5 day coolers

[fishmarket]

looking at getting one soon..Igloo, Coleman,.does anyone have any recommendations...do they actually work as advertised??? Thanks.

[chaffmj]

I have a couple of igloos and I think they work real well. I use one for beverages and the other for food. The food one lasts for several days because you aren't going in it all the time. Can't say the same for the beverages though!

[echotrail]

One of my friends has one he uses with quart sized milk cartons with ice. We use it several times during the summer and if it's kept in the shade theres plenty of ice left on day 5.

[Northlander]

I have about 6 of them in different sizes and I like them a lot. keep them closed as much as possible and put newspaper on top of the goodies and it will stay cold for days. 5 days in the sun is a stretch but I found if I freeze gatorade bottles of water they stay longer than plain old ice of course. Then when they are melted I have cold drinking water.

[Hillbiehle]

I have found them to work pretty darn good. When we go camping, I usually place a wet towel over the top of the cooler during the day and try to hide it from the sun. This helps signifigantly.

[BoxMN]

I have about 6 of them in different sizes and I like them a lot. keep them closed as much as possible and put newspaper on top of the goodies and it will stay cold for days. 5 days in the sun is a stretch but I found if I freeze gatorade bottles of water they stay longer than plain old ice of course. Then when they are melted I have cold drinking water.

Yeah, i actually just freeze the water bottles right from the store, or even Diet Coke or Gatorade and use them for "ice" and drinking. Works great, just remember to have a few that aren't frozen for day 1

The silver ones are great, don't get a dark colored one, if they even have them in the 5 day version...

[porterhouse]

I have a Igloo and a coleman 5 day cooler. The Igloo is the better cooler. One of these days I want to buy a stainless steel coleman cooler.

Brian

[local laker]

I have a 120 qt igloo,works great.I'd say 3 days ,not 5.Also own a 62 qt coleman roller style,the wheels are great,but the hinges broke,thats their weak point.Shade will buy you more time with either.

[IFallsRon]

I have a couple Coleman Extreme coolers. With temps in the high 80s and 90s, I can get five days and still have ice. I've found that the bigger the chunk of ice, the longer they last.

Keep the cookers in the shade and throw a blanket over them to help insulate as well.

[theoilman]

Their ratings are "tricked" to say the least. Most are excellent coolers, but to make them last 5 days you have to ice the cooler down hours ahead of time - fill it full of ice - to pre-chill the cooler. Then when you pack it most recommend 1/3 to 1/2 ice: that cuts your capacity way down. Then their ratings are all "in the shade" out of direct sunlight. The ideas of solid milk jug iceblocks sounds great! If cleaned well and kept clean you can always use the water as it melts!

[wayne123]

I am not sure what the 5 day coolers are but one think I do with regular coolers is put them in the freezer for a day before using them.

Also when you go someplace in the summer put the cooler in the cab of the vehicle instead of the trunk. It is much cooler in the cab instead of the trunk. I sometimes worry about the cooler flying around if there was an accident but most of the time I drive a minivan so I have no choice.

[Powerstroke]

I've used the COleman Extreme series and they do work very well. We always have ice blocks left after a weekend. I think 5 days is pretty easy to get.

Blocks always last longer than cubes and I use milk jugs and gatorade bottles for cubes. That way when they melt you have fresh water.

I like the idea of "pre-chilling". I do just the opposite for hot food in a thermos. It works great.

[Tom7227]

Why not just buy 10 lbs of dry ice and be done with it? Dropping a hun on a cooler seems a little over the edge, and then having to have a half empty freezer to "pre-chill" it. We did the dry ice thing on the Canadian fly ins and always had some left to toss in the lake and make the kids all excited.