TECHNI ICE --- my results :(

[oklahomajewel]

Well, here's my 2 cents...


I bought a new RubberMaid 5 day cooler at walmart and took it to ITG
Five or Six sheets of Techni Ice were in my freezer for weeks...

It says to use 1 sheet for 7-8 qts of the cooler, so for my 40 qt freezer I used 5 sheets.... (8x5=40 right?)

Like Pam, I put one sheet on bottom, then two pkg of frozen ears of corn, then another sheet, then cold items (lunchmeat, milk, etc) then another , then a few other cold things (hot dogs, etc) all straight out of the fridge.
Then two sheets on the top of everything.

My old Coleman cooler had two bags of ice or so and the pop, wine, etc.

I did not open the new cooler w/ Techni Ice very much at all since the drinks weren't in there. I packed it Wed morning, and by Thur afternoon the top sheet in the cooler was already mushy, the next one down was mushy but cold ...

I had milk go sour, and ended up adding regular ice for the trip home just to keep things from going bad.

Maybe for a weekend trip it would work better. Funny - the ultra 5 day cooler recommends using ice replacements rather than regular ice.
And having to put 5 frozen sheets in a 40qt cooler really takes up some space....

I think I'll try the frozen quart jug idea.

Sorry all....

[Gary Simmons]

This is my first post. I haven't tried the Techni Ice but I have found that when I fill up a 2 liter bottle, 3/4 full of tap water and let it sit to off gas for a few days, then freeze. It will stay frozen for a longer period than filling 2 liter and immediatly freeze. Also, I have done this with my cooler. Fill to about 4 inches with tap water. Let it gas off for a couple days, then freeze. It will distort some but it's OK with me. It will be a clear hard ice. I don't understand how but the ice stays with me longer. I go on week long canoe trips with fresh foods and a cold beer while everyone else is eating out of the can and wishin. Great forum here.

[mikeschn]

Hi Gary,

Welcome to the forum. Week long canoe trips eh? Sounds like fun. Are you gonna add a teardrop to your week long trips?

Mike...

This is my first post.

[Gary Simmons]

Hi Mike, Heck I didn't know people were actually building them their selves until about two weeks ago when I discovered this site. Right at the moment I'm in a very big money pinch with my family business and things are not well. Very long story. I love to do things myself. I can do just about anything with wood. I have a canoe trailer that I've made on a car axle long ago. That is just a 4 X 8 X 4 using angle iron and 1/2 inch plywood. I always thought about changing it so I could just sleep in it. I've seen teardrops going down the road but never saw a galley until this site. I love the personalizations. I'm practically physically excited about building my own teardrop. I have read alot these past 2 weeks on this site to help me keep my mind off, we'll call it stuff. I hope because I'm not currently on a project, I get frowned on. I think I'm made to make my own teardrop and when I get this big boat turned around (work), a teardrop will be just what the ole doc would perscribe. I am trying to figure out how to post a picture in my message and I've read your how toos, just thick headed I guess but I'll figure it out. This is a wonderful site with wonderful people. Thanks Mike.

[mikeschn]

Hey Gary,

You sound like a natural fit. I sense a new project is just what the Dr. would want for you. Good luck turning your boat around.

Getting pictures into your message is easy. First upload them to your album here on the forum, then view the one you want to paste, copy the url, paste it into the message, add the Img tags, and voila, you're done.

Or read the help with photos again... http://www.mikenchell.com/pichelp.html

Have fun...

Mike...

P.S. You can always "DESIGN" your teardrop while you are waiting for the boat to turn.

[RAYVILLIAN]

Sorry to hear that you all are haveing trouble with the techni ice. What we have isn't techni ice it is a mix of some old gel packs that came with some frozen shrimp that a friend bought, a few gel packs that came with a ice cream cake and some stuff that I got on the web last winter from a packing company. We are the least happy with the stuff we got from the packing company. It came in a roll and you have to soak it in water which swell's it up into packets. It doesn't last as long as the gel packs. and the covering is tyevek and plastic and doesn't last very long before it starts leaking the stuff in side when it thaws. It is only designed for one use. We've tried putting it in zip lock bags and this helps.

We will ussually use it with frozen food puting the food in the bottom of the cooler and puting the packs on top than layering like it sounds like you are doing. Stuff in the bottom has stayed frozen for 3 days put this was in the spring when temps were cooler. At ITG it was still frozen Friday night but the roast that we brought home was thawed out by Sunday when we got home.

Something that helps with the water problem with Ice that we have used on longer trips is to put it in larger zip-lock bags, they come in 2 gal size, and that keeps the water in the bag and not in the cooler. Bit of a mess putting it in put than they can be put on top of the food like the gel packs.
GAry and Trudy

[bledsoe3]

I bought the Techni Ice some time ago but haven't used it yet. What I have been doing is putting bottles of Costco water in the freezer before I go. 3 days later and the center is still a solid piece of ice. I do add regular ice to cover the pop and beer. Works for me so far.

[cherokeegeorge]

I'm with you Jim the old tried and true is usually thebest way.

[DrewKaree]

Haven't been around in a while, but am catching up with the forums.

I have no idea how this would work in bottles, but this works far better than the blue ice gel packs for me. I had a knee injury long ago that acts up on me, and the blue gel packs lose their chill, while this homemade "recipe" stays cold for at least 3 times as long, plus it's cheaper! Gather the following:

Ziploc bags (choose whatever size you wish)
Duct tape
Water
Rubbing Alcohol (higher percentage "works" better)

I use the gallon-sized bags. Add 3 cups of water to 1 cup of alcohol. Follow that same ratio to fill the bag 1/2 to 3/4 full. Zip the top shut, trying to remove as much air as possible. Duct tape the zipper to help prevent leaks, then put that bag into a second bag, again removing as much air as possible and taping the zipper seal once again, and toss in your freezer.

You can tinker with the formula depending on your desires. More alcohol makes a softer, more pliable ice pack. Less alcohol does the opposite.

Total cost for 2 to 3 1-gallon ice packs should run you about $5. I haven't attempted this with bottles, only the Ziploc bag method, but see no reason this wouldn't work equally as well bottled. Oddly, they don't seem to achieve "full freeze" until you've cycled them in and out of your freezer once or twice. At first, they might seem to be taking forever to freeze up, but the next time (and each subsequent time), they seem to freeze quicker and quicker.

[flygal6]

Don't want to step out of line and might be going down the wrong track if this thread is for those who want the pure camping thing only with no 12v or electric involved. Also my suggestion won't help if you are on a long, week long canoe trip, however here goes. Has anyone tried the electric Coleman travel coolers. They run on either 12volt or 110AC with adapter plug. Its the best money I ever spent. Everything stays very cold and finally no more soggy, wet food and no cold water to dump and keep buying that ice. I got one about 3 years ago and will never go back (unless doing the primitive thing or need an extra cooler just for drinks) I am totally happy with it. Also can pack more in the cooler since there is no ice paks, blocks, or cubes taking up space. Just my 2 cents!
Carol

[Et Cetera]

Has anyone tried the electric Coleman travel coolers. They run on either 12volt or 110AC with adapter plug.

We bought an electric travel cooler for a cross-country road trip several years ago. It did "o.k." for beverages, but I wouldn't want to use it for keeping perishables at a safe food storage temperature. It would only cool enough to be proportional to the outside temperature, so if it was 100 degrees out, it didn't get below, say, 55 degrees. The cooler had to work so hard to try and keep up, it died about half-way home.
I just use a regular cooler now with frozen water bottles and it does just fine.
I'm glad your 12v/110 works for you though!

[asianflava]

We have one of those thermo electric coolers. It works OK but we only use it for drinks. It was a better alternative to keeping a larger cooler in the truck. The one we have is kinda like a center console, I keep it in the back seat plugged into the rear power port. My truck will leave the power on the power port for 2 hours after you turn the truck off so it worked out fine, kept stuff cold even when we stopped for a meal.

When we stopped over night, I'd shut it off. When we got to FL (from Minden) we stopped at a Camping World and found a Ac adapter for it. On the way home, we'd plug it in when we stopped overnight.

To sum up, It works fine but don't expect too much from it. Works great for drinks, pre-chilling them helps a lot. Don't keep it plugged into the car overnight or it may not start the next morning.

[Tombstonebilly]

When I was driving (18 wheels) I had two cooler/heaters. plugged in one on cool and the other was on heat. With preheated food packed with crushed newspapers and the other one I had small frozen water bottles again stuffed with newspapers. I made a vent hose from the ac vent on dash to the cooler It lasted a four day trip some bottles still had ice in them. The tricks I think about the most is too warm/cool the cooler before you put in preheated or cooled items and to keep weight down use crushed newspapers a full cooler works best,Just keep adding more papers as you use supplies, keep your warm cooler in the warmest place you can find.

[tddriver]

We have an Igloo cooler/heater. We rarely use it, now. It can only cool 40 degrees below ambient temperature. If the day is really hot, it can't keep drinks cold enough to be satisfying. We now use a 5 day chest (among others) and pre-chill everything. We freeze gallon jugs and drinking water bottles. They seem to be a good compromise. Plus we always have really cold water to drink.

[oklahomajewel]

Yep, I still have several sheets of Techni Ice never 'activated' sitting up in the top of the closet and one frozen sheet in the freezer but have n't used it.
Last few camping trips I froze two 1/2 gallon milk jugs and three days later they were still keeping the new cooler and everything in it good.
I do end up buying one bag of ice for drinks.

Keep It Simple Sister!!!

Julie