Keeping Your Standard Cooler Cold

Keeping your standard cooler cold for as long as possible is always a hot debate.  I've heard plenty of great solutions, so I thought I'd share some of them here as well as show you what I've done to help solve that age old question.

Personally I have 2 coolers that I take with me.  The first is a vintage Coleman cooler that I found several years ago at a garage sale.  This thing is a beast!  It's huge, measuring in at 28" x 15" x 16" tall....  

I love the red color and the top of it is a perfect place for my State sticker travel map.

The second cooler I take is my  SetPower Refrigerator/Freezer and it's been a game changer.  Sleek and efficient, it has the ability to be used as a refrigerator or a freezer.  It easily does the trick for both.  SetPower has 2 sizes and I splurged on the larger one.  You can plug it into your car for power or into a Jackery type unit if you have one of those.  

But back to the standard cooler and how to keep it cold.  Here's some pictures of my Coleman cooler and what I've done with it.  As you can see I lined it with Reflectix that I cut to size and just taped along the edges with duct tape...

I found this plastic insert at a garage sale and snapped it up!  It's just the right size for inside the cooler.

The left side of the cooler holds mostly my groceries - things like peanut butter, crackers, buns, chips, cookies, chocolate bars...  

 

I freeze quart and gallon size jugs of water and iced tea and place them inside the plastic insert.  I also throw packages of lunch meat and cheeses in the plastic bin.  The bottom of the plastic bin catches all the condensation as the ice melts.  I drink the water and tea from the jugs once it's all melted...

For me, this has worked perfectly and I usually get 5-7 days before the ice in the jugs is almost all melted.  Here's a few more tips for you....

• Open your cooler as little as possible
• Get it cold the day before you leave and then add fresh ice when you're ready to go
• Use frozen food in the bottom of your cooler
• Cover your cooler with a blanket
• Keep it out of the sun
• Line the inside of the cooler with Reflectix
• Instead of bagged ice, use blocks of ice.  I freeze gallon water jugs and water bottles and use those.  An added advantage is that you can drink the water once it eventually melts
• I've heard of people using dry ice but I've never personally done this
• Keep soda in a separate cooler to minimize opening and closing your food cooler

So there you have it - Happy camping!

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