Excellent set up, my favorite is ziplock bags large, I can put ice in one bag and squeeze air out then quickly zip it then put that bag into another ziplock bag so it won’t leak out and if it does it’ll be caught by the second bag.
I have the same set up and ice lasts up to 3 days under the Texas summer heat. I really cant justify a more expensive cooler when this set up can do the job
Another idea for you is to use an old empty gallon jug of milk or 2 liter and fill it with water and freeze it and stick it in the foam coolers to keep things cool in there and as it thaws you can drink the water. Saves space and adds some drinking water to the cooler without taking up space.
A good alternate, since you don't have room to freeze jugs/liters would be to make Polar Bear Tubes out of PVC pipe and salt water. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-MaorcWZKJA0.html has a straight forward howto.
Good idea, but make sure you don't get any meat bacteria on the water container, especially around the mouth of the jug. Put the Jug in a polythene bag to be extra safe.
Thanks Michael. Hey, I JUST bought the Lifetime 55 this summer too!! Have vids coming about that. Hope you subscribed and thanks for watching. Happy Camping. 😀
Ok, I consider myself pretty much THE expert when it comes to how to pack ice chests for a camping trip. Having said that, I clicked on this video with the intention of commenting on how your ideas could use improvement. DUDE! Your system is awesome! I have made my own ice chests to improve on what is available. I own two of the giant igloo ice chests you feature in this video. I LOVE your idea! I can’t wait to experiment with the cheap styrofoam ice chests inside of the big ones. Thanks for posting!
Wow, I feel very honored with your comments. Thank you so much. I hope you will subscribe to my channel and maybe I can give you some more great ideas? Have a great camping experience!!
I like this idea. I’ve been using insulated cooler bags for my frozen meats & it helps keep them cold similar to your idea. However, I have had blood escape the bag before and your idea will prevent that. What I like about my cooler bags is that I can roll the top down and reduce the space it requires. I also freeze those cheap waters from the grocery store and toss them in with my drinks & veggies. We can drink them as they melt. I use them in my meat bag as well, but don’t drink them.
So basically you isolated things within the cooler to prevent it from getting warm or cold. Normally it is smart to cover the things within the cooler. You are basically creating different parts of the cooler where the one gets a bit warmer and the other stays a bit cooler. In my opinion you should not spend space on isolation within the cooler. It takes up space.
Granted it takes up space. But you could also use thin plastic boxes. The main reason it really helps is because of air loss from opening and closing the cooler.
Czar, the cooler within a cooler is actually a DOUBLE insulation method. The more insulation, the slower the ice will melt. If the inner cooler is fully packed with frozen food and frozen water bottles (for example), the contents will stay frozen much longer than in a single insulation method. Especially with plastic coolers that do not have foam insulation in the top. The idea of isolating both frozen foods and less frequently used cold ones (condiments, eggs, etc.) from frequently accessed ones (beverages) is a good idea. Especially in a large cooler, like the one shown. Well worth giving up space to have the 3 separate "zones". Can see where it would also be beneficial with smaller coolers that could only have 1 or 2 such zones. Back in the days, before refrigeration as we know it, came into being, people stored ice in winter for use in summer. Ice houses relied on thick layers of insulation. Sawdust, for example. The more insulation, in general, the longer the blocks of ice could withstand summer heat outside the ice house. Same principle here, except it is in a more compact version that doesn't hold the ice, as long. Yet, beneficial in the additional time the extra insulation does provide. Just 2-cents FWIW....
That sounds good but keep in mind the real trick to why it works so well is the lids. Another option that might work in your case is to use plastic containers. They don't insulate as well but they do trap the cold air in. Thanks for your comments and if I helped you I hope you will subscribe to my channel.
I have done this years ago and works well, thanks for reminder. There are lots of complicated coo,er modification videos on youtube but I love simple and this is it. Thanks
Definitely doing this setup this fall. Will probably add a couple of frozen water bottles to the Styrofoam ones. I love organization so this is a nice setup for me. Great job
Great idea. This was exactly what I needed. How to keep meats away from other items. Tried plastic Tupperware but they would float as ice melted. The foam cooler may be the way to go. Will try it on our next family camping trip. Thank you.
Years ago I had a large center console aluminum boat and the drink locker was metal inside as well as outside. I could fill it with ice and in a few hours all that was left was water. I finally found a styrofoam cooler that fit snugly inside it and then I had ice cold drinks all day long during the summer. It's an idea that works well using styrofoam inside the cooler. I need one to fit in my drink igloo chest in my boat now to keep the food dry.
This is a great idea. Im planning to use something like rubbermaid square cereal boxes since they can circulate the cold air better and stay dry. But I wouldn't have had that idea if it wasn't for you
Just came across this. This is a Great idea IMO! For all the reasons you explained. Cooler organization , contamination prevention, and in the styros you have super cooler capability like in those really pricey coolers without the downsides of every time you open your cooler to get a bev your cool air is lost on everything else. Durable yet not wasting too much of your cooler space excellent Really!
Thanks Ben! Hope you're subscribed because I have a new cooler vid coming soon for my newest cooler, the Lifetime 55qt wheeled cooler and why I chose it.
Love the system. Awesome for sharing. At this point, 3 years later with price drops, I say buy a cheap 240 dollar Chinese fridge. Should last a few summers.
So Simple and Super Effective! What a great and smart idea. Thanks so much for this hack. I cannot afford a Yeti or a Dometic so I was looking for an alternative and this is perfect!!! Very clever!! Thank you and God Bless!!❤️
I never open my ice bags. Also double bag your ice in a sealable bag an you wont have a mess. Also ice keeps cold from the top down keeping your ice on top of your stuff is best.
invest in a coolermate, it keeps my coleman extreme 70qt 35 degrees with no "cooler soup" the unit can be drained and recharged with ice and water. always keep drinks in a separate cooler to conserve ice. and my igloo icemaker is cheaper than a yeti
Totally awesome! Thanks for sharing. I have a couple good ones from ordering wax worms for ice fishing, fruit and hams for holidays on line. I can't wait to try this sweet trick.
I have been researching how to keep my cooler to be cold longer and came across with your video. What a brilliant idea and I would try this method to store meat 🥩 on one side then precut veggies and dairy on other side. For middle spot I would put OJ, milk with ice. For drinks like cokes, beers and water bottles I would put them in other separate cooler with easy access. I am planning to buy Ozark Trail coolers and see if I can fine metal basket to insert inside topside for quick lunch or snacks etc. wonder why u don’t put ice in styrofoam?? Any reason?
Donald R. Stewart check out dollar tree they have a couple metal baskets and plastic baskets that might work for you, ive got a couple baskets turned upside down for water drainage, and tupperware partitions, always ways to improve!!
I have one of the newer generation rotomold coolers (Yeti-style) but I'll be perfectly honest - my $30 Coleman Extreme "5-Day" cooler from Walmart is 90% as good. They're a real bargain and keep cold twice as long as the average cheap Igloo, regular Coleman, or generic brand.
I have one of the newer generation rotomold coolers (Yeti-style) but I'll be perfectly honest - my $30 Coleman Extreme "5-Day" cooler from Walmart is 90% as good. They're a real bargain and keep cold twice as long as the average cheap Igloo, regular Coleman, or generic brand.
I saw another video on something like this but I like the idea of having a styrofoam box for food and not in the main cooler, and did not consider to separate foods but yeah.. its a great idea.
I guess you want the items in the styrofoam cooler to stay nice and warm, thats what coolers do, keep the temperature outside the cooler from getting in.
Awesome idea! Thanks for sharing. I have been thinking of the same idea with some plastic totes but it never occurred to me to use styrofoam coolers. Brilliant! How long does you ice keep in the center for and how long does it say cold in the foam coolers? I'm in North Texas and it gets smoken hot in the summer.
It's hard to say how long the effects are because it depends so much on ambient temps, if cooler is in shade and how much the main cooler lid is opened. All I know is it helps a LOT with the inner cooler. In a hot climate like TX I would freeze as much as possible (meats, etc) and use ice packs or your liter idea inside the styro part as well. Much easier to thaw if need be on location than worry about spoiled food. Thanks for your comments/questions and Happy Camping! :)
If you can't find a styrofoam cooler to fit, the next best thing is to use plastic containers to trap air and also prevent cross-contamination. My big recommendation in that regard is don't put ice in the containers. Either freeze the meat and or use reusable ice packs. Thanks for the comment and hope you will subscribe to my channel!
I haven't had that problem probably because the styro fits tight and there is usually some stuff in it. Also I typically don't have more than an inch or two of water in it. I do see how that could be an issue if you had a lot of water in it.
No I am afraid that would not help very much. The main reason the styro coolers work so well is that they trap your air when opening and closing the cooler getting things other than the meats Etc. If you can't fit or find a styrofoam cooler the next best thing would be to use just a food storage container for your Meats. That way you would retain the cold air around the meat as well as keep blood from running into the rest of the cooler!
Brad Ley the lids on the small coolers help trap the cold air in the small coolers. The small coolers either have the frozen meat in it and or a reusable ice pack. If it is hot outside it would affect the whole cooler in respect to heat soak. Of course the heat song will primarily affect the main compartment most as well as heat loss from opening and closing the main cooler. That's what makes this setup work.
studio960pd Thanks for the quick reply. So smart. I am curious though can you tell me where you were able to find styrofoam ice chests like the ones that you're using?
Brad Ley those styrofoam coolers have been around a long time and just happened to work. Depending on what cooler you have you might need to do a lot of searching to come up with just the right styrofoam cooler for you.
The large cooler is about 150 quarts. I'm really not sure how big the smaller ones are but they are approximately one-third the interior size of the large one.
I have used the same styrofoam coolers or quite a few years now and haven't noticed any problem yet but maybe it's because it is a fairly dense styrofoam?
@@TinCupChef well i used one for the winter while snowbirding in arizona and the water aventually soaked threw the stroafoam and then it got nasty. Just about anything left in water will get ruined. You have to let it dry out once in a while.
There are too many variables to answer your question. Things like the ambient temperature, whether the cooler is in the Sun or not and how much you open the inside coolers as well as how much Frozen is inside. The more you fill the inside cooler with frozen longer it will last. All I can tell you is that it will definitely increase the length of time to remain cold.
Juan Rodriguez that's understandable, but another option if you want to avoid bloody water and extend cold area for your meat is that you could use plastic thin-walled containers to store your meat in.
That meat you have in the styrofoam cooler on the left is going to be nice and warm, it is in a styrofoam cooler that will insulate the meat from the ice in the main cooler. DUH!
The meat I put in was frozen and was still half frozen 2 days later. If the meat had been "chilled" I would have added ice packs. Did you miss the note at 56 seconds? The thing about the styro inside cooler is that with a sealed lid, it retains cold much better and external skin of styro cooler is very low.
