Buy a Good Ice Cooler
Camping families will need a good ice cooler to chill their milk, butter, eggs, and other perishable foods. But there are dozens of ice coolers that range in size from 3 quarts to over 100 quarts and range in price from about $20 to over $400. Which ones are best for most camping families? In my opinion, camping families should buy a strong, moderately-priced, mid-size cooler (about 50 quarts), that retains ice for at least 3 days, and fits into their car with other camping gear. Each of these important features is further discussed below
Tips for buying a good family camping ice cooler
PRICE: Buy a cooler that meets the basic requirements discussed below - but don’t pay extra for coolers with rarely used features. Mid-size coolers range in price from about $40 to over $400 but these coolers vary in their ability to withstand rugged treatment and in their length of ice retention. Lower priced coolers usually have weak parts that frequently break and do not retain ice for 3 days. Higher priced coolers frequently have rarely needed features and retain ice much longer than needed. After surveying currently available coolers, I have concluded that several good 40 to 60-quart coolers are available for about $150 - which is much less than the high-end coolers that sell for more than $400.
DURABILITY: Buy a cooler that is strong enough to withstand the frequent movements and openings that typically occur on a family camping trip. Most definitely, your cooler should have a strong body, but also, it should have strong hinges, strong handles, and strong latches.
CAPACITY: Buy a cooler that is large enough to hold enough perishable food to feed your family for several days plus 20 pounds of ice. We try to pack a gallon of milk, a gallon of juice, 5 packs of meat & cheese, 6 eggs, condiments, and about 10 caned beverages. We pack these items plus ice in a 50-quart cooler - but families traveling in smaller cars may have to settle for a smaller 40 to 50 quart cooler. Families who have cargo trailers could buy an additional cooler to hold more food and drinks.
ICE RETENTION: Buy a cooler that retains 20 pounds of ice for at least 3 days in 90 degree temperatures. The cooler should retain ice at least 3 days because most family camping trips are short weekend trips. You should be able to pack your cooler Thursday night and still have ice after returning home Sunday afternoon. The cooler should also retain ice in 90 degree temperatures because daytime highs frequently reach 90 degrees in the summer - especially if the cooler stays in a hot car. On those few longer camping trips, it is much easier to pay $5 for an extra bag of ice rather than $400 for a higher-quality cooler that you rarely need. Low-priced coolers typically will not retain ice 3 days and higher priced coolers may retain ice for 5 or more days - but you will usually throw large amounts away after every camping trip.
EXTERIOR SIZE: Buy a cooler that easily fits in your car or truck with your other camping gear. The reason for listing this feature is because 50-quart coolers vary considerably in their exterior dimensions - and larger coolers will dramatically reduce the space for packing other gear. A good 50 quart cooler should measure about 25 inches wide, about 15 inches high, and about 15 inches front to back. These dimensions are primarily determined by the cooler’s capacity - but other factors can also add to a cooler’s size. For example, wheels and a handle are unnecessary - if you keep your cooler in your car at all times - and require extra packing space Furthermore, high performance roto-mounded coolers, with thicker walls, will require much more packing space than standard coolers - and the 2 to 3 extra days of ice retention will rarely be needed since most family camping trips are no longer than 3 days.
DRY FOOD STORAGE: Devise a method for keeping your food out of melting ice water. In the past, good ice coolers included a wire dry foods basket that hung above the melting ice. But today, many good coolers no longer include this dry foods basket. At the very least, a good cooler should have an inside ledge near the top, so that you can find an after-market basket or make a storage shelf. Other ideas for keeping food dry in a cooler can be found on YouTube.
DRAINAGE: Be sure your cooler has a drain hole on one end for draining melted ice water during the trip without having to remove the cooler from your car and without having to remove food from the cooler.
Beware of YouTube ice cooler reviews
Many YouTube ice cooler reviews are poorly designed comparisons that frequently lead to faulty conclusions. Typically, they compare coolers of different sizes and fill them with different amounts of ice. In other words, a small cooler with only 5 pounds of ice may be compared with a large cooler with 20 to 25 pounds of ice. Furthermore, these studies typically include cans (or bottles) of soda, water, or beer - rather than typical camping foods that can be spoiled by melting ice water e.g., butter, cheese, sour cream, eggs, milk, & meat. And the studies usually ignore the primary problem of ice coolers - perishable items being spoiled by water.
A good cooler review should compare coolers with the same approximate capacity, the same amount of ice, and the same amount of perishable items. These comparisons should measure the length of ice retention on summer days that reach 90 degrees AND ability to keep perishable foods dry.
Igloo BMX 52 packed for a camping trip
Igloo BMX 52 packed for a camping trip
Best Economical Family Camping Coolers
Here are some good family camping ice cooler choices. Prices are quoted for March 2024.
Rtic Ultra Light 52 quarts, 27” wide, 17” front to back, 17” high, 6 days, $210.
Coleman Steel Belted 54 Quart, 24” wide, 16” front to back, 16” high, 4 days, $200.
Lifetime 55 Quart, 27” wide, 18” front to back, 17” high, 7 days, $185.
Igloo BMX 52 Quart, 27” wide, 17” front to back, 17” high, 5 days, $153.
Igloo Marine Ultra 54 Quart, 25”wide, 15” front to back, 15” high, 4 days, $70.
Coleman 316 Series 52 Quart, 26” wide, 15” front to back, 17” high, 3 days, $50.