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What types of coolers/fridges do you use on road trips?

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318

I recently did a bunch of research on this topic; there are a lot of comparisons and hacks online. I don't exactly need a cooler that will hold a 250+ lb person and the huge ($200+) cost difference for the high end coolers isn't worth it IMO, especially if they rely on precooling which is impractical. I also am not quite ready to commit to a fridge even though I will be on solar power soon.

I ended up buying a 70qt Coleman Xtreme marine cooler ($50) and am planning to line it with my leftover styrofoam van insulation. I was originally planning to add a rubber gasket, but this cooler seals extremely tight on its own. I always use block ice anyway. Will report back with my test results from the upcoming week.

Andrew Gram · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,725

Pre-cooling isn't that impractical and is a good idea with any cooler. I just put some ice cubes from my freezer in a day or two before.

M. Gilbert · · Boulder · Joined May 2015 · Points: 0

Has anyone used these, kelty.com/product/folding-c…? I know they won't keep ice as long as some of the higher end coolers but the ability to pack it away may be worth it for some trips.

Thomas Gilmore · · Where the climate suits my… · Joined Feb 2014 · Points: 1,034
FrankPS · · Atascadero, CA · Joined Nov 2009 · Points: 276

Hard to believe there are ice chests that cost over 400 smackers. My cheapo Coleman is good enough.

bernard wolfe · · birmingham, al · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 265

Those Yeti soft cooler bag thingys look pretty sweet and i'll imagine are serious thermodynamics stallers. Didn't qualify for a second mortgage though.....so will have to wait for a hand-me-down or garage sale.

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318

One more thing to add on the ice part. When you have access to a freezer just freeze a few 2L bottles of water and use them in place of block ice (which can be harder to find than cubed). I always keep a bunch of bottles of various sizes in my freezer for the cooler and for popping in my hydration pack on hot days.

R. Moran · · Moab , UT · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 140

Beer runs out before the ice ever does. So I am headed back to the store anyways. With more beer money cuz I don't have a cooler payment.

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318

Another way to put it for the high end coolers: from a cooling perspective you're only getting 20% more cold time for the extra price (several hundreds of dollars). I would buy a fridge if I were shelling out that much money.

beyondthetent.com/yeti-cool…

ryan albery · · Cochise and Custer · Joined Mar 2009 · Points: 290

Just a suggestion, but if you're inspired, you can get a 4'x8' of 1" closed cell foam insulation at Home Depot, and a roll of duct tape for probably $30. Slice it up and tape it around the cooler you already have. I was keeping ice in the cooler upwards of a week this way in Baja.

Taylor Spiegelberg · · WY · Joined May 2012 · Points: 1,676
R. Moran wrote:Beer runs out before the ice ever does. So I am headed back to the store anyways. With more beer money cuz I don't have a cooler payment.
Best advice yet!
Andrew Gram · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,725
fossana wrote:Another way to put it for the high end coolers: from a cooling perspective you're only getting 20% more cold time for the extra price (several hundreds of dollars). I would buy a fridge if I were shelling out that much money. beyondthetent.com/yeti-cool…
Car camping just isn't what the Yeti is for. They are designed for either long river trips where strength and durability are critical and ice must be kept for very long periods with no possible resupply, or for offshore fishing trips where very large and valuable fish have to be kept on ice for long periods of time. Using a Yeti for car camping is like using a climbing rope for a clothesline.
Jon Larsen · · Unknown Hometown · Joined May 2015 · Points: 15

Don't drain your cooler - that's cold water. It's about mass. A calorie is the amount of energy required to raise one gram of water 1 degree celcius. Your cooler's insulation is keeping the energy from the outside from getting in.

At any given temperature - there's a fixed amount of energy getting in to your cooler. If you've got a 5lb block of refrigerated hamburger in there...vs. a 5lb block of frozen hamburger surrounded by 20lbs of some ice and cold water...

There's basically only 3 coolers when it comes to insulation.

There's soft-sided coolers. That's like putting a coat on your stuff.

There's hard sided coolers with a relatively standard amount of insulation. Some ARE quite a bit better, in the field this'll be usually +/- 1 day of coldness.

Then there's super thick insulation coolers like the Yeti.

Go with your conventional cooler - my coleman Xtreme 5 is pretty nice, drain doesn't seem to pop open when it shouldn't...and insulation appears to be at the top end of thicknesses available. Then keep it cool, shady, insulated [I like the sleeping bag trick above, but surrounded by tons of stuff works too], don't open it but 1x per meal, start with everything frozen that can be frozen [don't just toss stuff in as you got it from the store!! get rid of that crappy packaging, chill it, freeze it, etc], and keep it as full as possible.

My every trip starts with the cooler basically a freezer that's just been turned off :) At the end, it contains only things that are better cold but still not spoiling quickly [i.e. no raw meat, no uncooked veggies]...and then it's empty.

fossana · · leeds, ut · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 13,318
Andrew Gram wrote: Car camping just isn't what the Yeti is for. They are designed for either long river trips where strength and durability are critical and ice must be kept for very long periods with no possible resupply, or for offshore fishing trips where very large and valuable fish have to be kept on ice for long periods of time. Using a Yeti for car camping is like using a climbing rope for a clothesline.
Yetis were originally designed as a highly durable cooler for the hunting and fishing segment of the outdoor enthusiast crowd, but through aggressive marketing are now (successfully) targeting car campers and even tailgaters. They also aren't that much more efficient in keeping things cold.

I just spoke to a friend that returned from a backpacking trip. One of the guys in his group wrapped his ice-filled low end cooler in a cheap sleeping bag and left it in the car. They returned after 8 days in the backcountry to cold beer. I think we have a winner.
Andrew Gram · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,725
Jon Larsen wrote:Don't drain your cooler - that's cold water. It's about mass. A calorie is the amount of energy required to raise one gram of water 1 degree celcius. Your cooler's insulation is keeping the energy from the outside from getting in. At any given temperature - there's a fixed amount of energy getting in to your cooler. If you've got a 5lb block of refrigerated hamburger in there...vs. a 5lb block of frozen hamburger surrounded by 20lbs of some ice and cold water...
This isn't the whole story. Water is much more efficient at heat transfer than air. If you don't drain, the ice will melt much faster and you will end up with a large volume of cool water. After the ice finishes melting, the water bath rapidly increases in temperature.

I've done several 16-20 day Grand Canyon rafting trips during the summer - every day is well over 100 degrees. The coolers that keep things cold the longest are coolers that are drained every day.
mattm · · TX · Joined Jun 2006 · Points: 1,885
Andrew Gram wrote: This isn't the whole story. Water is much more efficient at heat transfer than air. If you don't drain, the ice will melt much faster and you will end up with a large volume of cool water. After the ice finishes melting, the water bath rapidly increases in temperature. I've done several 16-20 day Grand Canyon rafting trips during the summer - every day is well over 100 degrees. The coolers that keep things cold the longest are coolers that are drained every day.
I honestly think the answer is more complicated than that with a huge "it depends" thrown in.

Nearly every cooler company out there recommends leaving the water in the cooler and not draining it. The cold mass of liquid is far better than the warmer air and lack of cold mass that occurs when draining. However, things like the environment the cooler is in (static campsite vs river raft) % of water mass vs ice mass etc will all play a roll.

In a static camping environment, the water will have very little movement and likely not act as a good thermal conductor. Here, the water's cold mass outweighs the higher thermal conductivity.

On a rafting trip, with CONSTANT sloshing of the water and ice, the thermal conductivity of the system likely changes and the water becomes more of a detriment. This probably even more true when dealing with frozen food items well below 32deg (as seems to be the case with outfitters who do major freeze prep in advance) Here, the air barrier is more beneficial than the cool water mass.

Edit I just found a really interesting exploration of this: here

Draining wins for longer cooling needs. What longer means is TBD
Andrew Gram · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 3,725

Good points Mattm.

The ice quality also plays a major role. If you are using ice cubes or the garbage "ice blocks" from grocery stores that are just actually compressed ice chips, you might as well not drain since that ice really won't last no matter what kind of cooler you use. Way too much surface area and trapped air rotting it from within.

If you make large chunks of solid ice in a freezer(preferably a chest freezer), definitely drain, and that ice will last a long time. I try to make blocks that fit my cooler dimensions pretty closely to eliminate wasted space(i've spent lots of time searching for straight sided tupperware containers of the right size), and i try to make them at least 6 inches thick - freeze them in two 3" layers or it will take forever for the full block to freeze.

Making your own high quality ice blocks, opening it rarely as for as sort a time as possible, and keeping it out of the sun will make way more of a difference than the cooler itself. The ice quality is probably the biggest of those three factors.

20 kN · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2009 · Points: 1,346

I use a 12v freezer (CFD-18) and I love it. Finding good ice (e.g. block) is takes time when on a road trip. Yea, there are places that sell it in larger cities, but most places sell the crap stuff which means you are going to have to log time driving around or calling around trying to find the ice you want, and in some areas you just wont be able to find it period. It's far easier to just go with a freezer if you can afford it. If you're going to drop $350 for a cooler, go for the freezer option instead, it's far better IMO. If you really want to minimize expense, or you are only going to road trip for short periods, a cooler might be better.

Chris D · · the couch · Joined Apr 2009 · Points: 2,230
fossana wrote:One more thing to add on the ice part. When you have access to a freezer just freeze a few 2L bottles of water and use them in place of block ice (which can be harder to find than cubed). I always keep a bunch of bottles of various sizes in my freezer for the cooler and for popping in my hydration pack on hot days.
Oh MAN I can't believe it took until the second page for this to come up.

Freezing water in mostly-filled two liter bottles and/or quart gatorade bottles to throw into the cooler in place of bagged or block ice is clutch. I did this once a few years ago for whatever reason and I couldn't believe I hadn't been doing it forever. You'd think that the blocks of ice would stay colder for longer than bags if ice cubes, and they do, but even better...everything in your cooler stays dry for the duration of your trip. No more mushy sandwiches and soggy fruit as your bag or block of ice starts to melt into a big pool at the bottom of your cooler. Also, near the end of the trip, you'll have many liters of ice cold water in those containers. A win-win-win! As you can see, I'm still inordinately exited about this discovery.

+1 also, for the Coleman Xtreme cooler. I got one as a wedding gift the first time I got married. 12 years and a lot of abuse later, I'm two years into my second wife and that cooler is still going strong.

Wait...I could have said that better, but you know what I mean.
Sam Stephens · · PORTLAND, OR · Joined Jan 2010 · Points: 1,090
Chris D wrote: Oh MAN I can't believe it took until the second page for this to come up. Freezing water in mostly-filled two liter bottles and/or quart gatorade bottles to throw into the cooler in place of bagged or block ice is clutch. I did this once a few years ago for whatever reason and I couldn't believe I hadn't been doing it forever. You'd think that the blocks of ice would stay colder for longer than bags if ice cubes, and they do, but even better...everything in your cooler stays dry for the duration of your trip. No more mushy sandwiches and soggy fruit as your bag or block of ice starts to melt into a big pool at the bottom of your cooler. Also, near the end of the trip, you'll have many liters of ice cold water in those containers. A win-win-win! As you can see, I'm still inordinately exited about this discovery. +1 also, for the Coleman Xtreme cooler. I got one as a wedding gift the first time I got married. 12 years and a lot of abuse later, I'm two years into my second wife and that cooler is still going strong. Wait...I could have said that better, but you know what I mean.
I do this with the frozen jugs, but the only problem is that it doesn't get stuff cold as fast. Works good if you have a good bit of travel until you need to use something, but throwing in a 12 pack and a frozen jug doesn't work as well to get stuff cold. It will keep it cold though.

The only problem I have from this is condensation on the bottle creating a dampness in the cooler. If I let the cooler get too warm (don't clean it after a trip) then it gets nasty.
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