Coldbox for car?

[nuyorican]

The initial message was deleted from this topic on 27 November 2024 at 11:12

[tomsugden]

Any coolbox with ice packs in it will stay cool for 4 hours. Are you after a 12v one?

[Ken_Code]

Yes, they plug in to the cigarette lighter.

The Halfords ones worked fine for us.

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/travel-accessori...

[SpydieNut]

Don’t know your budget, but we recently got a 65L Yeti - filled it with ice for a camping weekend, drinks in and out and it was in the sun during the day - and it still had ice water in it 6 days later. Amazing and so good that I returned the small 12V fridge I bought. Not cheap, but I think it was money well spent - it’s so solid it feels it will last decades.

It’s also quite large. But smaller versions are available.

And it’s rated bear-proof

[Ken_Code]

nuyorican said:

Perfect. Thank you very much. How many standard 440ml cans of beer would you estimate it can carry?

I’m not sure. We had the next size up which takes 30 of them.

https://www.halfords.com/motoring/travel-accessori...

[NaePasaran]

I've gotten both Igloo and Coleman coolers which are great. While not quite as good as a Yeti, they're significantly cheaper but both keep things cool for 2-3 days depending on outside temperature and how cold things are when going in.

But to be honest for 4 hours I've gotten a 5 quid b and m coolbag which would do the trick.

PS I don't use ice packs but use 500ml water bottles. When they start thawing out you have a ready supply of ice cold water.

[SpydieNut]

NaePasaran said:

I've gotten both Igloo and Coleman coolers which are great. While not quite as good as a Yeti, they're significantly cheaper but both keep things cool for 2-3 days depending on outside temperature and how cold things are when going in.

But to be honest for 4 hours I've gotten a 5 quid b and m coolbag which would do the trick.

PS I don't use ice packs but use 500ml water bottles. When they start thawing out you have a ready supply of ice cold water.

absolutely agree - i did get the Coleman initially and am sure it would have been just fine. but i wasn't that impressed with the quality/feel of it, so I sent it back and got the Yeti. this was 3x the price, so hardly surprising it's better made etc - we do quite a few camping trips (up to 1 wk) and have family BBQs etc, so i think it will get a lot of use over the coming years and work very well.

for a 4-hour car trip there will be many options that will work well, but be considerably cheaper

ETA - I wouldn't freeze anything fizzy, just plain water in plastic bottles

[Arun_D]

After being initially skeptical on value and effectiveness of a Yeti cooler, my wife and I borrowed our friend's Yeti Tundra 35 for a recent 4 day camping trip and was blown away by it. Cold through the 8hour drive up to Scotland from the south coast and remained so for the duration of the trip for the drive back down again.

We've now bought our own one the weekend just gone. Bloody impressive product.

[blue_haddock]

nuyorican said:

I hadn't even considered 12v. Would it plug into the cigarette lighter? (old motor)

Thanks

Yes i've got a 12v coolbox that we take when going away.

works very well.

[PugwasHDJ80]

Engel, National Luna, ARB, all make amazing fridges

these will cost a few hundreds but will run a -18 in the middle of the sahara (10 years ago a group of us had Cornettos in the middle of the Moroccan sahara when it was 54degrees- they ice creams came out frozen, but were liquid in around 2 minutes!)

These are probably all overkill....but you can often get smaller ones second hand.

[Hoofy]

tomsugden said:

Any coolbox with ice packs in it will stay cool for 4 hours.

^^^^^

Throw a couple of large ice packs and it'll keep cold for hours.

[Ken_Code]

I don’t think that a Yeti makes sense for the OP’s need. You need quite a lot of ice / cold things in one to keep things cold and that’s just going to be a pain when he wants eight small cans kept chilled for a few hours.

OP, a £10 4 litre Thermos cool bag from Amazon with an ice pack in it is going to do the job just fine.

[boyse7en]

Hoofy said:

tomsugden said:

Any coolbox with ice packs in it will stay cool for 4 hours.

^^^^^

Throw a couple of large ice packs and it'll keep cold for hours.

And in winter you can keep things hot by putting a couple of hot bricks in the bottom and then whatever you want to keep warm on top.
Used to do a Boxing Day hike over the moors and it was always a treat to get back to the car 4-5 hours later and have hot sausage rolls, mince pies and mulled wine ready to go.

[Truckosaurus]

NaePasaran said:

I've gotten both Igloo and Coleman coolers which are great. While not quite as good as a Yeti, they're significantly cheaper but both keep things cool for 2-3 days depending on outside temperature and how cold things are when going in.

But to be honest for 4 hours I've gotten a 5 quid b and m coolbag which would do the trick.

PS I don't use ice packs but use 500ml water bottles. When they start thawing out you have a ready supply of ice cold water.

I agree with this. The Yeti boxes are really good but super expensive, so only worth it if you are going overlanding away from shops that sell ice.

Costco often have decent prices on Igloo boxes.

The only 12v ones that are any good are the proper compressor ones which again cost serious money.

If you put some plastic boxes in the cooler you can keep food item dry if you are having to refresh the cooler with shop bought ice cubes, but as suggested above frozen water bottles or juice boxes are a good starting point for the first few days.

[bigandclever]

nuyorican said:

I think a scientific test is needed. But then, if fizzy water freezes, so will lager right? Could freeze two cans of lager instead.

The cans will burst.

[Hoofy]

boyse7en said:

Hoofy said:

tomsugden said:

Any coolbox with ice packs in it will stay cool for 4 hours.

^^^^^

Throw a couple of large ice packs and it'll keep cold for hours.

And in winter you can keep things hot by putting a couple of hot bricks in the bottom and then whatever you want to keep warm on top.
Used to do a Boxing Day hike over the moors and it was always a treat to get back to the car 4-5 hours later and have hot sausage rolls, mince pies and mulled wine ready to go.

Good idea. Just to check - what are hot bricks? I assume they're not that hot because it'd melt the plastic?

[Djtemeka]

Ken_Code said:

I don’t think that a Yeti makes sense for the OP’s need. You need quite a lot of ice / cold things in one to keep things cold and that’s just going to be a pain when he wants eight small cans kept chilled for a few hours.

OP, a £10 4 litre Thermos cool bag from Amazon with an ice pack in it is going to do the job just fine.

I’m using a thermos soft bag that will hold 8 beers.
I use it for my lunch. Keeps the food cool even though it sits in a black van all day long.

I use 2x skinny ice packs.

It won’t keep beers icy cold though.

[Bill]

I got an Igloo once I got over Yeti's prices, it's undoubtedly not as good as the Yeti but still keeps things cold for 3 days in a hot tent.

[darreni]

Have a look at the icey tek ones too, been about a long time & very good. Cheaper that the yeti, though not as lifestylish.

[Ken_Code]

Djtemeka said:

I’m using a thermos soft bag that will hold 8 beers.
I use it for my lunch. Keeps the food cool even though it sits in a black van all day long.

I use 2x skinny ice packs.

It won’t keep beers icy cold though.

It hopefully will for the OP’s use, which is four hours in a car while he’s driving it.