"MaxCold" coolers - 5 days of ice?

[theCryptofishist]

Because this is eplaya, there's going to be difference of opinion.
Like this one:

You should never need an excuse to use crayons

Ahhh! Not cranyons! the color saturation is horrible! I want something softer with more pigment!

You may now return to your regularly scheduled cooler thread.

Crayons, pencil-crayons, markers, paint, pens, blood - whatever . Just embrace your inner-kid - draw stuff

Agreed.

[Sail Man]

I've also heard of people who make a larger box out of plywood to put their coolers in, they use the blue foam board insulation and glue it to the inside of the box before dropping the cooler into it. The lid is also fitted with the insulation.

[Canoe]

I've also heard of people who make a larger box out of plywood to put their coolers in, they use the blue foam board insulation and glue it to the inside of the box before dropping the cooler into it. The lid is also fitted with the insulation.

other materials - to reflect sunlight and heat:

• foil-sided bubble-wrap
• hexayurt style, foil-sided reenforced foam board (doesn't need plywood, unless you'll be lifting it loaded)

assemble with foil tape

[junglesmacks]

FWIW, we finally purchased a new cooler for the boat.. and picked up an Igloo Ice Cube MaxCold unit. It does insulate well.. but FAR from 5 days of ice. With people in and out of it, two bags of ice lasts about 24 hours. We had the previous Ice Cube cooler that wasn't a "MaxCold" model and this one seems to insulate about 33% better.. but again.. nowhere near the claims.

Conclusion: Don't believe the hype.

[illy dilly]

FWIW, we finally purchased a new cooler for the boat.. and picked up an Igloo Ice Cube MaxCold unit. It does insulate well.. but FAR from 5 days of ice. With people in and out of it, two bags of ice lasts about 24 hours. We had the previous Ice Cube cooler that wasn't a "MaxCold" model and this one seems to insulate about 33% better.. but again.. nowhere near the claims.

Conclusion: Don't believe the hype.

I wonder how well it would do if it wasn't a beer cooler?
Like if it was the frozen foods cooler. That really only gets opened for meals.

[tamarakay]

We had one with just jugs of ice in it, still had cold water on Friday. The one with the dry ice on top of the jugs of ice was still frozen Sunday.

Opened once a day. Had wrapped in silver stuff you put in your windows and a quilt. Up on palettes.

[junglesmacks]

True.. in and out all the time while serving up 2 x 18 packs of beer in 90 degree FL sun on a boat all day is demanding for a cooler.


..and quite delicious. Y'all are coming down.. when?

[dragonpilot]

So your ice melts...get over it! Besides, a trip to Arctica and waiting in line means you make new friends! And the Arctica folks rawk!

[junglesmacks]

Can we classify this as a new species of White Whine?

[FIGJAM]

I found this vid to be very helpful.

It seems coleman xtreem and Engel are the best in the test, but the Engel is 5X the cost.

[maladroit]

I have a red (vintage!) Igloo Maxcold 70. I fed it about two bags every two days, after the first three days.

But then, it wasn't very hot this year. I did not wrap it in anything or keep it off the ground, but it was always in shade.

Bang for the buck? Really really high, since I paid $15 for it at a flea market.

[BBadger]

I got one of those 165qt Maxcold coolers from Costco. They worked pretty well, and kept its ice for a while, but we still bought ice for it and other coolers because we'd shift stuff around a bit and consolidate stuff as needed. Having one giant cooler for stuff was definitely convenient!

[Trishntek]

I loaded my 165 quart Maxcold on Wed. 8/22 with Five 2.5 gallon (suitcase) frozen jugs, One 10 lb. frozen ham and a box of FIFTY frozen hamburger patties.

It sat in our loaded box truck until late Thur. 8/23 and in our kitchen tent, on 2x4s until Fri. 8/31 when we finally cooked the burgers. They were still partially frozen and the ham was still partially frozen the next night.

Upon strike, we needed the cooler for extra booze and wanted to use the jugs of water for our slippery slide body cleaning station prior to exodus on Tues. 9/4. After nearly TWO WEEKS, there was still ice in those water jugs!

To my knowledge, it was not open for days at a time. It served us well and I have no complaints!

[junglesmacks]

Thank you for bringing up my own thread.. I had forgotten about this..


We bought a Coleman Extreme cooler this year and loaded it up Thursday afternoon for EA. We used it only for food.. no warm drinks going in and out. I kid you not.. we had ice all the way up to burn day.. 10 days later!!! Temple burn and we had cold water. Seriously though.. 10 days keeping ice in this thing. So bad ass. Worth every penny.

We also have an Igloo MaxCold here locally in FL that we use for camping and same thing.. totally bad ass. We took it to Bonnaroo this June and it sat in direct 90 degree TN sun and yet kept ice for the whole 5 days. We have one of the IceCube models for the boat and with 95 degree FL sun and people in and out all day, it will keep 2 x 24 racks of beer totally ice cold with just one 10 lb bag of ice all day. Other coolers would be totally melted and done after only a few hours.

Both the Igloo and Coleman "extreme" series coolers do indeed hold up. The difference? The Igloo coolers are built way better IMHO. The Coleman handles are cheap and flimsy and break first thing. The Igloo seems overbuilt and very sturdy. The only reason that we went with the Coleman vs the Igloo in BRC is that we were traveling and found a good deal online for the 70qt model.. like $30 delivered. Couldn't say no.. and passed it on to some friends after the burn.

[otakup0pe]

We had a Coleman eXtreme 5 day cooler with dry ice in it. Kinda pre-chilled before leaving. Only opened about once a day to cycle blue ice blocks through other coolers. Forty pounds of ice lasted about five days and things remained frozen an additional few days.

[FIGJAM]

The youtube was about "5 day coolers".

Have'nt found a comparison for the "maxcool" or the "Ultra Xtreem", but from looking at them in stores, it looks like the Max Cool seals better and both are about double the price of the ones tested in the video.

[illy dilly]

Both the Igloo and Coleman "extreme" series coolers do indeed hold up. The difference? The Igloo coolers are built way better IMHO. The Coleman handles are cheap and flimsy and break first thing. The Igloo seems overbuilt and very sturdy. The only reason that we went with the Coleman vs the Igloo in BRC is that we were traveling and found a good deal online for the 70qt model.. like $30 delivered. Couldn't say no.. and passed it on to some friends after the burn.

To elaborate on what JS says about the Coleman:
I have the almost identacle Coleman cooler. I've had it for a few years. Its been mountain camping a few times, and this was its 3rd burn.
These coolers get less efficient over years of use. Eventually the seal where the lid meets the base because a little less "air tight". Not very noticeably, but still.

We use our Coleman Extreme 70 quart as a our beer cooler. Which basically means:
We dump about 24-30 cans and bottles of different WARM beers/hard tea/hard cider in it every day.
The cooler gets opened at least once an hour or more.
We also have to add ice every day. By the time we add ice each day, between 2 and 4pm, there is a little bit of ice floating in the ice cold water, but not much.
For $30 to $40 dollars, this cooler works really well.

Our 'frozen food' cooler is some smaller cooler, I believe its also a coleman. Its not as good a cooler, but it only gets opened in the evening preparing dinner. It doesn't really need to be topped off with ice every day- but fuck it, we have ice so add some to the cooler. Its not worth screwing around with raw meat, might as well add ice.

[BBadger]

I think I paid like $60 for that cooler at Costco, and it holds as much as the 3-4 we brought before, so overall I'm pleased with the space it saved and the ice it kept cold. As JS mentioned, it has nice handles, and I like the drink door on top so you don't have to open the whole top to get at something.

[illy dilly]

I found this vid to be very helpful.

It seems coleman xtreem and Engel are the best in the test, but the Engel is 5X the cost.

[/youtube]

The "IRP" that the mention, the light blueish huge one, seems pretty kick ass!
I honestly didn't think that the $40 dollar Coleman cooler (same one I have) would do that good.

But the way they test the cooler use is completely unreal.
Who doesn't open their cooler for 4 days?
I suppose if you were planning a two or three week camping trip, and packed your food for each week separately it might matter. Like pack half your food for in a cooler a week 1 cooler, and had another cooler that doesn't even get opened tell week 2.
Which really is not such a bad idea!
Especially if you found a good shady spot off the ground, to put the week 2 cooler.
Even wrap it in an old comforter or bubble wrap or something.

[Mosquitopilate]

dude I bought the biggest one and I had water 20-24 hours after each ice purchase

[Fiver]

I used several rolls of this to wrap the hell out of my large (forget which size, but the biggest size I could find) coleman MAX coolers. Then I wrapped most of that in silver reflective tape to hold it on. All my coolers lived in my Hexy, but I had surplus ice at the end of the event. They were packed the Thursday prior to gate open. It's not much, but it certainly helped.

[junglesmacks]

dude I bought the biggest one and I had water 20-24 hours after each ice purchase

There's more to this story.. as in.. it sat on the ground and had warm cases of PBR being dumped in it every few hours.

[unjonharley]

I bought an Igloo water cooler for camping.. Then cut two buckets down to fit in the freezer. The ice from them will fit into the cooler.. I have a parts divider that fit in a 5gal. bucket.. so I can have cold drinking water and store the condiments on top..
Almost all the camp food come from dehydrated stock..

[illy dilly]

Almost all the camp food come from dehydrated stock..

Simple and highly effective!

but where do you put the beer?

[unjonharley]

Almost all the camp food come from dehydrated stock..

Simple and highly effective!

but where do you put the beer?

I'm one of those that don't do beer..

[edbrez]

Thank you for bringing up my own thread.. I had forgotten about this..


We bought a Coleman Extreme cooler this year and loaded it up Thursday afternoon for EA. We used it only for food.. no warm drinks going in and out. I kid you not.. we had ice all the way up to burn day.. 10 days later!!! Temple burn and we had cold water. Seriously though.. 10 days keeping ice in this thing. So bad ass. Worth every penny.

We also have an Igloo MaxCold here locally in FL that we use for camping and same thing.. totally bad ass. We took it to Bonnaroo this June and it sat in direct 90 degree TN sun and yet kept ice for the whole 5 days. We have one of the IceCube models for the boat and with 95 degree FL sun and people in and out all day, it will keep 2 x 24 racks of beer totally ice cold with just one 10 lb bag of ice all day. Other coolers would be totally melted and done after only a few hours.

Both the Igloo and Coleman "extreme" series coolers do indeed hold up. The difference? The Igloo coolers are built way better IMHO. The Coleman handles are cheap and flimsy and break first thing. The Igloo seems overbuilt and very sturdy. The only reason that we went with the Coleman vs the Igloo in BRC is that we were traveling and found a good deal online for the 70qt model.. like $30 delivered. Couldn't say no.. and passed it on to some friends after the burn.

This might be one to keep and use to transport gear if flying?
I might consider bringing one from Ireland as luggage, could be cooler option while at BM, and pick another one up as freezer with ice for the week.
Can gift larger one to someone interested at end of week... or donate

[Ugly Dougly]

This might be one to keep and use to transport gear if flying?

Excellent! I like the way you think.

[junglesmacks]

We of course thought the same thing.. but the linear dimensions are just over the allowable limit and it would have been oversized. It was literally cheaper to just give them away.

[trilobyte]

What junglesmacks said. When planning to use coolers as luggage, check with your airline first to get details on what's allowable. As a secondary option, you may want to look into shipping items home post-event via ground freight. Check with your local kinko's or UPS joint to get an idea on rates and size restrictions so you know what you're dealing with (and what it will cost you), then look up locations in Reno where you can ship home from once you leave the playa. In some cases it may turn out to be less expensive to give away or donate once you're done. A week or two before the event a JRS issue will have detailed info on places to donate, recycle and dump, that should prove handy in taking care of all the loose ends.

[edbrez]

We of course thought the same thing.. but the linear dimensions are just over the allowable limit and it would have been oversized. It was literally cheaper to just give them away.

Thanks for the heads up Junglesmacks and Trilobyte
I felt donating would be a viable alternative, I'd be happy with that, least its not moop then.