What Ice Chests Do You Carry

[modhatter]

I have a cheapo Iglo that I bought at Wallmart based on low price. We have used it for a couple of years on trips cross country in our truck, but it does not keep ice from melting 70% away by the days end. Was looking in Wallmart at the Coleman that say they are guaranteed to keep stuff cool for 5 days and a smaller one for 3 days. The clerk recommended them. The five day one was a little bigger than I wanted, but if it is much better I would get it.

Now I don't know what that translates for Ice not melting as fast. I wanted something that we could possibly keep ice in for longer periods of time. What have your experiences with Ice Chests been? Have you found one brand superior to others? Also how large a one do you have. They are by gallon size I think.

[wbmiller3]

We use a Coleman thermoelectric one that runs off 12v. You don't have to buy ice and it doesn't get your food wet. It plugs nicely into the 12v socket in the TM too. Highly recommended.

[PopBeavers]

I left one of those on while parked at my son's soccer tournament all day, and the car would no longer start.

How long have you been able to run it on a battery, any battery.

I started out with a Coleman ice chest that I bought in 1974. A few years ago it became cracked, so I bought two of the Coleman anniversary ones with the stainless steel exterior.

I have to add ice every other day, when the temperature is 90+. But the TM fridge will not keep my beer as cold as the ice and water.

I make blocks of ice at home using the larger OJ containers with the screw on tops. Two of these per ice chest and about 7 pounds of cube ice in each cooler has been doing well for drinks. We put some, but not much, food in it.

One trick that I learned recently is to save the water if you choose to drain some of it out. Capture it in a bucket of some sort and put your next batch of drinks (sitting in the shade on a hot day the are still pretty warm) and put them in this cold water that you would have otherwise discarded. After about an hour, put those partially cooled cans on ice. This will buy you some time, if you remember to do it.

[BeerCan]

I use 2 different brand portable fridges
the edgestar fp630 http://www.edgestar.com/products/fridgefreeze/fp630.asp
edgestar is the cheapest brand of these I could find. I got the 63l version for $320 as an open box

I also use the ARB http://www.arbusa.com/Products/Fridges/20.aspx
It is considerably more expensive but much better built.

Both units work great and last a long time on battery power. I can't say for sure how long because I never really measured it.

[modhatter]

I was more concerned about keeping ice. I make fresh lemonade for myself and like to have lots of ice to put in my glass, so keeping ice is the objective. Good idea about the frozen juice bottles though. Could serve two purposes.

[M&M Hokie]

I usually pack my cooler about half with plastic bottles of water and half with canned beverages. I typically freeze a few of the plastic bottles solid at home before packing the cooler. Doing that helps to retain a lot of the loose ice that I pour on top of all of the drinks before I leave. Unless I am on a week long trip, I rarely even need to think about adding another bag of ice while I am on the trip

[wbmiller3]

@PopBeavers - I am paranoid about running the battery down so I unplug it when we stop. The trailer is usually on shore power so no concerns about running its battery down. If we are off the grid we have to move everything to the fridge running on propane.

[PopBeavers]

I was more concerned about keeping ice. I make fresh lemonade for myself and like to have lots of ice to put in my glass, so keeping ice is the objective. Good idea about the frozen juice bottles though. Could serve two purposes.

Using some block ice, either home made or store bought, would extend the life of the cubes, at the cost of reducing space for cubes.

Using some dry ice instead of block ice would do the same and consume less space. Since you store no food there is no risk of freezer burn. The risk would be cracking the interior plastic from being too cold, so just keep the dry ice away from the sides and/or well insulated.

The other risk is freezing the cubes together, but that is not a serious issue.

I have had great success taking enough meat to feed 20 boy scouts in the Nevada desert in July using dry ice. But we started out with 100 pounds. Dry ice is rather expensive. You would not need very much. Probably a pound or two, depending on how long you will be camping.

[brulaz]

Before the Elkmont we tent camped and a good ice chest was essential. The large 5-day one we bought has substantially thicker walls than the cheaper ones. And it does keep stuff cold for at least 3-4 days, as long as we needed back then.

But now with the Elkmont's frig and freezer ...

Anyway, the thicker the walls, the better the ice chest.
And it should be white and kept in the shade.

[Bill]

I use 2 different brand portable fridges
the edgestar fp630 http://www.edgestar.com/products/fridgefreeze/fp630.asp
edgestar is the cheapest brand of these I could find. I got the 63l version for $320 as an open box

I also use the ARB http://www.arbusa.com/Products/Fridges/20.aspx
It is considerably more expensive but much better built.

Both units work great and last a long time on battery power. I can't say for sure how long because I never really measured it.There was a thread about an Engel fridge/freezer here
http://www.trailmanorowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5518
I have one, and I love it, but yes, it is pricey. Sounds similar to the ARB mentioned above. We use it as a reliable freezer on cross-country trips. Although I don't make it a practice, I once left it running on my tow vehicle's 12-volt cigarette lighter socket all night, and in the morning, the tow vehicle showed no sign of a depleted battery. Granted, the nighttime temp wasn't 100 degrees - but I had it set for Max Cold, which was a bit below zero in the box.

By contrast, I had (still have) a Coleman thermoelectric cooler. I left it on all night, the first night I had it, and in the morning the battery was so dead that the starter relay wouldn't even click.

Bill

[Brutus]

We use a small Edgestar medical freezer with our Honda generator for fishing trips while dry camping. Freezes fish fast. Day-to-day, our 36 qt cooler gets the job done.

For extended camping in the boonies, we use a 90 qt Igloo cooler ("da beast") . We make ice blocks by filling gallon water jugs, which then becomes drinking water as it melts. For really hot weather, we'll take a box, biggest that'll fit in the freezer (but with expansion room of course), and line it with a garbage bag. Fill with water and freeze. Bury the cooler in the ground at the campsite and we can chip ice for a week! Mind you this is extreme, but sometimes "going to town for supplies" just isn't gonna happen...

[modhatter]

Thank you all for your responses. Some good ideas. That Engle refrig sounds nice, but a little on the pricey side for me at the moment with all the other stuff I have been buying, but maybe down the road.

[2619w?swingaway]

My wife bought a Coleman steel belted cooler from Cabelas (around $90). I love it. It keeps my golden beverages cold for days on end while we are either at the track or the campground. I will prep it a day before i load it with a large bag of ice. I will drain the ice water out and then fill the cooler with aluminum cans (full of course) and then fill up with more ice. This will last for 4 day weekend with ice left when i come back to reality.
Good luck.

[YNPKing]

I owned a new 2014 TM2417 for 4 years and traveled out west during the summer. While traveling to camp sites, I found out I could not run the TM refrigerator on DC power due to the electrical drain on the batteries and I didn't want to use propane while traveling. So, in 2015, I purchased the ARB Fridge/Freezer for the TM which also allowed me to do some short-term camping without hookups. The power usage of the ARB is a small fraction of the TM refrigerator.

https://www.amazon.com/ARB-10800352-Fridge-Freezer-Quart/dp/B004P9C032
Amazon sells it for $849.99.

It's the 37-Quart size, uses AC or DC, and can be used in an RV, car, boat, truck, SUV, etc. Since I sold the TM2417, I've stored it our home and it's in excellent shape.

Located: Tarpon Springs, FL Contact: Dan (727) 947-4006 -or- [email protected]

[Bill]

This is essentially the same unit (Danfoss compressor, I think) as my old OLD 40 quart Engel that I bought new in 2005. The Engel is a spectacularly good refrig / freezer. I've run it 24/7 for a few years now, with nary a whimper. IMO, YNPKing's asking price is excellent.

Bill