Coolers used in Tear Drop Campers

[Olddog1]

From personal experience those Coleman Steel Cooler aren't Raccoon proof. One walked out of the woods up to the cooler turned the latch raised the lid and rummaged through the goodies. It wasn't it's first Coleman Steel Cooler.

[bdosborn]

We stopped using coolers about 8 years ago and switched to a refrigerooler. Haven't bought any ice since.

refrigerooler linky

How much is ice now days? I should do a payback analysis and see how many *decades* the refrigerooler needs to last to break even.

Bruce
P.S. We used the Coleman extreme before we went over to the cold side.

[davidAndshannon]

Thank you for the replies. There are some great suggestions here. I like the look of that Coleman Steel!

[davidAndshannon]

Still learning how to post replies in this forum!

[davidAndshannon]

I had not even thought about Bear Issues. That is a real concern depending upon where one is camping!

[Pinstriper]

We stopped using coolers about 8 years ago and switched to a refrigerooler. Haven't bought any ice since.

refrigerooler linky

How much is ice now days? I should do a payback analysis and see how many *decades* the refrigerooler needs to last to break even.

Bruce
P.S. We used the Coleman extreme before we went over to the cold side.

That's probably ok for keeping eggs and bacon cold, etc.

But no refrigerator is going to cool a fish as fast as packing it in ice. And a good cooler can handle dry ice so you can clean and freeze your catch at camp when you get more than you can eat on your trip. I've done this with crab and clams as well as fish.

It all depends on what your needs are.

[rkanz]

One of my concerns about Yeti coolers is the weight. A large Yeti filled with ice and food can be 100 pounds. Not something easy to move. Ice longevity is directly related to opening the lid of the cooler. Ice lasts almost as long in a Coleman Extreme as a Yeti if the lid is kept closed. This is why I carry two coolers, one holds frozen food and is opened once a day, the other is used for less perishable foods and opened when needed.

[jsnbergman]

One of my concerns about Yeti coolers is the weight. A large Yeti filled with ice and food can be 100 pounds. Not something easy to move. Ice longevity is directly related to opening the lid of the cooler. Ice lasts almost as long in a Coleman Extreme as a Yeti if the lid is kept closed. This is why I carry two coolers, one holds frozen food and is opened once a day, the other is used for less perishable foods and opened when needed.

I won a yeti at a golf outing last year and we were super stoked, until we realized how heavy and how little it holds for its size. No way we could take it in the canoe and not practical in the camper. So I traded it for a car, not a whole car. Buddy I was buying a car off of for my daughter wanted it so that took some $$ off.

[Pinstriper]

One of my concerns about Yeti coolers is the weight. A large Yeti filled with ice and food can be 100 pounds. Not something easy to move. Ice longevity is directly related to opening the lid of the cooler. Ice lasts almost as long in a Coleman Extreme as a Yeti if the lid is kept closed. This is why I carry two coolers, one holds frozen food and is opened once a day, the other is used for less perishable foods and opened when needed.

Oh, totally. Any but the smallest are a two-man job to move. The biggest are suitable pretty much only for putting in a large boat and being left there. Use as a live-well/freezer/kill box/whatever and also as a seat.

Bottom line, if you want to keep a lot of food very cold in a small space that is portable...you have requirements that cannot be filled. It's then a question of where you can compromise.

[GPW]

Actually over the years we’ve collected many coolers of all sizes, and all worked fine for the job when used correctly … but that YETI was just TOO EXPENSIVE for our taste. It was described to me by a cocky store salesman as “for people who want only the Best “ … Not being a Snob, I just don't need “the Best” just to hold Ice , especially at those prices … Just Ridiculous !!! A marketing scam to profit off the gullible as with so many things these days ...

We were gassing up the pickup one day a while back , the guy in front had the Big Yeti in the back of his truck , so I just had to ask him how he liked it … He said it was Ok , But didn’t keep ice (in our warm climate ) as well as promised … but it was impressive to his customers … ( I always wondered what kind of people he worked for ??? )

Is anything really “Bear proof “ … Depends on the size of the Bear …

[Pinstriper]

No such thing as a bear-proof cooler. They are too clever for us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0iChz6bDcQ

[Socal Tom]

Coleman recommends .75 lb of ice per qt of cooler. So a 70 qt cooler would need over 50 lbs of ice. http://www.coleman.com/Coleman-xtremecoolers.html 50 lbs of ice would be a bit over 25 quarts of space.
Tom


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[bdosborn]

But no refrigerator is going to cool a fish as fast as packing it in ice. And a good cooler can handle dry ice so you can clean and freeze your catch at camp when you get more than you can eat on your trip. I've done this with crab and clams as well as fish.

It all depends on what your needs are.

Need a freezer? No problem, just turn the fridge down and its a freezer. And BTW, I can keep my beer a lot colder using the fridge than I can with ice.

Bruce

[Pinstriper]

But no refrigerator is going to cool a fish as fast as packing it in ice. And a good cooler can handle dry ice so you can clean and freeze your catch at camp when you get more than you can eat on your trip. I've done this with crab and clams as well as fish.

It all depends on what your needs are.

Need a freezer? No problem, just turn the fridge down and its a freezer. And BTW, I can keep my beer a lot colder using the fridge than I can with ice.

Bruce

Yeah, so....no. Air is less dense than water. Air at 35 deg will not have the same ability to soak up heat that even the melted ice water at 32deg, much less the ice itself.

Now, provided your electricity doesn't run out, a fridge will keep things cooler more conveniently than having to refresh ice every few days. But initial cooling will happen faster with ice.

[Socal Tom]

Ive seen people use a 12V freezer to make ice to feed their coolers for longer trips.
Tom