Whether you are hiking, biking, fishing, camping, picnicking or just plain beachin’ this summer, you want your waters, energy drinks, sandwiches, snacks, big catches, and of course BEER to stay cold all day long. Follow these eight tips to prepare, pack and keep your cooler contents cold this summer. 

1. Use a good quality, well-insulated cooler. If you skip this step, the rest won’t matter. Everything depends on the cooler that you are using and the quality insulation it provides. Without this, it doesn’t matter how much ice, ice packs, or even dry ice you have, in the heat of the summer, your stuff could be hot in a few hours.

 

2. Pre-chill/cool the cooler before you use it. Most people store their coolers outside or in the garage between uses. Bring your cooler indoors or to a cool area the night before you need to use it. This will drastically reduce the amount of ice/ice packs/phase change material (PCM) required for the cooler, especially in warmer areas.

 

Pro tip: If you are in a pinch, fill the cooler with water from the hose for 30 minutes to an hour. The water will absorb some of the heat the cooler is holding.

 

3. Pre-chill your payload to reduce the amount of ice needed. It can take over a pound of ice to cool water bottles or soda from room temperature. If your contents are already frozen, it will last longer. Use frozen foods like steaks, frozen vegetables, and pre-chilled drinks. 

 

4. Avoid air gaps. Although not possible to avoid all air gaps, extra air space will accelerate the melting of your ice/ice pack since energy is being used to chill the air. Use towels or even newspaper to fill the void in your cooler.

 

5. Keep your cooler in the shade. Coolers will absorb less heat when in the shade and increase the life of your source of refrigeration and cooler contents. 

 

Pro tip: If you are in an area with little to no shade, throw a light-colored towel or blanket over the cooler.

 

6. Only open the cooler when you need to. Cool air is replaced by warm air, which speeds up the melting of your ice/ice pack. Just like a home refrigerator, the more you open the cooler, the more energy you are draining from your source of refrigeration to re-chill that warm air that has entered the cooler. 

 

Pro tip: Organize your contents to make it easy and fast to get the things you need and keep your contents cold.

 

7. Place your ice/ice pack on top of the payload. Just like hot air rises, cold air sinks. However, this tip can make it difficult to follow tip 6, and it can become annoying having to move this each time you have to get something out of your cooler. In that case, we recommend putting a PCM on the side of the cooler if possible and filling the air space at the top of the cooler with a towel to reduce the amount of warm air you need to re-chill when you are done.

 

8. Make sure you have enough ice. How many ice packs you should use in your cooler depends on how long you want to keep your ice or other items cold. Most people find the ideal ice/ice pack to contents ratio is 2:1, but for most day trips 1:1 will be sufficient for just keeping your drinks cool

Now, get out there and seize the day with the coldest and freshest cooler! To ensure even colder and longer refrigeration in your coolers, check out the Ice Buddy. Ice Buddy is a long-lasting freezer pack made of phase change materials, capable of storing and releasing large amounts of energy, allowing it to maintain 10 degrees F for 24 hours in an insulated container.