S/O Best cooler ice packs

[BabbyO]

The soft sided cooler post made me think of this (that and the fact that the sitter forgot to send our ice packs home yesterday).

Anyway, I have a SMALL soft sided cooler that we send to the sitters house with DS' lunch items for the week. We also use it for outings to the zoo, etc because DS has food allergies and we travel everywhere with food for him.

Anyway, I prefer the soft cooler ice packs because the hard ones take up too much room. However, the soft ice packs seem to break and get punctured pretty easily.

Anyone have recommendations for their favorite ice pack? We're looking for something fairly small, reusable, and durable from punctures.

TIA!

[egoldber]

After dealing with breaking ice packs (we use 6 a day, 2 each in 3 lunch bags) DH ordered these:

http://www.uline.com/BL_2158/Cold-Packs

They are professional grade ice packs used by commercial food manufacturers for shipping. I :heartbeat: them. We have the S-7361 size.

ETA: Two of these fit side by side in a standard LLBean lunch bag.

[BabbyO]

After dealing with breaking ice packs (we use 6 a day, 2 each in 3 lunch bags) DH ordered these:

http://www.uline.com/BL_2158/Cold-Packs

They are professional grade ice packs used by commercial food manufacturers for shipping. I :heartbeat: them. We have the S-7361 size.

ETA: Two of these fit side by side in a standard LLBean lunch bag.

Very nice! Did you buy a whole case of them? I'm not seeing an option to purchase single packs. Or did you get them somewhere else?

[egoldber]

We did buy a case. :rotflmao: But it was only $20 + shipping. And they have come in oddly handy for all sorts of things. Beach trips, car trips, we get a weekly dairy delivery, etc.

[WatchingThemGrow]

We like the Rubbermaid Fun Shapes (http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?CatName=Coolers&SubcatId=BlueIce&Prod_ID=RP091800) but we don't use them as hardcore as either of you do. We slap a Mabel's Label on them and the DC are very responsible to make sure they make it back into the freezer after they use their lunchboxes. We also use them for "owies" around the house. DS1 loooooves his ice frog.

[BabbyO]

We did buy a case. :rotflmao: But it was only $20 + shipping. And they have come in oddly handy for all sorts of things. Beach trips, car trips, we get a weekly dairy delivery, etc.

Heehe...DH may not like that plan...but maybe I'll just have to order without his approval! :wink2: After all...I'm the one that deals with packing food!

[egoldber]

Honestly, the box is not that big. We just store the extras in the basement and pull them out as needed.

[mackmama]

We use these and love them. Each one is very thin and compact and no punctures since hard-sided.

http://www.amazon.com/Fit-Fresh-Cool-Coolers-Packs/dp/B003FO2B5U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309980288&sr=8-1

[BabbyO]

Honestly, the box is not that big. We just store the extras in the basement and pull them out as needed.

It seems totally reasonable to me and since we seem to lose several on a regular basis (I think they get misplaced at the sitters occassionally) I'll probably get a case. Besides in the next year, I'll be taking them to work to keep pumped milk cold...and we'll have 2 bags (or one larger one) going to the sitters for 2 kids...

[new_mommy25]

I have the long flat blocks that I stick in the top mesh part of the lunch box. I also have the rectangular blue ice that I will stick directly next to something if I want to keep it really cold. http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?CatName=Coolers&SubcatId=BlueIce&Prod_ID=RP091215 I use the Fit n Fresh containers that have a space for an ice pack in top and I always use that with fruit, sandwiches and other keep cold items, in addition to the main ice packs. I have several different sizes: http://www.shopfitandfresh.com/products/kids