Cooler bag that stays cold 6-8 hours

[niccig]

We have a drive of 6-8 hours and I would like to have a cooler bag with snacks and some food for next day. Things like hummus, eggs, cheese, ham, cream cheese - think bagel sandwiches, pancakes for breakfast. No milk as I’ll buy that at our location. Our hard sided cooler is too big (60 quart igloo cube). I have trader Joe’s cooler bags and large size ice packs. Maybe I should get a better cooler bag to make sure things stay cool. Any suggestions or would the trader Joe’s bag be good enough? Or a smaller hard sided cooler? I will have some frozen food (frozen breakfast burritos) as additional ice packs


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[AnnieW625]

My parents just use a small hard sided Igloo cooler. It holds probably 12 cans. So enough for some ice packs, drinks, and food.


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[lisa928]

We have a Coho cooloer from Costco and I am amazed how long it keeps things cold. Ice lasts 24+ hours for us even in warm/hot conditions. I bought it at Costco in the warehouse for cheaper than the online price.

https://www.costco.com/coho-24-can-s...100765813.html

[niccig]

My parents just use a small hard sided Igloo cooler. It holds probably 12 cans. So enough for some ice packs, drinks, and food.


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We have a smaller igloo cooler. I did a practice run and can put large ice bricks and food need to keep cold. I have a smaller cooler bag we can use for the drinks/snacks for the drive. And it’ll be easier to fit 2 smaller item than our one big cooler. I’ll need to go to the store, but want to keep that to a minimum too. Our last road trip was just us and it was nice to have breakfast things ready so we got out of the condo early.


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[georgiegirl]

A lot has to do with the type and amount of ice packs. DS1 has meds that need to be kept refrigerated (under 42 degrees), and we purchased some high quality ice packs and stuck a bunch of them in a soft sided cooler and the meds were still cold 12 hours later (international travel.)


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[trentsmom]

I've been using the Arctic Zone insulated lunch bags from Costco as my cooler. I like being able to keep the car snacks separate from the other food so that most things can stay pretty cold and the fact that I can change the size by zipping it up. Plus it's easier to find space to stash something that small. I must have 5 or 6 of them now!

[doberbrat]

a hard sided cooler always does better for us than soft. IF you must use a soft sided bag type cooler, put the whole bag in the freezer. Also, if you get those cheap thin hot/cold bags - often in the frozen grocery isle and put the food in that with the ice packs and put the whole thing in the soft cooler, (so it is doubled) it works better. If there is any food you can freeze to help keep the other food cold, that also works. Ham is usually ok after freezing for instance. Packing the cooler full also helps. Freeze water bottles to fill any empty space. Finally, I pack any food we need during the trip separately from food needed at our destination. Opening and closing the cooler lets hot air in and will compromise the contents.

[niccig]

a hard sided cooler always does better for us than soft. IF you must use a soft sided bag type cooler, put the whole bag in the freezer. Also, if you get those cheap thin hot/cold bags - often in the frozen grocery isle and put the food in that with the ice packs and put the whole thing in the soft cooler, (so it is doubled) it works better. If there is any food you can freeze to help keep the other food cold, that also works. Ham is usually ok after freezing for instance. Packing the cooler full also helps. Freeze water bottles to fill any empty space. Finally, I pack any food we need during the trip separately from food needed at our destination. Opening and closing the cooler lets hot air in and will compromise the contents.

Great suggestions. I’ll use our smaller hard sided cooler for the food at the destination and a soft sided cooler bag for the drive. I will freeze what I can. I do need to get milk when we arrive so I can pick up a few other items at the grocery store. I like to cut down on grocery trips so I can enjoy the vacation too


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[Jeanne]

Polar Bear coolers are bomb! I have several and we travel with them.
https://polarbearcoolers.com/

[NCGrandma]

A lot has to do with the type and amount of ice packs. DS1 has meds that need to be kept refrigerated (under 42 degrees), and we purchased some high quality ice packs and stuck a bunch of them in a soft sided cooler and the meds were still cold 12 hours later (international travel.)


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Just curious — where do you get high quality ice packs? My family has the same challenge when traveling (meds that need to be kept refrigerated) and the only ice packs I’ve seen are those blue ones at CVS/grocery stores. Ok but definitely not great.


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