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captkw
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3850
Registered: 10-19-2010
Location: el charro b.c.s.
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Mood: new dog/missing the old 1
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EXtreme
Not top shelf, but with the added insulation they work !
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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If you are an Amazon Prime member, it would be tough to beat this deal, for overall value and capabilities.
I have only the 70 qt model, but I am completely sold on the wheels that are recessed. I also like the lid that has no latch to fail.
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redhilltown
Super Nomad
Posts: 1130
Registered: 1-24-2009
Location: Long Beach, CA
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I know there are no grizzlies, but there ARE ki-oats...and they figured out the no latch system just fine.
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WideAngleWandering
Nomad
Posts: 390
Registered: 3-13-2012
Location: US-Based but traveling
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I can't speak to particular coolers, but I do think that just as important as the cooler itself is how you manage it.
I mainly use a Norcold NRF-45 12v fridge, which I've wired to a house battery in my car. I've covered it in reflectix to keep the sun off it. It's
topped off by the alternator and 180w of solar panels (mounted on the roof but also removable for better positioning). If I keep the vehicle from
heating too much inside (park in the shade, or keep the windows open, etc) I've gone a week w/o starting the engine or killing the house battery.
I sometimes use coolers also. Tips:
Keep the cooler out of the sun
Keep the cooler out of hot car parked in the sun
Wrap cooler with reflectix
Keep the cooler from direct contact with the ground (2x4 segments)
For a long trip, I'll have one cooler for regular use and a second one that doesn't get open much
Seal the seams with duck tape when not in use
Use a combination of wet ice and dry ice
Never put anything warm in the cooler
With those techniques, I've made it for a week using the average wal-mart coleman coolers. First half of the week on cooler 1. Second half of the
week on cooler 2.
[Edited on 2016-6-26 by WideAngleWandering]
Traveling the Americas via my old land cruiser
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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I've often wondered about the logic of keeping the base of a cooler off a surface when air temps are 90-110. Do you really want air that temperature
to be surrounding the entire cooler? What about on an insulating pad? Would that be better for reducing heat conduction?
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
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just like your home refrigerator, or chest freezer, they're poorly insulated, I tell ya...build your own! 
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WideAngleWandering
Nomad
Posts: 390
Registered: 3-13-2012
Location: US-Based but traveling
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Quote: Originally posted by Hook  | | I've often wondered about the logic of keeping the base of a cooler off a surface when air temps are 90-110. Do you really want air that temperature
to be surrounding the entire cooler? What about on an insulating pad? Would that be better for reducing heat conduction? |
The temp of the air isn't so much an issue; solids (dirt/pavement) conduct heat much more efficiently than gases (air). 70f dirt will suck the heat
out of your cooler much faster than 100f air.
I dunno about the pad but I suspect air is best.
[Edited on 2016-6-26 by WideAngleWandering]
Traveling the Americas via my old land cruiser
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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Show us your drain plug, your lid latch and your handles on your home made model.
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
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drain plug? igloo, coleman, they all sell inexpensive drainplugs. handle? any hardware store. latches? I've hotrodded a chest freezer conversion, a
chest freezer and a sunfrost upright and the best latch is a double hung window cam latch. decide the size you want and find a suitable crate (think
milk crate but larger) double up 2" foil backed hard insulation (approx R40 now) FRP inside and out (add another R10 value) and seal with 5200, OR
..... just buy one, what ever you want to do
on edit....I would run over to gonzaga bay to take pictures but its effin hot over there!
[Edited on 6-26-2016 by willardguy]
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mtgoat666
Select Nomad
Posts: 17298
Registered: 9-16-2006
Location: San Diego
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Mood: Hot n spicy
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I have an old ice box made of tin and wood, perhaps those are good materials, eh? I suspect dry wood is a good insulator.
Back in the day the ice houses used straw insulation.
The roto molded plastic coolers like yeti are really heavy. Willard, why don't you use goose down for your DIY coolers?
| Quote: Originally posted by willardguy |
drain plug? igloo, coleman, they all sell inexpensive drainplugs. handle? any hardware store. latches? I've hotrodded a chest freezer conversion, a
chest freezer and a sunfrost upright and the best latch is a double hung window cam latch. decide the size you want and find a suitable crate (think
milk crate but larger) double up 2" foil backed hard insulation (approx R40 now) FRP inside and out (add another R10 value) and seal with 5200, OR
..... just buy one, what ever you want to do
on edit....I would run over to gonzaga bay to take pictures but its effin hot over there!
[Edited on 6-26-2016 by willardguy] |
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Willardguy, a 100 qt, 5 day cooler with wheels, handles and drain plug, DELIVERED TO MY DOOR, for 71 coconuts is difficult to pass up.
Show us your recessed wheels, now.
I have other hoops for you to jump through, after this............
Your homemade model looks like a fine choice for a cooler that stays pretty permanently on the boat. I like the versatility of the one I showed, for
going anywhere, easily.
Five days is fine for me. Heck, on a boat, you are buying ice more often than that, anyway, if you are catching fish.
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
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| Quote: Originally posted by Hook | Willardguy, a 100 qt, 5 day cooler with wheels, handles and drain plug, DELIVERED TO MY DOOR, for 71 coconuts is difficult to pass up.
Show us your recessed wheels, now.
I have other hoops for you to jump through, after this............
Your homemade model looks like a fine choice for a cooler that stays pretty permanently on the boat. I like the versatility of the one I showed, for
going anywhere, easily.
Five days is fine for me. Heck, on a boat, you are buying ice more often than that, anyway, if you are catching fish. |
we have three of these coleman extreme coolers, two with wheels and one without, you'll be surprised how much room you lose with those wheels,if we
had it to do over again we'd pass on the wheels, but im sure it'll serve you well!
my point is an ice chest is all about the insulation integrity of the box, rather it be an ice chest or your refrigerator. simple as that....
[Edited on 6-26-2016 by willardguy]
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Hook
Elite Nomad
Posts: 9006
Registered: 3-13-2004
Location: Sonora
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Mood: Inquisitive
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Yes, you do lose space to the wheels, but 70qts is 70 qts and 100qts is 100 qts.
Truth be told, I really only use my 70qt. model for transporting 1.75L ice bottles from the truck to the boat OR the occasional multi-day boating trip
where I want those bottles to stay cold for that period. I have a second 162 qt igloo that stays in the middle of the sole of the boat and the bottles
get added to that, with the catch.
I also have kill bags off the stern on the swimstep. So, the system is kill bag first for bleeding off from the gills, then into the 162 qt., whole.
Frozen bottles are added throughout the day. The 70qt until stays below on a dinette bench, so it is on 6 inches of vinyl covered foam in the shade.
For multi day trips, we go with TWO 70qt chests, filled with bottles AND a Norcold 45qt compressor freezer for keeping at least some bottles solid.
The boat also has a small (like 4 cu/ft) fridge for food and drinks.
All that on a 25 foot boat.
My days of cooler camping appear to be over. I probably have no business being in this discussion, really. The portable Norcold unit comes in the
Lance for camping trips, just for all beverages, so it can be opened and closed at will. The builtin absorption fridge (still working great, goes -60
degrees below ambient temp) is for the food stuffs. I never buy ice on the road, anymore. I make cubes at night in the absorption fridge for the
following days.
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6451
Registered: 9-19-2009
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on a much smaller scale....the only ice we carry is the ice on the beers. we keep numerous blue ice packs in the chest freezer thats continuously on
while the suns shining, these we use to cool the catch, which in our world is generally taco bass and triggers! 
and yeah...no mas cooler camper here either.
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weebray
Super Nomad
Posts: 1094
Registered: 7-19-2010
Location: La Paz
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Mood: lleno
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| Quote: Originally posted by weebray | | You will have the best success if you follow these rules. Use the largest piece of block ice you can fit. Keep your cooler out of the sun and
insulate it with your sleeping bags or ????. Keep the lid closed. Know exactly what is in your cooler and where so you can quickly grab what you
need. No opening the lid and "looking around". Drain off the melted water. Never add anything warm to the cooler. Cold food and drinks are a
luxury. Consider dried foods and powdered drinks to relieve the pressure on your coldness. All drinks should be in aluminum cans. Use the
refrigerators of friends, motels, stores and strangers to your advantage. I'm sure there are other tips I've forgotten. |
Just back from a month living with our Coleman cooler. I've something to add to the list. NO children allowed in the cooler. Just about every
fifteen min. one of them would want to open the cooler and "look around" for something to eat. Sheesh!
Every beautiful beach in the world needs a few condo towers - NOT.
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TMW
Select Nomad
Posts: 10659
Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Good advice
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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In another thread, I posted a new observation that we made last month on Shell Island...
What weebray said with an exception....
| Quote: Originally posted by weebray | | You will have the best success if you follow these rules. Use the largest piece of block ice you can fit. Keep your cooler out of the sun and
insulate it with your sleeping bags or ????. Keep the lid closed. Know exactly what is in your cooler and where so you can quickly grab what you
need. No opening the lid and "looking around". Drain off the melted water. Never add anything warm to the cooler. Cold food and drinks are a
luxury. Consider dried foods and powdered drinks to relieve the pressure on your coldness. All drinks should be in aluminum cans. Use the
refrigerators of friends, motels, stores and strangers to your advantage. I'm sure there are other tips I've forgotten. |
The exception being about draining the melted water out.
I (and my father) always believed that removing the water helped the ice to last. In fact, if the melted water is left in, at least 50% anyway, the
remaining block melts slower. This is in a stationary condition, not driving/ sloshing.
We had identical Coleman 5-Day chests.
One had two (10#) blocks, and some frozen water bottles and some crushed ice to fill in gaps. This one was for food and some drinks.
The other had just one (10#) block and crushed ice, into which went the beer and water bottles. This one was not drained and was the one opened
frequently (to get drinks).
The food box with two blocks and some crushed was only opened at meal times very briefly and the water was drained daily.
After 4 days, over 90° days, the drink box with just one block and melted water left in, still had almost half a block remaining... and the water with
the beers in it was ice cold.
The food box, originally with 2 blocks, drained daily, rarely opened, was nearly gone of ice.  
That was an eye-opener and except when driving, I won't be draining the melted water out or much unless we are driving and will be getting more ice.
(food is placed in snap-tight containers, so the melted ice shouldn't hurt)
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bajabuddha
Banned
Posts: 4024
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: Baja New Mexico
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Mood: Always cranky unless medicated
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SANDIA DAQUIRI W/ VERY LIGHT SPLASH OF AMARETTO
I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!
86 - 45*
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64480
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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That sounds good!
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bajabuddha
Banned
Posts: 4024
Registered: 4-12-2013
Location: Baja New Mexico
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Mood: Always cranky unless medicated
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or, a "FRISKY" !
Gin and Fresca w/ a squeeze of lime; WARNING: MAY BE DEADLY.
I recommend U.S. Fresca; diet, no sugar. Mexican Fresca is not "Lite". 
I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!
86 - 45*
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