please help me with coolboxes

[mel2005]

ok, there are 6 of us, we will be mainly camping for between 2 and 4 nights, we will be doing a week occasionally but i can always pop out and refill it. so it would be silly to get one to hold a weeks food when a smaller one would be better? anyway i have been looking at icey-tek which has the best reviews and am really tempted to get one (and they do look fab), not sure on size though BUT if its only a few days do i really need such an expensive one? and they only have pink and black in some sizes left. OR should i get a normal cheaper one (coleman etc)? if so there are so many i am getting a headache looking at them.
what i am really asking is can anyone recommend a good one please, i really dont have a clue

[Doyouthinktheysaurus]

We just bought an icey-tek 40L after managing for the past year with an outwell 25L box. We upgraded because the outwell one was too small and just not very good at keeping things cold.

I can't tell you how good it is yet, not using it until tommorrow but it looks lovely

The woman I spoke to at icey-tek said they would be getting more stock in a couple of weeks so might be worth giving them a call.

[thisisyesterday]

i have a coleman xtreme 36qt (the smallest xtreme) and it's fab! we used it when we went away for a week during half term. was quite warm and i topped it up with ice halfway through the week but it kept our food fine the entire week

held enough stuff for 2 adults and 3 kids with room to spare

[mel2005]

thank you for your help.

[winefairy]

Apparently all Icey-Tek colours are back in stock in the first week in August. I'm waiting for my white 40L although the very lovely people from Icey-Tek are lending me one for my trip next week! Great customer service like that always bodes well in my opinion.

To be honest, I didn't probably need a coolbox that would keep things cold for so long but I figured it would give me options. At least I'll never need to upgrade!

[YellowDinosaur]

I was going to get a Coleman xtreme but found it enormous for the amount of space you actually get. Also it didn't look as though you could store wine bottles upright which owuld have defeated part of the object for me.

I have bought a cheapo one from Asda for £6. I plan on cmaping trips similar lengths to you and also thought that this didn't justify the expensive ones as their benefit is probably more for people who camp for longer or abroad. Not tested yet but I figure even if its shite I can afford to lose the £6!

[jamaisjedors]

I have a 25l iceytek one, it was big enough for 6 of us (3 adults + 3 children) for our 10 day holiday (just got back!).

But we shopped pretty much every other day and it was almost too big.

A bottle of wine fits lying down (shove the cork in hard if there is any left).

I went for this one because a) it looks sturdy
b) it was the only make with a 25l box that lasted longer than 24h

But then we don't go in for the making lots of food in advance to last you the week - we ate out or bought chips and just kept butter, jam, milk, wine and some ham/leftovers in it - oh and chocolate biscuits!

[SparklyCloud]

YellowDinosaur I have this Asda one, is it the same as yours?

What I do is freeze two 1 litre water bottles the night before we go. I place one at the bottom, fill the coolbox with food and put the other near the top. I also did some pasta in sauce and froze that the night before in a freezer food bag, this was used as meal for the 2nd night camping and also helped keep the other food cool.If you then use a tea towel to place over everything before you put the lid on.

I found it fine for 3 days camping but would still love an Icey-tek

[YellowDinosaur]

Yes thats it sparklycloud. Thanks for your top tips! I am sure an iceytek is much better and they come in pretty colours but I am not optimistic on my chances of persuading dh to spend 100 smackers on one when I have bought this in Asda for £6! Maybe my mission for this camping trip is to sabotage the coolbox so that the milk goes off and he can't have his morning cereal and then he will agree to a bright yellow iceytek!

jamaijadors IT THERE IS ANY WINE LEFT???? This would NEVER happen with me

[jamaisjedors]

DH is French and unfortunately I am not allowed to drink anymore (medical reasons) - so yes, there is often some left!

Not something that used to happen I can assure you!

[Rosita]

We have the biggest one Halfords do (my husband's idea!). We did 5 days camping and we could definitely make do with a much smaller one. It just got filled with wine and beer!! Worst thing was that it takes up half the boot and we have a BIG car - (Honda CRV) so then was a massive struggle fitting the rest of the kit in even with a roof box! I'd say go for a medium size one - should be fine.