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Hi All.

I have purchased an Igloo Maxcold 50 ( i understand they are the best apparantly) ... What i didnt realise was how big it is

We are due to leave in August for 3 weeks in France & we are not having EHU.

So .... how is the best way to keep things cold ??

Ice Packs ?? ........ Can you rotate them when abroad ??

Keep purchasing bags of ice ??

Any other suggestions ??

My other concern is the Igloo MaxCold 50 is really, a lot bigger than i need ..... I envisage we would only use about half .... so is it better to fill up the spaces with something to increase thermal qulaities or would it be as effecient if left ??

Any advice would be appreciated ..... please

use bottles of water and freeze them, then as they defrost they make nice chilled drinks too! 2 ltr size work best.

freeze everything you dont need immediately.ie milk, bacon, suasages etc.  check out whether the site you are going to will re freeze blocks for you.

Hi. You need to keep your coolbox as full as possible, so it might be a good idea to keep it stuffed up with newspaper or bubble wrap if you run low on food items.

We camp in the UK and manage by rotating our icebricks between the coolbox and the campsite freezer. When we go for a long trip I take loads of icebricks (three days' worth) so that I can leave each batch in the freezer for 48 hours to get really frozen between useages.  You would have to check with the site you're going to as it varies from place to place, even in this country whether you use your own or have to hire frozen ones on a daily basis from the campsite shop.

One tip to keep your coolbox cold is is to keep putting a soaking wet tea towel across the top of it as the evaporation keeps the temperature down.  Also, if there is anywhere on your pitch where you can safely keep your box in the shade or overnight eg if there are bushes at the back of you, it will stay a lot colder than if you keep it inside the tent. MT

Bubble wrap makes good sense  

As for ice blocks .... i have a load here that i could use ... any ideas what the campsite would charge (in France) to rotate ?? ... or is it as economical to just buy bags of ice on a daily basis ??

Quote: Originally posted by freerange on 09/7/2006

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We rotate icepacks, so long as you get into a routine & don't forget it works well.
don';t forget to label your icepacks

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More excellent advice ... didnt think about labelling them

Just one problem, we went to L'escale in Grand Bornard a fortnight ago and they won't refreeze your blocks for you "It is not hygienic, EC Rules" don't ya know.  Major problem for us with a coolbox and no fridge and wanting to take picnics out because she also said we could buy their bottles of frozen water for 1 euro a time but not til 5pm each evening at the restaurant.  So we ended up shopping each day for what we wanted and putting it in our cooler in the tent rather than our cool bag.

so, be aware that some sites seem to be operating this rule of not allowing you to use your own.  Funnily enough, the municipal site in Troyes costing half the price per night has a free freezer running outside reception where you just plonk as many ice blocks as you like........................... funny old EC rule that seems to only apply to the alpine resorts (not)!

Ali

I quite like these "ice mats" that have been mentioned but cant seem to see where to buy ??

Found the large freezer mats from Outdoorgear UK Ltd so have ordered 4 .... will also take the freezer blocks as back up

Thanks for the info people.

NB : Any other suggestions still welcom on how to maintain the cold