a cover of reflectix for it.