ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

[Photojunkie]

Any tips on how you organize your coolers for car camping trips? We are new to all of this and I noticed this past week when we went for 3 nights that it was such a PITA to find anything in our cooler. Anyone care to shares their pearls of wisdom?

Thanks in advance,
Sharon

[renodesertfox]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

Howdy Photojunkie....welcome to CF!

Organization is the key, in a few hours(8) I'll lay out how we organize our coolers in detail.

For us it's best to have two coolers, one for food stuffs and a second smaller cooler for drinks. That way once a drink(can or bottle) is removed other items won't shift.

Secondly it's basically the same for both coolers....loading one item at a time! (Only kidding)! More will follow!

[Photojunkie]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

Thanks Renodesertfox.. look forward to your tips.

We did the two coolers on our last trip , it was the food cooler that just seem like a total mess and in need of big makeover in strategy.

[renodesertfox]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

Okay, purchase a few loc'n'loc plastic bins from amazon or Wal-mart. Measure the width of the cooler and get one that fits fairly close to the width. In that(the large loc'n'loc) place smaller loc'n'locs, one to stow cheese, one for sandwich meat, get my drift. Also jars will fit snugly too. Ice will go around the outside of the loc'n'locs. Purchase large and smaller freezer plastic bags(Wal-mart) and keep meats or veggies in those. Block ice is better for keeping the interior of the food cooler cold because there is more mass to a block than individual ice cubes. Candy bars, energy bars etc also fit nicely in small zippered plastic bags too, those go in the large loc'n'loc towards the top of the food stowed. There is always a chance that someone may not be as neat when rooting through looking for something to eat. The food cooler is like an indoor refrigerator, every time it's opened heat lunges inside.

When my family of five were growing up and camping we went, there was a rule: Only responsible adults were allowed to open the food cooler! If a kid got into the cooler and was discovered that kid had K.P. duty for the rest of the camping trip! There were many campouts that we went on and we(RDF and Nevada Desert Rose) did no cleaning except the supervising...them days were great!

If you opt for freezer bags, we have found out that zippered ones work best then once the item chosen has been served, it immediately goes back in the bag and then back into the cooler. Any liquid, milk, or OJ, or even H2O goes into the second cooler along with white wine, those items too are kept in plastic flat-bottom containers(available at Wal-mart) with water-tight seals so they'll stand upright in a cooler, surrounded by ice. Staying organized takes practice, a small investment in loc.n.locs and it's not easy beginning a new habit but once it's been accomplished a few times it get easier and easier!

These are just my suggestions and I know there are other great campateers here that will eventfully share their $0.02 so take what is good from each and apply it to your style of campin! I'm nearing 60 years of age and still sleep in a tent on the ground with either air-mattress or Therma-rest pad, for me that's campin! Anything else is just pretending! It'll be fun reading what other's have to say too!

[Photojunkie]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

My goodness. What a great posting RDF!
I am so appreciative of your time to post such
a detailed approach!

I will take a look at the loc' container next
time I am at Walmart.

Many thanks!

[GlitterHiker]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

Solely because I left for my last camping trip straight from the office, I -- by sheer luck -- used two coolers. (Actually, one cooler and one zippered insulated bag.) I can second that having two separate, smaller "coolers" ended up being so much easier to work with. I had not thought of separating the food, like RDF suggested. But I'll try that next time.

[Gus@campingwithgus.com]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

Great tips Renodesertfox, especially the KP for kids idea. I have done a lot of camping with kids and never thought of that!

If you have the available freezer space, here is how I manage my cooler ice needs:
1. ZipLocs are king - I could not camp without them. Just make sure to ALWAYS use the freezer bags, they are much sturdier. ***I prefer the "press and seal" closures over the "slider-loc" ones. Seems like the slider closures fail more often.

2. I use 2 recycled qt-size plastic milk jugs for my block ice needs in the food cooler. Fill 3/4 full and freeze. then place in opposite coolers of the food cooler - yes it does use some storage space but the trade-off is you don't have your food floating in melted ice water
.
3. I also use ice made from frozen gallon and quart-size Ziplocs for placement around and between food items. Using either gal. or qt. size Ziplocs, (depending on space needs), Fill the bags with water, (need to experiment to find the right amount), seal and lay on side, you want them about an inch thick when laying flat. Then freeze for use as more block ice cooling. ps. you can also use this method for the drink cooler, and use them for more clean ice when your cube ice supply depletes. (at least a third of the cube ice I use in the drink cooler goes in gallon Ziplocs to keep it clean for later drink use)

4. If you freeze everything possible, (like meats), before you pack them, you won't need as much ice in your food cooler. This also works well for juices in the drink cooler, keep the first day's supply of drinks unfrozen, of course, but second and third day supplies can be frozen. They help chill the cooler and will be thawed by the time they are needed. (if you judged usage correctly)

5. I keep the food and drink coolers separated. With the drink cooler in the most assessable location. Even if they are easily identified as to which cooler is which, kids will still open the food cooler unnecessarily if they are side by side.

Gus

[GlitterHiker]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

@Gus - I like the ice suggestions - thank you! Sure saves vs the $2 bag of ice every weekend.

[Photojunkie]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

Great tips on the ice! Thanks Gus

[Gus@campingwithgus.com]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

@glitterhiker and photojunkie - glad you found it useful - I forgot to mention that the milk jugs of ice turn into clean drinking water by the end of the trip

Gus

[tplife]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

@glitterhiker and photojunkie - glad you found it useful - I forgot to mention that the milk jugs of ice turn into clean drinking water by the end of the trip

Gus

Making your own block ice is a way to extend your cooler's chill, just like not opening it more than necessary. The only downside to keeping your ice in containers - and this is a big one - is because the ice is melting inside at a much faster rate than if it was not inside a container. Draining the melted ice from your cooler is one of the best ways to make your ice last longer, due to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, ice melts faster in water than in air. You can observe this law by setting up an ice cube in side of a mesh bag, suspended over cold water so that you can slowly lower it into the water. As the ice gets lower in the waer, you will see that the surface portion of the ice virtually disappears. As this occurs, the top-heavy part of the ice will want to flip over to compensate for the disappearing bottom half of the ice cube (or block). As you can see, ice melts much faster in water than in the air.

[GlitterHiker]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

Thanks @tplife! I had no idea ... about the ice melting rate or draining the melted ice ... Will try it this weekend. (Though it's still so cold here I doubt if I'll need ice.)

[MikeB]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

The only thing I can add to this great advise is to choose your cooler according to the length and type of campout you are preparing for. The food cooler will keep longer if it quite full, even if you just add additional ice. I also adjust the kind of cooler depending on the length and weather conditions of my campout. If I am going for a week or more, I use a 100 + quart cooler. For less than a week, I take a 50-70 quart cooler for food. I am interested in upgrading my large cooler this year. Either a Yeti or a Iowa Rotocast. Probably a Yeti because it is quite a bit lighter than the Rotocast. I use a combination of block and cube ice in the smaller drink cooler and straight block in the food cooler.

[Gus@campingwithgus.com]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

Making your own block ice is a way to extend your cooler's chill, just like not opening it more than necessary. The only downside to keeping your ice in containers - and this is a big one - is because the ice is melting inside at a much faster rate than if it was not inside a container. >>>>>edit>>>>>due to the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics, ice melts faster in water than in air. >>>edit.

Greetings Tplife, although you are technically correct, I don't think in the circumstances discussed, it is a deciding issue.

1. relative to loose block ice in a cooler with melted ice water you are entirely correct because there is a larger area away from the block ice for the water to steal its cold and dissipate it over a larger surface area.

2. But, the melted ice water layer between the remaining block ice inside the jug and the outside of the milk jug, abuts to air, not more water. So the thin layer of good temperature conducting water meets the weak temperature conducting air, and actually retards the temperature transfer a little, thus almost acting as an insulating layer, rather than a conducting layer.

But ... given the need for a well-calibrated instrument to even determine the minuscule difference, - weighed against the benefits of; convenience, late-term ice cold drinking water, monetary savings, elimination of need to drain cooler, and the bonus of non-soggy cheese, I think I will stick with my milk jugs, and leave that 2nd law to the non-camping scientists.

[MikeB]

Re: ISO Tips for organizing the large cooler

I'd freeze the jugs if you have room in the freezer. I like the price of the ice!