Camping cool box that actually keeps things cold!!

VixxAnn

Just been away in camping over the BH Weekend (in the tent I bought last year when someone posted a link to a sale an online camping store - had 75%off :j )

Anyway - tent is fab and we had picked up most of the other bits & pieces we needed including a thermos coolbox (not electric). Didn't pack it until last minute and had pre-cooled it with loads of ice - put all the cold food in and 3 large blue frozen pack things. It lasted 24 hours. We kept the lid on, replacing it really quickly when we got anything out. Didn't put anything already unchilled into it. Why? Is this normal?

This is the only thing that didn't "work" in all our camping gear and needs remedying. Don't really want to get an electric coolbox as our car doesn't power its 12v sockets unless the engine is running. Don't fancy running a generator just for a coolbox and although we may sometimes decide to get an electric hook up (for lights as well I suppose) they aren't always available.

Would appreciate any advice as not too keen on sour milk on cornflakes :rolleyes:

loracan1

24hours isn't that bad really. Whenever we've gone on holiday and driven a long way I don't bank on anything fresh keeping cool in a coolbag for much over 24 hours and I've tried several different bags/boxes.

I've had one of the electric ones and whilst that kept things reasonably cool they weren't REALLY cold, plus eventually, the plug started overheating and melted. (Always careful to keep the vents clear too). I've still got a small electric one - that did keep milk cool last year but took an awful lot of space considering it held very little.

The best ones for keeping stuff cool I've found are a couple of silver-coloured bags I ordered by mail order several years ago. These had the advantage of being able to fold them up out of the way when empty.

soon2bjobless

We just bought a cheap one (£3.99) but always freeze water in a 2 litre juice bottle - that way we can nearly always get a weekend or even 3 days at a push out of it. I also freeze a carton of milk and put it in there too at times.

coffeebean

I always freeze a 2 litre bottle of water which lasts a lot longer than the blocks. Also freeze the milk, meat, anything that you take that can be frozen. It stays cold for much, much longer that way. We were camping during the very hot August 2 years ago (yes, there was one!) and my coolbox stayed cool from the Thursday until the Sunday - but by then it was empty except for some ice still in the bottle! Also try not to store it in your tent, I kept mine by the side of the car in the shade with an old towel over the top, only took it into the tent at night.

phague

Hello VixxAnn,

Could you tell me which coolbox you have.

I am looking to find one on wheels. The cheapest I have found is on Amazon.co.uk

It is the Thermos Ice Bound 48 Can Rolling Cooler Blue 39L for £20, which I think is a good price, but wondered if I could find cheaper if I waited for a sale.

Thank you.

Savvy_Sue

What we used to do in our camping days was 'swap' the cool blocks in the site shop: they used to charge 50p for a frozen block in exchange for a melted one. I'd say 24 hours was pretty good, the tips about freezing things are good though. The other thing is not to open it too often, so having a small one to keep the day's milk in might be a good investment. Or keep your milk in a bucket of cold water in the shade.