ice coolers

[Walter Plummer]

Has anyone found a cooler that actually keeps ice? I spent $60.00 for a Igloo 5 day cooler that hardly keeps ice 5 hours in the shade. The classic Coleman chest ranges $150.00 -$300.00 now, but I remember them working well. I know about the Yeti, Engle, and Downunder brands but they are serious money. Does anyone have one of these high end coolers?

[Dan Hintz]

We have a handful of styrofoam coolers... they're 2" thick all around, and 1/2" thick ice packs stay frozen for a couple of days in them, it stays plenty cold for over half a week. Don't overlook the simplicity of styrofoam.

Our more durable plastic cooler is insulated on the bottom and sides, but the top is only thin plastic (a typical cooler)... we may get a day out of a ton of ice packs. A lot of heat gets through that uninsulated plastic top.

[Curt Harms]

We have a handful of styrofoam coolers... they're 2" thick all around, and 1/2" thick ice packs stay frozen for a couple of days in them, it stays plenty cold for over half a week. Don't overlook the simplicity of styrofoam.


And this being a woodworking board (sorta;)) Custom wood shell for Styrofoam coolers?

[Brian Elfert]

I have some older Igloo 48 qt coolers that are supposed to keep ice for days. I placed a dozen 20 oz Gatorades in one of the coolers and filled it with ice to the rim. I opened the coolers twice a day to retrieve a single Gatorade. The cooler was still cold on the 6th day when I drank the last Gatorade.

I think the real trick was that I only opened the cooler twice a day and I had lots of ice.

[Mitchell Andrus]

A few layers of 2" polysty from Home Depot should help, and you'll only spend $20.00.
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[Lee Schierer]

I think most of the blow molded coolers on the market these days are simply hollow shells without any real insulation other than an air gap. The old Coleman we took camping when I was a kid would still have ice several days later. Maybe the ice was better in the old days.:rolleyes:

[Mitchell Andrus]

Maybe the ice was better in the old days.:rolleyes:

Lake ice used to stay frozen longer. The new-fangled ma-sheen ice don't stay cold fer nothin'.
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[Lee Schierer]

Lake ice used to stay frozen longer. The new-fangled ma-sheen ice don't stay cold fer nothin'.
.

Lake ice only seemed to stay frozen longer because it froze in december and didn't thaw until March or April out doors and if stored in an ice house it could last until July or August.

With regard to ice machines, certain brands of commercial ice makers freeze ice from the out side and top to the bottom center. This slow freezing process removes impurities and air from the water resulting in denser ice. This denser ice does in fact stay frozen longer than ice from say your home freezer if both start at the same temperature.

[Jerome Stanek]

It's just Global Warming causing the Ice to melt that fast.

[Greg Cuetara]

I was watching a show on the history channel a while back where they were talking about military inventions. One of the ideas was to make an air craft carrier out of a big block of ice. In the end they came up with a composite material called pycrete. 14% weight of sawdust and 86% weight of water mixed together and frozen. They were saying that it stays colder longer and holds its shape due to the sawdust. I was thinking that it would make great ice blocks if you were taking a long trip and I know all of us have some sawdust kicking around...or it could be wood dust for some of us.

Anyone try this?