Does anyone out there have a cooler that works well and is on wheels? We had a small fabric cooler with a plastic interior that just did not do the job. I got tired of drinking warm water by mid afternoon on a hot day so we ditched it for a Bison cooler. It was supposed to keep ice for 12 hours at 120 degree temps. Basically the ice melted by 2pm in 90 degree temps and it leaked. We sent it back and need a replacement before Ann Arbor next week. Really do not want to spend the money on a Yeti or similar product. Anyone have a mid price range cooler that works? Thanks.
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I bought a 28 Quart Igloo cooler from Walmart for under 30 dollars. I take two of those clear plastic shoe boxes they sell everywhere (like a buck each) and fill them with water ( a week ahead) and I have these two huge Ice cubes.
The cooler is so big and sturdy if I have to dolly in I have used it to strap other things to as I roll it in. Twice this year I have left on Friday with drinks, food and such, and when I get home Sunday I still have ice! I pour off a little water in the morning and put a small bag (not as big as a real ice bag, about 1/4th that) of ice from the hotel so I have some small cubes. So once I park it I don't move it all weekend.
This is one of those things that I can't believe it took me so long to think of!
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You might also look into a Solar powered cooler.
A lot of money for a good one. However a lesser one that lowers the degrees a lot while not freezing, will still add a lot of time to your ice.
Some of them can be pre-charged with batteries.
I have another cooler that can be plugged in. It runs off AC or 12VDC. I can run it from a separate solar panel also. Draws 60W @ 12VDC.
The plug in coolers (Active), unfortunately do not have the insulation value of the passive coolers. Therefore, when not powered up, they will not hold the temperature as well.
Depending on the drive time/ distance / travel time to the shows... freeze the blocks of ice at home. If they are thick enough, and cold enough, they will outlast the motel ice.
I've done the Styrofoam or plastic cups, ice trick at home. Put in a soft shell cooler. Left on Friday morning and still had ice on Sunday.
If you must buy ice while on the road. Don't buy cubed ice. Instead buy a block of ice. You will need an ice pick. Break it up in as large pieces as you can manage, in your cooler. It will keep much longer.
Motel ice is barely below 32 Fahrenheit.
I often feel the bagged ice at vending places is also kept just, barely below freezing. For two reasons.
1) So it will melt quickly and cause more sales.
2) Cost savings on energy used to freeze.
**************Warning*****************
Avoid being seen walking around the motel with an ice pick in your hand, you might invite an incident :-)
Hey everyone thanks for the info. Our problem with the frozen water bottle and similar approaches is that we are mostly filling the cooler with ice from motel ice machines. We normally do not have a freezer available to produce our own dense ice which is so much better than machine ice.
I have a cheap cooler, a small one, with an ice container in its lid. Keeps cool (ice not melted) for over 20 hours, in 90 degree weather. The key is the amount of ice per cooler volume. In my case, it's a huge ratio. So, if you have room, try a cheap cooler, but fill about 1/3 of the volume with ice. I think some of the responses above were along these lines.
We have never used an expensive cooler. We have used the suggestions provided like ice but also frozen bottles of water, keeping it out of the sun, etc. Our water, etc stays chilled during the day. Expensive does not always = a better cooling experience.
It has more to do with the density and temperature if the ice. Also some newspa po er or similar barrier at the top /inside of the cooler, will add a lot of insulation. I get several days of uce, doing this with a cheap, fabric, soft cooler.
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