Cool boxes...

dokko

dokko

dokko

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Really am stuck on these things, I'm going away camping in a couple of weeks and I cannot stand warm beer, so want to be prepared properly this time so I'm looking at a coolbox.

My budget is £40, stretch to £50 if I really can't find anything but tbh it's a bit much to be used once a year for that price.

Does anyone have any experience? Coleman xtreme range seem to pick up the best reviews but cost a small fortune, also these are passive, and as a PC person I can't get my head round that passive cooling solutions are going to be better than fan assisted.

Anyway, any thoughts welcome. :)
 
Unless it's a powered fridge either gas or electric all you are doing is insulating the temperature inside.

You won't put warm beer in a cool box and it magically becomes cold, the best you can hope for is cold beer plus ice in a well insulated cool box that keeps it's temperature and no wife that leaves the lid off any chance she gets.

Also as my mate tried, he put a warm bottle of coke in a cold cool box to only warm everything up and bring his coke down a couple of degrees.

Sorry you might know all that but unless you are buying a powered cool box which your budget suggests you aren't then you need to plan your cool beer, i.e. buy cold beer and some ice and keep restocking.
 
Some (most?) powered coolboxes aren't really fridges.
They'll only reduce the internal temperature relative to the ambient/outside temperature.
eg if it's 30C ambient they will might only reduce the internal temp to 30-15=15C
 
http://www.garden4less.co.uk/coleman-cool-box-36-quart-xtreme-cooler.asp

This seems to be the best passive cooler. Beers in fridge night before I leave, in with some ice, and that is probably the best I'm going to do.

Just wish it was cheaper. Wondering if anyone has any alternatives for quality, it reckons, and the reviews back it up you put ice in there and it stays frozen for over 24hrs no problem.

Mac, any models you can recommend, a little cheaper than Coleman xtreme?
 
Tomsk said:
Some (most?) powered coolboxes aren't really fridges.
They'll only reduce the internal temperature relative to the ambient/outside temperature.
eg if it's 30C ambient they will might only reduce the internal temp to 30-15=15C
Click to expand...

I'd use an electric one the same as I'd use a passive one, just with the added bonus the fan kept the contents, ie Ice cooler for longer.
 
I'd reckon most 12v coolers would perform to a similar degree, with the aid of ice packs you'd have cold beer on day one, but only cool beer for the rest of the week. A passive would only last a day.
You can get a 12v model for £35+ on eBay.

If you ask nicely, some places will let you recharge your icepacks overnight :) and you can always buy bags of ice from Aldi.
 
We used both a 12v and standard ice cooler in France last year (hoping to borrow 12v again this year) and both did the job well.

Depending how long your journey is going to be but if it's any more than 8-10 hours my suggestion would be going electric.

Our plastic cool box had 3x large ice packs which fitted on each side (vertically) and one to go on top. (My simple logic is heat rises so hopefully ice pack on top will help cool things down better). This seemed to work well but couldn't touch the electric one for effectiveness when we travelled for two days.
 
Buy a big coolbox, make sure the drinks are all at fridge temperature and freeze your meat etc for the trip and put it all in the coolbox. If you keep it shut it'll stay cold for a few days in a cool dark place.
 
I got a 12v one from aldi last year and it's great, plug it in for the journey and we usually get an electrical hookup too on the campsite. I still get a bag of ice too to get things colder though.
 
Agh man, just can't make up my mind.

It's for drink only, 3 day camping trip, i will be able to get ice every day from the spar down the road. Someone make a decision for me! :D
 
If you can get cold beer and ice then go for it, if you're trying to cool down warm beer with ice, I'd say you're wasting your time.
 
If you can get ice then I'd go standard cool box personally. Load it up and it'll stay chilled all day. Whenever we have a bbq we always get the beers and soft drinks cans in a big tub with lots of ice - something about a beer that's been ice cooled (but not frozen!)
 
We've had a few for camping holidays. Your best options are either the aldi powered one (will be fine most of the time in the uk) or you're looking at Coleman extreme or Icey-tek. Bog standard cheap ones you'll struggle to keep things cool for 2 days.

Getting things prepared properly will help, bung some 2l pop bottles of water in the freezer a couple of days before and then 24 hours before you leave put them in the box, it'll help chill the box down. Day of leaving swap the bottles out for the things you're taking (even better if you can freeze some stuff). Pack it with ice blocks at the top and fill as much space as possible with balled up newspaper or similar, it helps reduce air space. Open it as little as possible, keep out the sun etc will all help.
 
Yer if you can get ice everyday then just get a cheap stanard cool box. Work fine for us for years. Even warm beer in a cool box full of ice gets ice cold.

Shops near campsites have a habbit of running out of ice though!
 
I have two coleman xtremes, one used as a cooler and one as a mashtun. Can't fault them in terms of design and insulating ability.

A cheap box will do you fine if you just want to keep your beer cold for a day with some ice.

The coleman extremes are more for multiple day trips where you want to keep meat and stuff for a few days (and maybe a few beers), or as with my mashtun, for keeping mash temps perfect.
 
Cheers for the opinions, i'm thinking (cost wise mainly) of getting this:

http://www.thermos.co.uk/product_details.aspx?ProdID=1449&CatCode=COOL&q=

And two of these:

http://www.thermos.co.uk/product_details.aspx?ProdID=1434&CatCode=COOL&q=

Can get it all in for £32.

I'll get Ice as well once im there, chill everything (beers) the night before and see if that gets us through it.

The Aldi one is interesting, but Aldi never have long term stock and i missed the boat on that one.

There was another electric one, a Royal:

http://www.thecaravanshop.co.uk/special-offers/royal-25l-12v-coolbox/prod_730.html

Which is similar price as the passive package above.
 
pitchfork said:
I have two coleman xtremes, one used as a cooler and one as a mashtun. Can't fault them in terms of design and insulating ability.

A cheap box will do you fine if you just want to keep your beer cold for a day with some ice.

The coleman extremes are more for multiple day trips where you want to keep meat and stuff for a few days (and maybe a few beers), or as with my mashtun, for keeping mash temps perfect.
Click to expand...

I'm away for 3 days. the Coleman stuff seems top top gear, but one or two uses a year it really isn't worth it for me anyway.

TripleT said:
Yer if you can get ice everyday then just get a cheap stanard cool box. Work fine for us for years. Even warm beer in a cool box full of ice gets ice cold.

Shops near campsites have a habbit of running out of ice though!
Click to expand...


I imagine in this weather it might be a struggle to get any. I'm going to Silith, it has a decent amount of options but not a great deal considering the campsite is quite a size.

chimponarope said:
We've had a few for camping holidays. Your best options are either the aldi powered one (will be fine most of the time in the uk) or you're looking at Coleman extreme or Icey-tek. Bog standard cheap ones you'll struggle to keep things cool for 2 days.

Getting things prepared properly will help, bung some 2l pop bottles of water in the freezer a couple of days before and then 24 hours before you leave put them in the box, it'll help chill the box down. Day of leaving swap the bottles out for the things you're taking (even better if you can freeze some stuff). Pack it with ice blocks at the top and fill as much space as possible with balled up newspaper or similar, it helps reduce air space. Open it as little as possible, keep out the sun etc will all help.
Click to expand...

What about Thermos? I know back in the day they were good for gloves and flasks.
 
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boxman2000 said:
If you can get ice then I'd go standard cool box personally. Load it up and it'll stay chilled all day. Whenever we have a bbq we always get the beers and soft drinks cans in a big tub with lots of ice - something about a beer that's been ice cooled (but not frozen!)
Click to expand...

I'm the kind of person who puts his beers in the freezer an hour before dirnking them, cold beer is essential, can't drink it warm

maccapacca said:
If you can get cold beer and ice then go for it, if you're trying to cool down warm beer with ice, I'd say you're wasting your time.
Click to expand...

Yeah you are right, it never gets it down enough.
 
maccapacca said:
If you can get cold beer and ice then go for it, if you're trying to cool down warm beer with ice, I'd say you're wasting your time.
Click to expand...

If it's for an afternoon, even a hot sunny one. Then an icebox or two, filled approximately one third full with cold water, couple of average bags of ice cubes added along with a good dose of salt. Mix and add beverages, regardless of how warm they are, they will very soon be icy cold. Works a treat :)
 
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