Coolbox advice

[AlmaMartyr]

Last time we were camping our coolbag didn't really keep anything cold, despite us changing ice packs regularly. It's one of those soft coolbags rather than a coolbox. It's also pretty old and a bit torn so I think it's probably just not doing it anymore. My mum reckons that while those are fine for a picnic that you need a proper rigid coolbox for camping - is that true?

I've been at what's available. Are Igloo boxes any good? I know IceyTeks are but not sure DH would agree to stretch to that. We don't have a huge amount of space in the car so I don't want anything massive (we don't take much food with us anyway) which was why I was looking at the Igloos since they claim all the space is more usable. We do plan on going away for a week soon although we mostly just do weekends.

Ridged cool box almost certainly better than a bag, although saying that the Lakeland cool bags always get good reviews.

If space is an issue, and you are happy to buy food regularly then just get a small cool box. We have a slim Coleman which is fine for milk, butter, ham yoghurts that sort of thing. Put ice blocks on top of the food and then squash some bubble wrap over the top of them and the food to keep the chilled air around the food.

Thanks Slubber! I was looking at the Colemans last night. Bubble wrap's a good idea, I hadn't thought of that.

i am still searching the net for a coolbox, its brain frying stuff. i cant quite bring myself to go for an iceytek, worried mainly about someone walking off with it. i am on the verge of ordering a igloo marine 51L for £65 but the alternative is the coleman xtreme for £60. the coleman doent have a clip on the front which i think is the deal breaker with four young children but the coleman does have a long handle and wheels.
slubber that bubble wrap idea is great, i have loads of bubblewrap.

I agree with your mum Alma. We took a bog-standard rigid coolbox to a festival over the weekend, with four icepacks and an ice sheet, plus frozen Capri Suns it kept wine and milk cold for two days. Yesterday we took a coolbag to the lido and the icepacks had melted completely after about six hours or so - that's a decent Lakeland coolbag as well. After all, a coolbag will have a little insulation and some reflective fabric, while a coolbox can have a LOT of insulation.

We have a Coleman Xtreme but it's not been used in anger - it's a bit big for festival use, plus I was afraid someone would nick it. Its official launch will be the weekend after the coming one!

Thanks all! I've found an Igloo for £39 on eBay, can't remember size but seemed like a good price. Not sure what is meant to be special about Igloos though?

Go Outdoors have the Coleman 36QT Extreme for £54, but I've found it elsewhere for £44.99 so could get it for around £40 with their price match. Hadn't thought about a clip on the front being useful though!

Reviews of the Coleman seem to suggest that it's best to use actual ice rather than icepacks for long term frostiness as well, so I might try that.

I've got the Coleman xtreme and have used it this summer on a couple of four day trips with great success. I make sure everything is really cold before it goes in, usually have a couple of frozen meals like chilli or spag bol in there too. Then I put all the cool blocks on the top and then fill any remaining space with tea towels/towels. Will try bubble wrap next time round! Everything stayed nice and cold the whole time, I was very impressed (and surprised).

I got mine on a pricematch deal at Go Outdoors too, I've saved a fortune there by pricematching. Maybe that's a whole new thread, your best pricematch ever at GO?!

We've got a bog standard coolbox and just buy a bag of ice (about 99p) every day and poor it over the top - has always done the trick.

Tried a number of electric ones, but found that they really did not cool stuff down on really hot days.

I'm deciding now between the Igloo Ice Cube 48 which looks like it would have lots of very practical space and the Coleman Xtremes. I'm worried that the 36l Coleman might be too small since the interior space might be a bit dinky but the bigger one (60l) might be massive? I guess there's loads we could fit in it.

I was disappointed initially with the interior space of the Coleman vs the actual size of the thing but it was actually ok and I got everything that I needed into it. However, i dont drink and i think if you wanted a few bottles of wine kept chilled too, space might become a problem! Size-wise the 36qt one can fit (just!) in-between the two kids on the back seat but if you went for the bigger one it would have to go into the boot I think.

If I'm going for a week I always put in two big frozen bottles of water at the bottom of the box as well as ice blocks. At least then stuff is really cold for at least the first three days.

Thanks for posting Piffpaffpoff, that's decided me on the 36l Coleman I think. We don't take huge amounts and not too fussy about drinks so can probably handle that. I would rather have a bit less space than I'd like than far too much anyway!

ObviouslyOblivious - will go for the frozen bottles of water I think, seems like a good idea.

If it's going to be a regular thing, IMO, a 3 way fridge is the only way to go. done the soft cooler, and the cool box. I could handle those (just) for a weekend, but we have just done a week and the 3 way was absolutely fab. It was 42 degrees in our tent one day and the fridge was still at 5 degrees. You can stand bottles upright too, which is great.