BEST ICE CHEST UNDER $100

garmp1 wrote:
SteveAE, where'd ya get the two gallon containers?

garmp1,
Plastic water containers from the grocery store.
I dump a little water out so there is room for expansion, then freeze them solid in our freezer. They stay frozen a long time and there is no water mess in the cooler.

i have a couple coleman extreme marine coolers, I think they are one of the best value coolers out there. I usually throw a case or two of drinking water bottles in the chest freezer at home and that is my ice. clean and dry cooler. remove water bottles to drink throughout the trip

SteveAE, where'd ya get the two gallon containers. I use the bags the newspaper is delivered in, if it has no holes and lands on the lawn. Convenient size to freeze in the freezer door and when the ice melts the thin bags take up no room and is easy to dispose of. Some bread bags work, but most can't take the pressure of being full of water without leaking. Always searching for the idea container to freeze in.

Second the idea of keeping the ice chest covered. I have a nice thick moving blanket I throw over with either one or two layers. Helps enormously. Also block ice is best.

I agree the Coleman Extreme is very good. It keeps drinks, etc. ice-cold at least 3-5 days. No kidding.

RoyB wrote:
I use the COLEMAN EXTREME MDL6270 70 QUART SIZE 5-day ice chest which cost around $85 I think it was a few years back.


This does us pretty good keeping ice going. I throw in four bags of ice and then place a clear plastic container with a lid on top of the ice. This keeps things inside the container from getting any water soak.

Keeping ice for 5-days probably isn't doable when you open it the ice chest up to get things out. Definitely get two or three days of still having ice in it.

I keep my ice chest sitting in the tail gate corner of the covered truck bed and try not to keep opening the lid as much as possible... I also keep a blanket over the ice chest as well...


This is just one of those things you have to do when camping - keep replenishing the ice and cokes...

Roy Ken

It is now $40 on Amazon, Roy. But I suppose you've got your money's worth of use out of it at the higher price.

I'll toss in my two cents worth...if that:

No ice chest will hold ice forever, but there are things you can do that will help...a lot.
- Pre cool the ice chest before loading it.
- Cool and/or freeze all food stuff (when possible) before loading.
- Make your own block ice. Store bought block ice is often compacted crushed ice with a lot of voids. It melts fast. I freeze mine in 2 gallon water containers (don't forget to let some water out to allow for expansion) and it works a whole lot better.
- If you have a walk-in freezer (most of us don't) freeze as much as you can into the chest with layers of water between the food.
- Put a piece of space blanket or other, inside the cooler, over top of the food. If you have lunch fixing you want to access in the heat of the day, put them on top of the space blanket....and don't dink around with the lid open. Get what you want and get out.
- Cover the cooler with a wet towel if out in the sun. Otherwise, if possible keep the cooler in the shade and wrap extra sleeping bags or blankets around it.
- Try to avoid opening the cooler mid-day.
- If you can avoid opening the cooler for several days (use multiple coolers, one for the short term and one for the long term), seal the seam with duct tape and put a cam strap around the cooler to keep it closed.
- There is a huge debate about draining vs. not draining the water after the ice melts. I am presently in the "not to drain" camp, but then I also keep my ice/water in 2 gallon containers so the inside of my cooler is usually fairly dry.
- Dry ice can be used and you can easily calculate how much you need to last a given time period. Just keep in mind that at that temp (-40 F/C...same thing) it is really hard to keep vegetables.
- The Yeti coolers do perform better (yes, I have a couple), If and only IF you keep it closed. If you are constantly opening up, then they aren't worth the extra cost, weight, and reduced storage capacity (for equivalent exterior size).

A well sealed, unopened, cooler with food and ice frozen in-side via a walk-in cooler will stay cold for two weeks in the Grand Canyon...in the summer. That same cooler, opened every day, will last about four days at those temperatures.

Hope this helps,
Steve

We got a Rubbermade cooler at Wang Mart about 6-7 years ago, it's the large blue one with the white top, pop up luggage handle and wheels. Works OK for basic beer ice chest duty at the campground and easy to pull around. I think it was around 60-70 bucks at the time. IMO the cheaper ones (under $100) are all about the same in performance.

Dakota98 wrote:
Use a combination of regular ice & dry ice. :B

The step in-between regular and dry is BLOCK ice (and an ice pick to break them up a little).

From there the difference between a Coleman Extreme or Igloo Max and the Yeti (et al.) can be minimized by strategic filling, placement, and use.

sam's club has a yeti look alike for about half the money.
bumpy