Icey-tek 25L cool box - very important question

[bico]

Is it big enough for a normal size bottle of wine? Preferably standing up. Or do I need the 40L?

There is only myself and ds but I want to be able to drink cold white wine for a change

[Bramblesinforrin]

Yes but on its side mi reckon I can get a half dozen bottles of champagne in mine :)

[Bramblesinforrin]

... With room for olives etc. (actually I think from memory I managed nine bottles of wine in it before :)

[SquirtedPerfumeUpNoseInBoots]

No, the inside dimensions of the 25L are 270 mm. An upright bottle of wine is about 300 mm.
Or you could get a screw top bottle and have it on the diagonal.

[Bramblesinforrin]

Yes, that's the solution I sometimes take, leaning it across some other stuff (like gin in a tin)

[bico]

Thank you. Is the 25L one quite roomy or is it pretty full once you've got a bottle of wine and some ice packs? I've looked at the contents pictures on the website but can't really work out how much it would contain.

[Bramblesinforrin]

I bought their big flat cool pack. I prechill the iceytek and freeze everything more or less going into it (apart from the butter and cheese!). It did three of us for four days last year and the frozen mac n cheese was still frozen on the last day. There was a freezer where we were camping and I swapped the blocks over halfway.

I couldn't fit the bigger one in the car with all the other stuff and this makes a handy little camping seat too.

[Bramblesinforrin]

This year I'm pre freezing the meals in portions so that I don't have to faff around pricing the potato waffled from the packet, etc. will make things speedier so that I don't have the lid open too long. The children are trained to remove and shut quickly!

[bico]

Thanks. I was going to order the 40L but think it is probably overkill for the two of us (ds is too young to drink wine fortunately ).

[YellowDinosaur]

I have the 40l and find that it is full for a weekend for dh, I and 2 boys. So you'd probably be fine for the 2 of you.

Regarding wine why not take a wine box? Take the bag out, freeze (or part freeze) it then you will not only fit more in but also it will help chill it

[bico]

I ordered the 25L but I think I'm going to change it to 40L. I want something that is big enough to store enough food for three or four days and looking at the dimensions the 40L one isn't hugely bigger than 25L size. I couldn't find a tape measure last night to work out the difference.

[Bramblesinforrin]

:) enjoy. Yellow is wise (don't tell her I said that)

[Blu]

I fnd my 25l is plenty big enough for DS and I, including several bottles of beer. Well, 6, anyway. I take as much stuff frozen as possible so that I don't need too many ice packs. And the pre-chilling definitley helps. If there is a freezer on the site I would cram the box with food 9and wine) and then take ice packs with you and add those as the box gets emptier.

[YellowDinosaur]

:) brambles

I thought the 40l wasn't much bigger than the 25l in dimensions which was my argument too.

Having seen both it's much bigger. It was still the right decision for us but if you're tight on space and it's only for 2 of you I'd stick with what you have. If you have the space and you cook with a lot of fresh stuff / need a lot of cold drinks like me then change.

[YellowDinosaur]

Other tips -

Make sure food / drink is frozen or cold before it goes in. it will warm up quicker if you're relying on it to chill stuff

We have bought a bag of ice cubes from the supermarket and thrown the cubes in loose to keep it going - good for if you don't have the facility to re freeze ice packs.

Stack it cleverly with food you need soonest closest to the top to avoid rummaging and reduce the time it's open. I always plan to put things for each meal in separate labelled plastic bags but it never works as I always try and ram too much in!

Put it in the shade or the coolest place you can find to make it last longer.

If you're camping near water put drinks in bottles in a steam or into a bucket filled with cold water in the shade to avoid opening it every time you want another gin.

Hope that helps!

[YellowDinosaur]

And ask brambles about her top tips to use for keeping food warm and other stuff....

[bico]

40L is on its way! I figure if it is too big I will just have to add more booze soft drinks! We have room in the car for it and it will be nice to have something that is big enough to store food for a few days rather than having to buy stuff every day.

[Bramblesinforrin]

If you have room in the car, that's brilliant. Now. What colour did you get?

[bico]

Blue Ocean. Chosen by ds. Actually it was his second choice. He wanted white but I thought that would look grubby pretty quickly. Can't wait for it to arrive today.

[Bramblesinforrin]

Lovely. My soulpad comes next week

[bico]

We rented a 5m soulpad last summer. It was lovely and really spacious. We've got a teeny tiny 3m bell tent which is fine for the two of us.