talk to me about cool boxes...

[Tangle]

So we have the tent, we have the beds and other sleeping paraphernalia sorted. We have a gas burner and pans (and we're getting a cob BBQ ). We think we're pretty well sorted, although no doubt we'll discover all the things we can't camp without in a couple of weeks!

But how do we keep things cold?

I haven't been camping without a fridge (been with Canvas) for 20 years - I can't remember exactly what mum and dad did, and technology has moved on!

So, to get to the questions:

1 - How practical is it to keep basics cool with a cool box and freezer packs? How long will milk last in hot weather?
2 - How much difference is there in the different products?
3 - How efficient are powered (cigarette lighter) cool boxes when not plugged in?

I've been trying to find comparisons with google and failing dismally - but please tell me if I'm being blind...

thanks

Last year we managed fine with cool box and ice packs but upgraded to elec this year.
We have been twice this year with no electric though and used the car for cool box. Has been fine (remembered to switch off when car not running though.)
I still swear by freezing my milk , acts like giant ice pack and keeps everything cold for days.
Also freeze any meat we won't be eating first night.
I think the main difference between products is price , but felt that elec cool box better insulated with infrequent car trips to keep it cold.

How long are you going for??

If you haven't got elec hook up (and elec fridge) I found the best thing to do for a couple of days was freeze almost everything in your cool box (milk, pre-made chilli, sausages, bacon, yoghurts, etc) plus have cool blocks. Find a campsite that will re-freeze your blocks, take spares and write your name on them.

In hot weather I didn't realise that longlife orange juice went fizzy when stored in our tent (unopened not in cool box).

Alternatively eat out, take aways and have black tea/coffee!

We're going for 2 nights, last weekend in June in the New Forest. Not too worried about that one.

But if that's a success then we'll be heading to Burgundy for a couple of weeks. Which could be more of a challenge! This is only really a problem as we've recently changed car and whilst the new model has nearly twice the boot space (and we can therefore fit tent, etc, in...), its a Japanese thing and so none of the cigarette lighters work unless the ignition is switched on. We were planning not to worry about EHU this year - see how we got on first before spending more money.

When you say "freeze everything", is that everything you take with you or everything you buy while you're there? If you're freezing milk, does it freeze homogeneously, so you can pour off enough for cereal from a central milk-icle?

Hmmm. We were planning on eating out a bit and I drink black coffee anyway (poor DH...), so its more things like not having to go shopping for milk, cheese and meat every single day...

we have a camping fridge, that runs off either electric, or gas. Is a proper fridge not a cool box, so does keep things properly cold, and can even make ice cubes to go in the GandT!

We had an interesting experience with a cool box a few years ago, when it was so hot that the cheese melted in the cool box, let alone the butter, so we then bought the fridge.

I think cool boxes are fine for a weekend, but am so glad we have the fridge for longer camps

A fridge does eat into your car space, but IMO it's worth it!

agree PT - and your car is bigger than ours!

I'd love a fridge, but then we need power. At the moment we don't really want to fork out for too much specialised camping kit in case the whole thing just doesn't work out. But we don't want to get too little in case the inconvenience puts us off.

Arghhh!

Trying to think ahead, a few years back there was a big camping shop a couple of miles away from the campsite in Burgundy. Are EHU's pretty universal? If we got there and decided after a couple of days that we just HAD to have refrigeration, would buying in France cause problems here?

will you have a gas botrle for your cooker? we power our fridge from the same gas bottle as the cooker one - have a 2 way hose.

don't know about ehu's abroad, sorry

sorry - we also use ehu when got an electric pitch - but only camp in this country

No - we deliberately didn't want the cost and weight of a full on gas bottle. At the moment we've got a little one ring burner that uses the disposable gas cylinders (like aerosol cans) and we'll probably get a cob BBQ. Plan A is keep it simple and see how we go - but I'm not sure if its up to France in September...

We struggle on with a cool bag and ice packs even in central France. In hotter areas you can buy blocks of ice for a couple of euros. Its not great but I do like not being hooked up to electricity.
Am interested in a cool box though, would be more effective.

I remember that you could put your ice packs in the campsite freezer (in a plastic bag with name on) so some still may do this - your talking 30 old years ago.

I looked into one of these powered fridges a while ago as the fridge in our caravan isnt very cold at all. They came out around £200 - £300. I would assume that they are tiny too. Its just another item to squeeze into the boot and the weight has to be an issue too. www.mobilegas.co.uk/mobilecoolbox/gasfridgefreezerunit/index.htm

I bought an expensive coolbox on wheels instead and it gets used loads.www.minicoolers.co.uk/products/igloo/maxcold70roller.htm

Note that any length of time quoted for keeping cool has to be relevant to the outside temp. So some of them say 24 hrs which is never true.