cooler opinions?

[hsmamato2]

I'm wondering- we tent camp,and I think I need a better cooler, I am looking at coleman ultimate and igloo marine coolers right now- the coleman promises either 5 or 6 day solid ice- any opinions? I currently have an older igloo and a coleman with wheels,but I am looking for something to keep my meat and dairy cold for days......I like the wheels too, and how about space? The coleman is 50 or 68 qt,but how does that translate into internal dimensions?

 

[hsmamato2]

anyone?

 

[Shasta]

I tent camp a lot and while some coolers are more efficient than others the differences are minimal. If it were me, I'd look at it differently. The main reason why ice doesn't last is opening the cooler obviously. If it were me, I'd try and bring two coolers. One can be for drinks, none dairy condiments etc. that you will need more often and one for milk, meats etc that you open much less often. That cooler could be smaller. If you end up with the 68 quart, you may be able to fit a small Styrofoam cooler inside it and you'd have a cooler in a cooler.

 

[DisCamper]

We use the Coleman 5 day cooler for our beer we love it we kept it outside all summer and it worked great. We did have to add ice about every two days but we were adding cases of warm beer every day. We also have cheeper coolers that we used just to keep thing cold and we had to add ice evey day. Hope this helps

 

[LONE-STAR]

I bought a Tropical Box (thats the brand) They are kind of high price wise but well built. The bigger the cooler you buy the more ice it takes to fill it to make it last the 5-7 days. When they say a cooler keeps ice for 7 days that is with it packed full of ice and nobody opening it.

 

[2goofycampers]

We couldn't find a cooler that kept ice like it said, so we bought a dorm size frig for under the awning.

 

[hsmamato2]

we usually camp with no electric at all...last summer we had to refill ice at least daily- and some stuff spoiled-already use 2 coolers,sometimes 3 for different items- so I was thinking maybe a large 5 day model might help? I use one for kids to grab drinks,water etc- one for milk,yogurts and other often used snacks,and one for meats only,opened maybe once a day...

 

[mamaloya]

The 50 qt coleman is kinda small for a long trip. I use mine for weekend trips and it is awesome. Stays very cold. I am gonna buy a 68 qt for the next trip.

I do a 3 cooler thing though. One for frozen milk and meats and very perishable items that rarely gets opened. One for sodas and stuff that gets opened a lot. Then one for stuff that needs to stay cold but gets opened sometimes. For long trips you can open the long term one every couple of days to move the stuff the middle cooler to thaw out and be used the next couple of days.

I may not have made sense, but I tried.

I would also like to know if anyone has used both the coleman extreme and the igloo marine. What is the diff?

 

[m1tchells]

One thing that really helps is to have blocks of ice. Helps keep the bag ice last alot longer. Sometimes we just freeze water in a big tupperware or we take empty gatorade bottles and fill them up and freeze them and just stick them in the cooler. Give it a try

 

[mamaloya]

One thing that really helps is to have blocks of ice. Helps keep the bag ice last alot longer. Sometimes we just freeze water in a big tupperware or we take empty gatorade bottles and fill them up and freeze them and just stick them in the cooler. Give it a try

We freeze water bottles and line the bottom and sides with them. We also freeze some of the milk. It is thawed by the end of the trip and ready to use. Some people will freeze water in ziploc bags to line their coolers with. I guess they don't take up as much room as water bottles.

 

[DisneyBishops]

If you camp in florida in the summer time. Well if you are going to open the cooler at all. then you will be buying ice everyday.

 

[gillenkl]

We have the Coleman Extreme 5 day cooler. It's definately better than just your typical cooler. It was actually recommended to me on this board. I usually freeze as many of the food and drink items as I can to help keep it cold and then add bags of ice. We also purchased a small freezer and bring that along to make our own ice and freeze our water bottles to take to the parks.

 

[Shasta]

We freeze water bottles and line the bottom and sides with them. We also freeze some of the milk. It is thawed by the end of the trip and ready to use. Some people will freeze water in ziploc bags to line their coolers with. I guess they don't take up as much room as water bottles.

I never thought about freezing milk, I'll do that this time, thanks for the tip. I always leave town with vacuum sealed, frozen streaks, chili etc. that last days.

I use two of these Coleman Stainless coolers: (I love them)

 

[bama_ed]

The Ultimates can hold ice for several days. Key trick for that (and other coolers of course) is to keep them away from direct sun - always keep them shaded.

Another option is the Pop-Up Gizmo folks who sell canvas toppers to us pop-up owners to keep the heat out in summer also make a cooler topper and it's affordable: here is the link http://www.popupgizmos.com/cooler%20cover%20page.htm. I don't own a set of Gizmos (yet) but everyone who does raves about them so I bet the cover works well too. Of course, Gizmos are made to deal with the direct sunlight issue (which I said to avoid in the previous paragraph).

But you've got options so either way it should work out.

Bama ED

 

[mamaloya]

I never thought about freezing milk, I'll do that this time, thanks for the tip. I always leave town with vacuum sealed, frozen streaks, chili etc. that last days.

I use two of these Coleman Stainless coolers: (I love them)

Just don't drink the milk until it is totally thawed as the water and milk fat thaw at different rates. About halfway through a half thawed carton and it will start tasting watery.

I love that cooler, but it is out of my price range.

 

[Trigal]

Get a Yeti cooler. Expensive yes but your ice will last and last. If you camp in the wilderness they have models that are rated bear proof if you put the locks on. There website has a video of bear vs. cooler. It will be the last cooler you ever buy. For those of us in the Florida sun they cannot be beat.

 

[Shasta]

Just don't drink the milk until it is totally thawed as the water and milk fat thaw at different rates. About halfway through a half thawed carton and it will start tasting watery.

I love that cooler, but it is out of my price range.

One of mine has a big Wild Turkey logo on it and the other, a Jagermeister logo (under all my stickers). In other words, they were free. I'm in the liquor business.

 

[Bdawg]

We always end up tent camping in June or July at FW and we use a 50 qt Coleman. The secret is to buy a small bag of dry ice and put it on the bottom and then fill the rest with ice. The dry ice will actually freeze all of the ice around it into one very hard ice ball and then the ice on top will still be loose. This seems to keep our ice for 5 days pretty good!

 

[Shasta]

Get a Yeti cooler. Expensive yes but your ice will last and last. If you camp in the wilderness they have models that are rated bear proof if you put the locks on. There website has a video of bear vs. cooler. It will be the last cooler you ever buy. For those of us in the Florida sun they cannot be beat.

I have seen them in person and they are probably the best coolers out there but geezzz, talk about $$$$$. I'd love to have one though if I ever had an extra $300.

 

[hsmamato2]

I like the stainless look, do they hold ice longer than average? I am still leaning toward the coleman ultra for the promises and the fact it's cheaper than stainless