Block of ice in cooler?

[Katie Dawn]

Hi everyone,
I have heard that you can buy a huge block of ice for your cooler when you are camping and that this block of ice lasts many times longer than regular ice (which of course makes sense). I heard about this from the about.camping newsletters I get but now can't find the info on their website. I should have saved the e-mail.

Do any of you do this? Do you know where I could buy them at? And approximately how much they cost?

The person who sends out the newsletters says he buys one block and uses it in his marina size cooler (I think that's right, the huge ones that are as wide as the back of an SUV) and that it lasts for 2 weeks!!! We don't have a cooler that large, but I'm thinking we could maybe get a smaller block?

Any info you can provide would be great!

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

Dry Ice. Our local Wal-mart sells it for $1.57 a pound. Be careful and don't put anything on it directly (it'll freeze it solid and give it freezer burn). Also, handle it with gloves, it can give you a nasty burn or worse....frost bite.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

we freeze old milk jugs (the tops cut off) full of water and use those. We have a chest freezer downstairs so its usually full of blocks before we go on a trip. Even the smaller blocks will help your cube ice last longer.

 

[Katie Dawn]

Yes, we have used the frozen milk jugs in the past as well. It definitely made everything stay colder longer.

It's dry ice hmm? I'll have to check and see if this is available at my local Wal-mart.

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

Also, meat markets tend to sell it too. Hunters use it to keep their fresh-kill fresh.

 

[Katie Dawn]

Does anyone know anything you could lay over the top and sides of the dry ice to protect yourself from it? I know it can be dangerous stuff, and with as much as you get into your cooler, chances are I would accidentally touch it! Hmmm...

 

[Rhonda]

The dry ice chunks we've used are wrapped in brown paper (like grocery bag paper). We put the chunks in the bottom of the cooler and the frozen stuff on top of it, then the refrigerated stuff (like milk & eggs) on top of that.

Works great!

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Block ice used to be readily available when people had ice boxes. It is still available from ice supply companies [check your yellow pages]. This is regular ice, not dry ice and most likely what they were talking about.

 

[bigdisneydaddy]

Block ice used to be readily available when people had ice boxes. It is still available from ice supply companies [check your yellow pages]. This is regular ice, not dry ice and most likely what they were talking about.

Is there a reason that you know about block ice for iceboxes ? I have heard REALLY old people talk about it before....

 

[ftwildernessguy]

Is there a reason that you know about block ice for iceboxes ? I have heard REALLY old people talk about it before....

HEY!!!

 

[Katie Dawn]

I have found the Camping Board to be both informative as well as entertaining, particularly when some of you who have been on the boards for awhile are involved...

FWwildernessguy, thanks for that info. I also got the impression from the original article that it was just a huge block of regular ice. I am going to check into both of these options and see which would be best for us.

Thanks everyone for all of your help!

 

[Tent Camping Mom]

It's according to how much space you want to take up. Dry ice is more concentrated and won't take up as much space as block ice. You can do a nice refrigeration by using 1 part dry ice with 4 parts regular ice (works well if you have a tray topper). If you do this, don't wrap the dry ice in paper. If you only use dry ice, then wrap it in paper or newspapers. Also, with dry ice you can have a small insulated cooler as a freezer for ice cream. It will make it hard as a rock but you can transfer it to your other cooler until thawed to an edible state.