Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Since a guy needs to have his ice chest measurements handy before beginning his galley, I have a couple million questions. I see most people are using horizontal ice chests, as opposed to vertical, so I assume that is the best way to go.

1. How large do you typically want for two people, 3-4 days use? The ones I see here for sale in Mexico are typically between 40-70 quarts. (I am not including the smaller ones, 12-25 quarts, which I assume won't last food-wise for a Thursday through Sunday weekend.)

2. I have seen a couple of coolers marked "Five-day cooler" at the local Sam's and Costco. (The Igloo MaxCold 50 and the Coleman 5-day Cooler, 70 quarts) Will the ice REALLY last five days?

3. What about the electric ones, like the 40-qt. Power Chill? Are they worth the savings in purchasing ice? (It costs about $90 U.S. here, as opposed to about $45 U.S. for either of the other two 5-day versions.) Are they really cold enough?

Here is a humorous true story: Kai --Alias Mextear-- says they forgot to set the switch on their electric one to COOL instead of HEAT, (don't remember the brand), and cooked their entire meat supply on the way home from the grocery store!

xe1ufo wrote:Here is a humorous true story: Kai --Alias Mextear-- says they forgot to set the switch on their electric one to COOL instead of HEAT, (don't remember the brand), and cooked their entire meat supply on the way home from the grocery store!

I never thought of buying a mobile crock pot.

I have had good results with the Igloo 5 day chest. 46 qt I think. Worked well till last trip. The latch is worn and it did not stay sealed well and I had to add Ice. Will order another latch $5.00. Have filled Thursday night and still had ice when I got home on Monday afternoon. I never sit it in the sun which helps.

I have an old vintage 50's era metal ice chest that I plan to incorporate into my galley for dry goods only, I'll keep the 5 day modern chest in the tow vehicle. The galley on a 4'x8" tear just isn't that big.

This last weekend, we went for a trip and brought two of our coolers, although the teardrop stayed home. One was a five day cooler, which we were using to hold drinks, the other a cheaper Igloo "ice cube," which held food. Both were well stocked with large block of ice and some cubed ice on top.

The ice in the five day cooler was still there three days later. The original ice in the other cooler was mostly gone. I am sold on the way the five day coolers work.

We got a 12 volt cooler/heater with the tear. Never used it. It seemed clear that it would use up too much juice and not keep things very cold

Kevin A wrote:I have an old vintage 50's era metal ice chest that I plan to incorporate into my galley for dry goods only, I'll keep the 5 day modern chest in the tow vehicle. The galley on a 4'x8" tear just isn't that big.

I have found that some "radiant barrier" (bubble pack sandwiched between layers of foil)on top of the food/drink really extends the ice-life in these older Coleman Metal Coolers (of which I have about 2 of every size). Available @ Lowe's/H.D. in small quantities.


kurt

Hey Kurt:

Wouldn't this stuff be great to use in the roof, floor and walls of a Teardrop as insulation material?

Kurt, do you mean you just lay a piece on top of the cooler? I know that would work because I lay a white towel over the top of mine and it helps, but probably not as much. It surprises me at how many coolers are made with dark colored plastic that absorbs more heat from the sun.

With a little ingenuity it seems like someone could fashion a loose fitting cover for the cooler out of that stuff if you could figure out a way to make seams to connect the edges. If it was sturdy enough you could fold it up and store it easily when it isn't needed.

I use a similar product called Low-E to insulate floorboards and firewalls on hotrods. It's a foil faced polyethylene foam instead of bubblewrap. Its a lot more durable and a very good insulator. It comes in different thicknesses too. I get it somewhere else but here's a site that sells it. http://lowedistributor.com/

I used a 1" layer of rigid foam and a layer of the Astrofoil for insulating my Teardrop. I haven''t had it in the hot sun yet to tell if it works well. It is a little pricey but it should be worth it. I bought mine at HD in the insulation section. It comes in rolls and it was on the endcap of a row of shelves. Just look around, the rolls don't take up much space so it is easy to miss.

purplepickup wrote:Kurt, do you mean you just lay a piece on top of the cooler? I know that would work because I lay a white towel over the top of mine and it helps, but probably not as much.

I put the R.B. INSIDE the cooler - as I'm a rafter, I first learned of a derivitive of this using the old "blue foam"... closed cell, about 3/8" thick - we also put wet (as there is, hopefully, an abundance of water) towels on the cooler. 21 days down the Colorado & I've still had some slivers of ice at the end. As was suggested above, I agree that fabricating a "cover" with this R.B. material (and the available R.B. tape, or duct tape), whereby it covers all the sides & top might be a pretty workable solution for travel, but, yeah, might be a bit of an imposition when you're workin' on getting another cool, adult beverage..
A piece (I usually double mine) on the inside is "the ticket" when the cooler is being used.
A R.B. cover might look pretty cool, as well - especially on the tongue. (note: fasten down the R.B. cover prior to driving)

Here in Az. the 5/6 day "Extreme" coolers are very popular -
But for TD'ing my only gripes are that they look far from vintage and the usable space is quite reduced as a result of the thick insulation.

I've made covers for my water bottles that I use for hiking out of that silver bubble insulation, and it seems to work pretty good. Start out with a bottle full of ice cubes, add water, and slip the bottle in the foil sleeve (made of a double roll of insulation with a piece cut out for the bottom, all duct taped together), and my water stays cold all day. Without the insulation, my ice seems to melt in a couple of hours or less.

I thought about using it to insulate my tear, but the rigid foam with the foil on the outside was a lot cheaper, and easier to work with.

Try here: http://www.insulation4less.com/highr_FBF.asp I've planned from the beginning to stack up 3/4" of this to insulate my tear. I used it in a van conversion years ago and it has worked extremely well.

My vote goes to the 3-5 day Igloo and Coleman coolers. Or if you like a bit of retro look, the Coleman Steel cooler.

Been there, done that with the electric cooler... waste of energy, space and I don't like warm beer.

I subsribe to K.I.S.S... thus we now keep a large cooler in the back of the Jeep for food, smaller one for 'refreshments'. Easy to load from the house too, and bring in for 'de-camping' cleanup.

The space in the gallery that was for a cooler is now used for drawers that hold all our pots, pans, dishes etc etc.

My two Canuck cents anyways...

Try Dry Ice. I used 7lbs for a 3 day trip and when I got home there was only a small peice left. You need to keep it in an air tight bag to make it last the longest. Also put a peice of cardboard between iye ice and your supplies. Works great and your food doesn't get all wet.

While I am greatful for the many comments on this subject, nobody has touched the topic of size. Except for Alan, mentioning a 46-quart size. (For food for how many people, Alan?)

1. How large do you typically want for two people, 3-4 days use? The ones I see here for sale in Mexico are typically between 40-70 quarts. (I am not including the smaller ones, 12-25 quarts, which I assume won't last food-wise for a Thursday through Sunday weekend.)

Thanks in advance!