Car Camping Gear List

[Lifemagician]

That is what I used on my first couple of trips. If there was no freezer, or the freezer was too tiny, I would ask at reception if they could put them in a freezer for me. Never been knocked back. I have even done this at a truckstop.

Except at the campground in Whitehorse, when I went to get them the next morning, I was told that someone must have thrown them out. lol

Lifey

[glc]

This is where the old-fashioned method of research may pay off - dig out the Yellow Pages and look up "Ice". I just did, and our local ice distributor is listed. Call them and ask if they have block ice and if they sell to the public.

[DonnaR57]

Helpful at home,but not as easy when on the road.

We are at least going to start with the block, and then take it from there.


Thanks,
Donna

[Foy]

Donna,

I just use bag ice for daily use around here (NC) but when I go out west and stay in an "off the grid" cabin for a week at a time, we haul in 150-175 quart capacity marine coolers for the week's vittles and we ice them down with block ice, which we find pretty much anywhere we look for ice in Montana, Wyoming, and Utah. Not as likely to find blocks at small general stores/convenience stores, but grocery stores, Wal-Mart, tackle shops, and sporting goods stores generally all have blocks.

Foy

[glc]

Helpful at home,but not as easy when on the road.

It's not difficult finding Yellow Pages for the local area when you are on the road.

[Mass Tim]

I've got a small plug in cooler, but I always end up worrying that its going to drain the battery if I'm parked for extended periods.

I suppose this depends on the vehicle, but in the four vehicles we've used ours in, the accessory sockets have all been switched with the ignition, and we don't leave the ignition "on" (engine off) when parked.

[DonnaR57]

Update: we were in our favorite local grocery store yesterday, and there were TWO blocks of ice for sale!!! So maybe things are looking up.

Come to think of it, it's probably easier to find a Yellow Pages when you're in a motel, than it is to find a pay phone with a Yellow Pages. (Or even to find a pay phone these days - with the advent of cell phones, a lot of places have removed their pay phones.)


Donna

[Lifemagician]

... the accessory sockets have all been switched with the ignition, and we don't leave the ignition "on" (engine off) when parked.

And while you are out of the car, things will get warm/hot and spoil?

I deliberately had the socket for the fridge wired so that it bypasses the ignition. No point having a fridge in the car if the goods are going to spoil while on a hike or having a chinwag. I use my fridge every week for shopping. It is really a permanent fixture in the Outback (and not just because it is too heavy to take out).

The outlet for recharging my phone, also bypasses the ignition.

Lifey

[Midwest Michael]

My roadtrip vehicle has two outlets on the dash, one that's ignition switched and one that's always on.

But my concern is the same as lifey's if the cooler isn't being powered while sitting in a hot car, it isn't going to take long at all for the contents temperature to start rising. But if it is always on, it is going to be a drain on the battery.

I guess the most problematic thing is that I'd like to use the electric cooler for storing meats and other things that can cross-contaminate or spoil if wet, so unlike say beverages, I really don't want to take the risk of the temperature rising too much.

[rogerskevin]

I don’t know how much this would help. I would go for just an ice box but the latest models. Which do give you about 8-10 hours of keeping the items cool. I usual buy stuffs like beer, cold drinks, ice, meat etc from the mart or store closest to our destination point. This way we save time and we find an easy way of camping. I ensure that where we camp is around 20 miles close to a store.