Quick Tip about Camping with a Cooler - Updated

Tip of the Day - Staying Cool

I wanted to pass on a tip I have about using a cooler when you're camping or for any other reason...

When I stayed at the Mono Lake Overlook in September with a fellow boondocker, Gene, he told me that he makes his own ice for his cooler. That didn't seem that novel but at the same time, I hadn't thought of doing it and I use a cooler quite often. I've always bought blocks of ice from the gas station as I prepare to head out.

Another thing I hadn't realized, and can only take Gene's word for it, is that the water that is often used to make the blocks of ice that you buy commercially is aerated which in turn means that it doesn't last as long. Gene said his blocks will often last as long as his weekend camping trips.

I can confirm a couple of things:

• Blocks of ice last longer and work better in a cooler than ice cubes
• Blocks of ice rarely last more than a couple of days in Arizona

Walgreen's Nice! Distilled Water

It wasn't until after my wife and I visited the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in October that I remembered Gene's tip and decided to freeze some ice of my own. Gene said he had purchased some Tupperware type containers to freeze his ice in that had a nice taper which allowed him to slip them out of the container before using them.

I didn't have any similar containers laying around the house but I did have a number of empty 1-gallon water jugs that I'd purchased distilled water in. I filled a few of them up and stuck them in the freezer - without replacing the lid (not that it probably matters).

When I went to visit Bryce Canyon National Park I grabbed one and stuck it in my cooler. What I found out was that this worked out great.

First, as the ice melts it stays in the container. This means that it doesn't get the rest of the contents of the cooler wet. I put a lot of the things in my cooler inside a water-tight container so that they don't get wet from the melting ice. That wasn't a factor due to having the melting ice trapped inside the water jug.

Second, as I ended up being delayed in Utah due to a transmission problem, I moved my cooler contents including the water jug into the room refrigerator. I wasn't expecting it, but the refrigerator must have been cold because the water inside the jug froze again. The second benefit of using this type of container for ice is that it is possible to recycle the water multiple times unlike the purchased ice which melts and then typically gets emptied out on the ground (I usually dump it on my flower beds when I return home).

I'm sold on this! I keep 2 or 3 of these in my freezer. They're easy to grab because of the handle. The melting water doesn't get all over the cooler contents. I can recycle the water instead of wasting it. I hope you find this useful too!

Update, 12/8/2016

Arrowhead Distilled Water Bottle

I use a lot of distilled water for personal issues. I recently picked up a gallon of Arrowhead distilled water. I like their bottle better than the type pictured above - the picture at right probably doesn't show it, but it's got a smaller horizontal size and is a bit taller than the bottle above.

That means this bottle will take up less room in a cooler, allowing me to pack in more jerky and fruit!

And the plastic in the Arrowhead bottle is thicker which means it should last longer, not dent, etc. I think I'll get a few of these and keep them!