| Author | Message | ||
     joshua Frances (Joshua) Member Username: Joshua Post Number: 174 Registered: 10-2002 |
Well, No I cant afford a Fridge. besides regular old ice, in a cooler is there anything else I can do. I though maybe dry ice would last longer, and not melt as fast. what are some other ways to prolong the life of teh coolness in the cooler Thanks | ||
| Leslie N. Bright (Leslie) Senior Member Username: Leslie Post Number: 2105 Registered: 02-2002 |
Problem with dry ice is knowing where to find it for cheap, most places don't have it, and a lot of places that do, overcharge. Also, dry-ice can get things too cold; and, I have kids sticking their hands in coolers into the ice going after drinks all the time, I'd hate to see 'em if they got ahold of the ice and held it. Not good. I'd suggest an extra cooler to hold extra ice, and just keep re-icing things. Keep the cooler out of the sun, don't leave it in a hot vehicle, etc. IMHO, FWIW... -L | ||
| George Clayton (Offcamber) Member Username: Offcamber Post Number: 87 Registered: 09-2002 |
How long are you out in the woods for? I've found that a bit of dry ice in the bottom of the cooler with some newspapers/paper bags covering it, and then contents and regular ice do the trick for about 5 days. You loose some capacity in the cooler with this, and need to be careful what you put next to the dry ice (nothing as upsetting in the evening as a frozen beer), but has worked well. I've used the same setup on my Sailboat for long cruises with great successes. I've also made meals and frozen them and meats ahead of time (pre-made meals heat thru quickly in boiling water), and then used 1 cooler for frozen things, and one for "cool" things (perishables, dairy, beverage of choice), and this too has worked well. HTH | ||
| joshua Frances (Joshua) Member Username: Joshua Post Number: 175 Registered: 10-2002 |
Guys thanks for the imput I think dry ice might be a way to go. Cost isnt really a factor. I called an Ice company that is close by, and they sell it for like 6 bucks for a big ass block. I think its worth it. Im planning on camping for 6 nights comming up, so I will for sure be doing the 2 cooler thing. George, I suupose your idea sounds rite. as your frozen meals thaw, they are actually keeping themselfs cold at the same time rite? Not a bad idea. I just dont have the money, not can justify with little camping use, one of those sexy fridges. joshua | ||
| George Clayton (Offcamber) Member Username: Offcamber Post Number: 88 Registered: 09-2002 |
Joshua, I know your pain.....Where are you planning on going? I see you're in the Boston Area. I'm from Portsmouth, NH, and camp all over NH, ME, and some Areas in MA. As far as the Dry Ice, just make sure you keep it isolated from everything else, and insulate well. I also noticed that Walmart has a new cooler that's marketed as a "5 Day Cooler". Supposedly, it guarantees to hold Ice for a Minimum of 5 days. Might be worth looking into. I find that just freezing things ahead of time works really well. Another trick I use is to go to a Wine Making supply store (I think there's one in Woburn) and get a couple of the Mylar bags that you get with that boxed wine (or, if you're thirsty, a trip to the local packie will do, too). Fill with water using a Tuperware container appx. the same size as your cooler to ensure it's shape is small enough to lie flat in the bottom. Must be the Mylar, because those things seem to stay relatively frozen for 4 to 6 days.....and, as they thaw....Ice cold water...... | ||
| D. Chapman (1hank1) Member Username: 1hank1 Post Number: 143 Registered: 02-2003 |
I had a fridge and di not have much luck with it. It really did not keep the food or Beer as cold as ice and it would run your battery down over night. They may have improved over the last few years, but dry ice may work pretty good. My buddy used to work in a store and the Ice Cream came in packed in Dry Ice. We took a chunk of it a threw it in the Girls toliet. That thing frozee solid in a matter of a minute. Pretty funny. | ||
| John (Jroc) Member Username: Jroc Post Number: 87 Registered: 08-2002 |
I've used dry ice with much success. A few things to keep in mind are: Instead of cubes of regular ice get a block of ice, use loosely balled up newspaper to occupy volume, keep opening and closing to a minimum (if someone's getting a drink ask if anyone else would like one), and keep a blanket over the cooler. These things really help. The new fridges draw less amps, get more cold, and cost a whole lot more than they used to. | ||
| Axel Haakonsen (Axel) Moderator Username: Axel Post Number: 85 Registered: 02-2003 |
Blocks of ice lasts longer than the regular bags for sure. Whatever you can do to minimize opening the cooler, insulating it and keeping it out of the sunlight will help, too. On the other hand, nothing beats a good electrical fridge like the Engel. (The ARB fridges are actually rebadged Engels). It will keep whatever you keep inside cool, you don't waste space for ice, and I have never had it run my battery down yet. They aren't cheap, but well worth the money. - Axel | ||
| joshua Frances (Joshua) Member Username: Joshua Post Number: 178 Registered: 10-2002 |
Hmmm,so sounds like blocks of dry ice is the way to go for the frozen cooler. I saw those 5 day coolers the last time I was there...They are just expencive, and I have a few big ass coolers already, so dont need to really spend the money. i think I will try the dry ice, and see what happenes. geaorge, yeh Im in Boston. Camp most of the time in the adirondacs and up in Northern maine. Camped 9 nights for a moose hunt this past fall, and Im headed to the northern county area this summer a few different times. if you have a weekend your planning, we should hook up. I can bring the wife, and 2 dogs too if you guys want company thanks very much for the imput. Ax...yeh, im saving. Engel would be nice. but until then, I think a big-ass-block-o-dry-ice will do joshua | ||
| Chris DeJesus (Mudy_ovl) Member Username: Mudy_ovl Post Number: 51 Registered: 02-2002 |
Joshua, My wife and I did a three day trek into the NV desert. We used the two-cooler method. One for dry-ice, which we kept on the roof for safety. Dry ice releases CO2 gas as it sublimates. This can get dangerous if you keep the cooler in the passenger area. We had food, drinks and icepacks in the second cooler, which we kept handy in the vehicle. At each day's end we would rotated icepacks from the DI cooler to the food cooler. This kept all our food fresh and we even had ice-cream a few nights. We used a 40lb block and filled the empty cooler space with icepacks, ice cream and newspaper. FYI, keep the DI block in it's wrapper, it will last longer. Chris | ||
| Jess Alvarez (Jester) Member Username: Jester Post Number: 150 Registered: 11-2002 |
Honestly, the dry ice idea is great, as is covering it with an insulant like newspaper. Last time I used the dry ice in the bottom of the cooler, the bottoms of my Corona Extras were breaking off as I tried to grab them out of the cooler....but they werent covered with newspaper, so I will have to give that another shot. I bought one of those 5 day coolers from Sam's club for about 20 dollars. It is an Igloo. I will say this: it is amazing how cold it keeps goods for as long as it does. In fact, once I started using this cooler, I essentially stopped using my other. When I combined the cooler with one big block of ice, and a bag or two of the large cube ice (not the cocktail ice with the holes down the middle), it did a great job for about 6 days. I used one of those 2 dollar shiny solar blankets to cover it up too, so I am sure that helped, as did not opening it un-necessarily. Good luck. Jess Chris, Personally, I think your idea of rotating the blocked ice is a good one too. Thanks for the tip | ||
| Chris von Czoernig (Chrisvonc) Senior Member Username: Chrisvonc Post Number: 1077 Registered: 07-2002 |
I agree that Dry ice is a good method aside from the situation the Jess described. I used to work for an ice company that sold dry ice and in a average size cooler, we were recommending 5-7lbs per day for people camping with average size coolers. If for all frozen items, use a bit more. For extending the life of your dry ice: - Depending on the make of your cooler, line the bottom of it with a small towel to lessen direct contact to the plastic bottom (this is actually to prevent possible cracking of the cooler and not protection of the dry ice). - Defiantly keep it in the largest single piece possible. The more surface areas you create, as in breaking into slices, allows it to burn off faster. - As Chris suggested, if it comes with it, leave the paper wrapper on. It make handling the block easier should you need to bump it over in the cooler or quickly move it. - If your dry ice does not have the paper wrapper still, place a towel over the dry ice to prevent freezing from direct contact with your foods or beverages. This will also help keep kids hands safe from direct contact if they reach into the cooler for something. - Make sure any containers with liquid are tightly sealed. Liquid in direct contact with dry ice rapidly accelerates the dissipation rate. - If you are going to put ice in the same cooler, keep the ice in its bag to prevent it from freezing to the dry ice and keeping any melted ice water hopefully away from it. Any water that may be produced from the ice will most likely only be a little bit and the dry ice will just freeze the layer to the bottom of the cooler. Use gloves, a towel, newspaper, anything, when handling dry ice. Just as long as it blocks direct contact to your skin and prevents the skin from flash freezing. Normal dry ice dissipation, even with a huge 50lbs block, in a cooler should pose no safety threat if you want keep the cooler in your truck. If you just had the block sitting out on your back seat outside of the cooler you might want to keep a window open but inside a good cooler, you and your kids are expelling more gas (exhaling, farting, burping) than the dry ice. Remember, the gas dry ice produces (CO2) wants to sink and get as low as possible so the gas acts as an insulator inside the cooler and if it does manage to get out of the cooler, will sink to the lowest point it can get to providing it already has not dissipated by the time it gets to the carpet. Add to this that I have yet to see an air tight Rover so you are pretty safe.  What ever you put the dry ice into, make sure it will allow for pressure to be able to escape should it start to build more that its normal release rate. Most coolers are more than fine and their lid seals already will allow for this should the CO2 dissipation rate increase either slowly or rapidly by forcing its way out around the lid seals or popping the lid up a bit in more drastic releases. Dry ice by itself is fairly mellow but if you introduce something that accelerates is dissipation rate (most common is water), in a sealed air tight container, you are essentially creating the makings of a dry ice bomb (again, depending on the container and accelerant). | ||
| Brian Dickens (Bri) Senior Member Username: Bri Post Number: 354 Registered: 08-2002 |
If you are going to use regular ice. Take 1 gallon milk jugs and freeze them. No water mess and you can then drink the water. |
