I have a secret

[John T. Hodgen]

Hi all,
Now that I got you looking , Last year for the 4th of july, I had been saving my used 2 liter soda pop bottles. Before the trip I froze water in them to keep my cooler cold so my Cheap Self didn't need to buy ICE. They keep the food Almost too Cold!!! They added a BONUS, we had cold drinking water at the same time It was a four day on the River trip with no FACULTIES and we still had ICE in them after the trip Just a thought! Til later by the firepit-John T.

[48Rob]

Good thinking John!

I like to use gallon jugs, same reasoning, plus the bonus of fresh water (that I'm used to, instead of some chemical laden campground, or wherever water).

The larger you can get the blocks of ice, the longer they'll last.
A 5 pound block of ice will last a LOT longer than 5 pounds of cubed ice, since there is far less surface area exposed.
However, block ice isn't so good for chilling beer...

Rob

[John T. Hodgen]

Hey Rob,
Ice for Chillin' Beer What a concept!!!!

[PaulC]

Hi all,
Now that I got you looking , Last year for the 4th of july, I had been saving my used 2 liter soda pop bottles. Before the trip I froze water in them to keep my cooler cold so my Cheap Self didn't need to buy ICE. They keep the food Almost too Cold!!! They added a BONUS, we had cold drinking water at the same time It was a four day on the River trip with no FACULTIES :) and we still had ICE in them after the trip Just a thought! Til later by the firepit-John T.

So, I guess you took plenty of beer

Cheers
Paul

[bobhenry]

As most coolers are square we use the 1/2 gallon milk jugs. They fit tight in the corner without wasted space
They are a bit more cube like than most gallon jugs being square almost to the top. The 1/2 gallon jugs measure 3 3/4 x 3 3/4 which takes up 14 sq inches of cooler floor space while the gallons are 6" square taking up 36 sq inches of cooler floor space .
So if you do the math 2 at 14 = 28 vs 36 resulting in a 20% + savings in the floorspace in your cooler.
We place one at each corner and still use crushed ice but it seems to keep a lot longer and as a bonus if you have items that just need cool but must be kept out of the water that will result from the melting ice you can add a shelf which can rest on the 4 " cornerposts " created by the jugs.

As we are on the subject of Milk jugs the little "Chugs" from McDonald's make excellent containers for extra coffee instant tea baking powder baking soda ect you can see 4 or 5 in this photo they are a handy size and seal well and of course are unbreakable.

[John T. Hodgen]

hey all,
when I wrote this I wasn't expecting so many responces but glad I did. Yea Paul we took plenty-or so we thought had to travel to town once, on a side note, Momma had hit a rock on the ruff road down in her Cavlier which we didn't know had put a hole in the oilpan Yeap-it didn't make it up the hill and had to be traded in for a new car
Bob Henry--you gave me great insight to the Chuggers/half gallons Guess I'll have to buy Chuggers instead of all the IceMochas Great ideas
til laterby the firepit-John T. ps-I have the double doors with swing up tables too on my design but I like how you have ur sink and storage too.

[riverfront]

Bobhenry I use the 1/2 gal too but add one in the center each side and also freeze half of my water bottles if it is a four day trip. By the third day you have ice cold drinking water from those thawed but the cooler is still ice cold. I never use ice anymore with this method and everything stays dri.

[Laredo]

Old scouter's trick: leave 1/2'' airspace when filling the bottles and freeze them standing upside down. This keeps the bottoms flat.

*If* you're going to carry something you won't use until the 2nd (or 3rd) day out, freeze a couple extra 1/2 gallon bottles. Take them out of the freezer and wrap them in foil (dull side out). Put them in the bottom of the cooler, long-side-down. Put the item(s) you need to keep cold longest between them, on the bottom of the cooler.

In Texas in 1996 this kept store-bought bacon-wrapped ground-sirloin frozen solid from Friday night until Sunday morning, during a campout in June.