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When was the last time you went camping and didn't bring a cooler? My
guess would be never. Ice chests are definitely
an essential camping supply
needed to ensure that your food remains edible and your drinks stay cold. Coolers
come in many shapes and sizes with different ratings that determine how
long they will keep your contents cold.
Coolers not only serve a great purpose for camping situations, but they
also are very handy to have around the house. Ice chests can save refrigerator
space when guests come over for an extended poker tournament or when the
family comes over for holiday dinner.
Ice chests are available from a few quarts in size for personal use
up to over one hundred quarts, big enough to act as a second refrigerator.
What is the right size for you? Of course it is going to depend on
what you intend to use your cooler for. Most likely one cooler will not
do the job given the many different occasions in which an ice chest can be
used. Two or three coolers would probably be optimal. One being a small
personal cooler that can be used for short excursions. The others should be
a large forty to sixty quart cooler. This larger size ice chest will suit
car camping trips as well as create extra space when quests come over.
Something to ponder when choosing a new cooler would be how long it
will keep your contents cold. Usually the manufacturer will be proud enough
to display how long their cooler will keep contents cold at
ninety degrees, but
if there is no rating on the cooler, a good
rule of thumb is to check out the thickness of the walls and lid. In most
cases the thicker the walls, the better insulated it is thus keeping your
contents colder longer. A trade off for getting these well insulated
thick walled coolers is of course the thicker the wall, the larger
the cooler. So, if you do not think you will need to keep the contents
cold for a long time, then a thinner walled ice chest will provide the best
use of space and are usually less expensive.
Take the time to check out some of the links on this
page to get
more information about ice chests and coolers.
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