View Full Version : Keeping it cold in the heat.
What is a good way to keep some food, beer and other drinks cold for a few hours in the pack? I currently use a small soft lunch cooler thing that can hold a six pack and a few hot dogs.
Any other ideas?
BigFoot2002
05-31-2010, 17:26
Wrap them in your sleeping bag
pot cozy i made a cooler for trail days a couple years ago kept cold all weekend 1 bag of ice just freeze the dogs before you go it will act like ice
BigFoot2002
05-31-2010, 17:32
Good idea. Freeze the dogs and wrap them in your sleeping bag with the drinks.
The frozen hot dogs idea is great! I just put em in the freezer for tomorrow.
My sleeping bag is on the bottom of my pack (the pack doesn't have a zipper on the bottom) and everything else is packed accept for the beer that I pick up on the way. I leave room inside the pack at the very top for the little cooler. Good idea with the sleeping bag Bigfoot2002, but it won't work for me with these quick trips.
BigFoot2002
05-31-2010, 17:59
I usually pack my pack the same way, except for when I am carrying cold beverages or ice cream out of town. I have a nice down bag though; if you need a compression stuff sack for your bag it won't work.
Blissful
05-31-2010, 20:15
No way would I put meat in my sleeping bag. Kind of want to sleep without four footed critters sniffing. Besides, hot dogs have so much nitrates they should be fine for a day or two without spoilage.
When I was a kid, my mom sometimes added Coke to my school lunch. She wrapped the can in a paper towel, and then wrapped it again in aluminum foil (shiny side in).
That kept the soda cold until lunch time.
Uncle Cranky
05-31-2010, 22:47
Heard of a guy who would leave town with his six of brews stacked end to end then wrapped like a jelly roll in his blue ground mat then stuff the ends with clothing for insulation and strap the rig horizontal on the top of the pack. You might also find enough space left for some frozen dogs if you try this trick yourself. Hey, if there isn't enough room for the dogs you could always make room by drinking one of the brews!
Wrap a few cold cans of your favorite beverage in your closed cell foam pad (if you strap it to the outside of your pack). Stack them and stuff socks or other clothing in each end. Round ice cream containers like Edy's can be handled the same way.
For daytrips a small frozen bottle of water will keep stuff cold, and you can drink the water as it thaws after you have had your lunch. On a long trip you can chill stuff in cold streams, but it is more practical to just drink cold water from such streams and carry dry food stuff, which doesn't need to be kept cold.
This is strictly off the top of my head; I've never tried it, and YMMV. If you want to keep something cold more than one day, find where you can get dry ice, perhaps an ice cream place. Don't handle it barehanded, or you'll be sorry.
K2
Drink it hot, we did in Nam and it still tasting good. All you have to do is get used to it. Watch out when you open hot beer tho,,
Daydream Believer
08-05-2010, 09:42
They make those little soft insulated coolers big enough for a cold pack and a couple of drinks. On day hikes I've carried lunch like sandwiches and pasta salad in it with a bit of ice. It keeps your other stuff dry and not smelling like food and when you are done using it, it's soft so it stuffs easily.
I'd probably not want to backpack anyways with the cooler but for shorter hikes, it would work nicely.
No way would I put meat in my sleeping bag. Kind of want to sleep without four footed critters sniffing.
Great point, I wouldn't do this unless it was in a odor-proof bag that I trusted would work.
shelterbuilder
08-05-2010, 21:16
When I was a kid, my mom sometimes added Coke to my school lunch. She wrapped the can in a paper towel, and then wrapped it again in aluminum foil (shiny side in).
That kept the soda cold until lunch time.
OMG! I thought that "us coal-crackers" were the only ones who used this trick! (My Mom wrapped the cans with paper-foil-paper-foil, and the darn things would stay cold for hours.)
(I'm originally from NE Pa.)
Wise Old Owl
08-05-2010, 21:22
No way would I put meat in my sleeping bag. Kind of want to sleep without four footed critters sniffing. Besides, hot dogs have so much nitrates they should be fine for a day or two without spoilage.
Dried out (remove visable packing water & about four hours) the dogs last better than 7days before molding.
Mountain Stream is the old way or finding a spring at the bottom of a wooded cliff.
Wise Old Owl
08-05-2010, 22:31
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:XG9X9Dxpqr6cTM:http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/HomeDepotCanada/images/catalog/21478.SPW06025_4.jpg (http://www.homedepot.ca/wcsstore/HomeDepotCanada/images/catalog/21478.SPW06025_4.jpg)
Ok, no mountain streams ? chill in the freezer a aluminum sixpack for 1 hour.
while you wait make a Reflectix retangular sack around a warm six. Make carefull cuts and seal with duct tape have a sport instant ice pack on top for the added room. In short make a easy open lid that can be reclosed. Pull the warm 6 out and replace with the super cold six. seal tight with rubber bands. Before making camp break the ice pack and reseal