Best cooler under $100

[Ballenxj]

Well DANG! I went back to Walmart set on buying the Coleman Extreme 54 QT, chest, but they were sold out? Nary a one on the shelf. I was beating myself up pretty good for that because I had one in hand, then thought, no, I'll get it later. Seriously bummed, I continued looking on the shelves for something similar in the hopes that all was not lost, then I saw them. No, not the one I was originally looking for, but the Coleman Marine Coastal Extreme, the one with the metal hinges, 70 QT, for basically the same money?!?! I picked one up and headed for the register!

Update if anyone cares, the chest lived up to its advertisement. It still had ice in it today, a full 5 days later. That was the cubed ice. Today I found block ice at Albertsons, and put another 20 lbs in.

 

[XFILE36]

Update if anyone cares, the chest lived up to its advertisement. It still had ice in it today, a full 5 days later. That was the cubed ice. Today I found block ice at Albertsons, and put another 20 lbs in.

That must be humongous!  What are the dimensions?

 

[Ballenxj]

That must be humongous!  What are the dimensions?

Roughly 29 inches wide, 15 inches front to back, & 18 inches tall.
 I figure when I finally get a 12v freezer, I can freeze gallon jugs of water along with frozen goods, and keep rotating them.

 

[Cammalu]

Roughly 29 inches wide, 15 inches front to back, & 18 inches tall.
 I figure when I finally get a 12v freezer, I can freeze gallon jugs of water along with frozen goods, and keep rotating them.

What's wrong with the fridge in your camper?

 

[Ballenxj]

What's wrong with the fridge in your camper?

Nothing that a new one wont fix?

 

[John61CT]

Roughly 29 inches wide, 15 inches front to back, & 18 inches tall.
 I figure when I finally get a 12v freezer, I can freeze gallon jugs of water along with frozen goods, and keep rotating them.

Gallon jugs are fine, get cold water to drink when they melt, but IMO a slight step up:

Google "polar tubes", just glue-capped 2" PVC, cut to the right length and filled 85% full with seawater.

Plan to work out clips to hang them from a cooler lid, top of the space.

Rotate between the cooler and a freezer whenever generating excess solar power, or long trips off the Alt, "free energy" storage.

Will likely stay cold 6-8 days in yours, freeze faster, no leaks, more space efficient. . .

 

[Ballenxj]

Google "polar tubes", just glue-capped 2" PVC, cut to the right length and filled 85% full with seawater.

I did, thank you. Then I had to find out why salt makes ice colder? The answer was because it lowers the temperature that water freezes at. That also explains why salt melts normal water made ice. For whatever reason, they say salted water works, but sea water works even better.
During my search I also came across one person that says to use normal clean water so you always have it for emergency use.
After looking at the various possibilities, I would go with the sea water for efficiency of the intended purpose.
As long as I can learn something new, I'm all for it.

 

[John61CT]

Yes I would use PVC-foolproof glue, likely an epoxy, to permanently seal the tubes.

I don't think anything's magic about seawater if one's far inland, just easy compared to dissolving **lots** of salt.

 

[mothercoder]

I have gone into a grocery store (bigger the better), taken a gallon of
H20, put in freezer section of store, left and did other stuff, come back
to shop and have my frozen ice!  Yes...I open and drink a little before,
add salt (bring a little pack with me)...no biggie...I hide it well behind the
frozen chicken or...Never an issue.  Can also do this with any juice...
skip the salt lol and I have ice and after drink!

This is a simply awesome idea!!  I have bunches of the freezer packs and kept thinking it would be great to be able to have a way to freeze them, thereby foregoing the whole problem of melting ice.  Your solution is perfect.  I'm in awe of how resourceful folks are.

 

[Kathleen]

I have gone into a grocery store (bigger the better), taken a gallon of
H20, put in freezer section of store, left and did other stuff, come back
to shop and have my frozen ice!  Yes...I open and drink a little before,

Ingenious way to get large chunk of ice! My cooler is small so mine might to have to be a smaller size, quicker freeze bottle!