Packing a Cooler

L

longhorn1

Ouch, that stings!
Joined
Nov 25, 2013
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Carmel, Indiana
After only getting maybe 3 days before the ice melted I tried a few different things on our short weekend trip. We have an Engle Cooler, so one of the best insulated coolers on the market. I made a half dozen ice blocks using cranberry and OJ plastic containers with the top cut-off. I placed one of these in the center of the cooler, along with 4 frozen water bottles at the perimeter, and after loading everything I added 1-1/2 bags off ice that had been in the fridge for a week(When you load the cooler at home don't use bags of ice you just picked up as they are in the melting stage). You want to use ice that is almost like glass. Our beer and other water bottles were placed in the fridge the day before our trip. As we pulled beers and the ice dropped, we added a towel so that the dead air space was above the towel. That dead air speeds up the melting process. When we got home Sunday, the ice block was still about 98% ice and actually had ice cubes adhered around the perimeter. We also still had ice in the bottom of the cooler.

We are headed on a 4 day trip and I plan on placing an ice block in either half of the cooler, with divider added. In one half will be a container of OJ and cranberry, along with 1 ice block and frozen water bottles. The other half will have half frozen water bottles and 1 ice block, our beer and other beverages.

I will post after our trip with the results. After reading and watching several videos on this subject, I took a little from each and decided there had to be a better mouse trap.

Please feel free to add your thoughts and the things you have tried.

jd
 
I watched a video the other day that placed water soaked sponges in zip lock back then froze them. These were used in place of ice and ice blocks. As the ice sponges melted the zip locks contained the water and the food and cooler stayed dry.
 
JD, we have a Yeti. They advise to not drain the water as ice melts, as the water stays colder than air/empty space in the cooler, just like you mentioned.
 
On my recent trip to Baja I used OJ containers filled with water and frozen as block ice in my Yeti. Instead of cutting off the tops, Iput the lid back on after they are frozen. No water in the ice chest as they melt and once they did melt I could use the water for cooking, drinking, etc. Another trick, I think it was from Sunman, is to keep a wet towel on the top of the ice chest. As the water evaporates the water, it keeps the exterior of the ice chest cool.
 
We have a 30 quart Engel cooler and our best results is six days. We added a homemade "cooler sock" to the outside of the cooler, very heavy polyester fleece from the fabric store sewn into the shape of the lower five sides of the cooler with a draw cord to tighten at the top, while we carry our sleeping pillows above the cooler at the front of a standard Granby cabinet row. 20-21 pounds of ice is required which can be two 10 pound bags or 3 seven pound bags. We do not pour the ice out of the bags but instead set the bags in the cooler and open their tops to scoop the cubes down to the top of the cooler. Block ice works better but is not always available at stores. We fill 1 and/or 1/2 gallon plastic milk jugs with water and freeze them at home for our first trip leg.
 
On my two trips to Baja with Locos Mocos they taught me also to not drain the water. Partly because 32° water cools just the same as 32° ice (though there is that pesky thermal heat of fusion thing... ), but more importantly because it provides a supplemental suspension system for the beer! They also taught me to double zip-lock everything that doesn't want to get wet.
 
This post came just in time. I just ordered an Engel 65 yesterday. I appreciate all of the good tips. I also pre-freeze all of my "freezable" food the day before a trip to wring out a little more cold.
 
OSUFlyer said:
I've had good luck freezing a salt-water solution in plastic jugs. Mess free, plus it seems to hold much colder temps.
Click to expand...
I freeze water in plastic jugs and I really like the idea of using salt water. Maybe I'll try that on my next trip. Down side is that you can't drink the water once it's melted.

A 10% salt solution freezes at 20F and a 20% solution freezes at about 2F. That's really salty given that the ocean is about 3.5% salt. You'd need to add about 7 ounces of salt to a quart of water to make it 20%

Of course that also means you need to freeze it in a freezer that is at least that cold or colder.
 
I use a 24 series battery box with a grocery bag liner. The box has just enough taper that the ice block pops out and you can vary the size by adding more or less water. For my Igloo 50 QT extreme cooler I have to put 2 layers of a 3/8" foam sleeping pad in one end to shorten the block so it just fits in one end of the cooler. The blocks last a long time. Great comments and hints here. Thanks everyone, Bigfoot Dave
 
After our 4 day trip the ice block lasted 3 more days at home and kept the remaining beer cold. I did add 1 bag of ice on Saturday along with more beer. The towel also was a big help. Big improvement over earlier trips. I will no longer store juice bottles or a bottle of wine as they have to be placed at an angle wasting valuable space. Wine bottle can be placed on top of the towel when the level drops. Juice to be placed in smaller containers. I can then place an ice block in both halves of the Engle (have a divider). Pleased with the results. Great ideas from the rest of you. jd


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