Ice and rocksalt does well for 24 hours for me but I haven't gone three days so I'm not sure.

It should be pretty cold so that will help.

You can try dry ice too.

 

I would imagine if it is frozen solid when you leave that some dry ice would keep it that way as long as the cooler isnt kept really warm...Like in the interior of a hot suv or something.

 

Dry ice will do the trick. I put some dry ice on the bottom of the cooler and then cover it with a little bit of ice. When I made a 2000 mile drive to my sisters house it worked great.. Good luck.

 

:yeahthat: Portland Ice Cream Co. On N Killingsworth. And, No I don't work there, but I have purchased dry ice from them.

 

Thanks guys for the info .:flowered::flowered:

 

Fred Meyer sells dry ice too.

 

The less voids the better. Try to match the cooler to the product. I fly east at least once a year and bring about 40# of fish each time. I pack the cooler at the last minute with nothing but well frozen vacuum packed fish. I always pack it as fully as possible, fitting chunks of fish in like a puzzle pieces as best as possible and fill as fully as possible. Gives me an easy 12 to 16 hours and the fish always arrives frozen hard. No ice. No nuttin.

I think you will want to do something similar but with dry ice. I get mine at Freddies on SR14 in Vancouver. They have brochures that help you calculate how much you need and tips on how to pack it. I've forgotten, but some applications you want the dry ice on bottom and sometimes on top. Also gives tips on separation(like cardboard) to avoid the fish getting ice burned.

Freakwater

 

Yep, pack the fish tight and use lots of dry ice to fill any any gaps and then some. More insulation the better.

 

If you use dry ice, make sure your cooler will vent. You might skip the regular ice and leave the drain valve open to accomplish this. The dry ice will turn to gas as it melts, which will happen fairly quickly. The advantage with it is that it will freeze your food much colder than your freezer can, so it stays that way for quite awhile. Also, place a buffer like newspaper, cardboard or similar between the dry ice and the food. Like said, try to leave no airspace, even if you have to place more newspaper, towels, etc in the cooler. Lastly, chill your cooler before you pack it and buy your dry ice at the last possible moment. If you get it a day or two before you go, it will dissapear before you get to use it.

 

Leave tomorrow and you can tie in on the top of the rig. Actually a lot of the WalMarts super stores carry dry ice as you go East. You can probably replenish the ice at one of them. A number of grocery outlets also sell dry ice. Oregon stores are a little behind in the sales of dry ice.

 

With the weather the way it's been lately, I would just use regular ice until I got to the snow-packed parts of the country, and then drain the water and fill the cooler with snow. If you pack the snow down, it will last a long time without melting.

This method requires daily cooler checks, and additional daily snow, which should not be a problem if you're headed to the Midwest.

If you don't want to do the daily checks, a few pounds of dry ice should do the trick, with regular ice on top.

 

with the current temps outside who needs dry ice..darn it's cold

 

Dry ice can freezer burn, it's that cold. Be careful...
If you've got a couple of days. Take two or three one gallon milk jugs and add one pound of salt and HOT water. Mix it as well as you can. It seems one pound of salt is about the maximum saturation point of one gallon of water.
Put these in a good deep freeze for at least two days. Your typical above fridge freezer isn't cold enough.
We use these on hunting trips and they will not only keep things cold for a good week but will freeze unfrozen things close to them.
When you're done dump the salty water on weeds and recycle the plastic milk jug...

 

I've used dry ice for shipping at work, if my memory serves me correctly the time frame dry ice lasts is by the thickness. So 5 lb. lasts 24 hours which is about a 2" thick slab, 10 lb. thickness 4" lasts 48 hours and so on. 2 of the 5 lb. slabs dont equal 48 hours. We dont ship ice cream anymore and I cant remeber the name of the company that delivered. They used to be out in clackamas by the Sigma warehouse. That company would cut to thickness for retail also.

I will add it is kind of dangerous to have in the car with you in that dry ice will suck the oxygen out of the air. We stored ours in a 4'x4'x3' plastic bins and if you leaned over that bin too long you were'nt breathing oxygen anymore, had a few light headed moments myself. Had one kid that didnt beleive me and we pulled him out of the bin one day just in time. I have used it in coolers to keep ice on hunting trips, we duct taped around the lid real good. I am not an expert, do as you see fit, just my experiences with the stuff.

 

pack it in tupperware containers also,,,,,,keeps the cold isolated even more,,,,

 

as cold as it is this week just open the ice chest and drive with your windows down rp

 

If you are flying, check with the airline about using dry ice, I believe it is a no, no. Frozen fish is OK to carry on or so at least one TSA person told me. Your mileage will vary. Baskin Robins sells dry ice so if you need to restock on your drive get a snack at the same time. I've also seen dry ice machines at Safeway

 

Check with TSA online, as I recall you are allowed 5 lbs.

 

Wrap some newspaper around each package. Amazing how much it will insulate.

 

If you're packing items that are frozen solid, do as freakwater says, pack it as fully as possible and leave no voids. if you can't fill the cooler with frozen product, pack newspaper, blankets, or clothing on top to fill the space.

DO NOT USE regular ice. The fish processor down in Mexico says that ice will actually start to thaw the contents of the cooler. (makes perfect sense to me because ice = water and what with thermal exchange and all that scientific stuff...)

Make sure your cooler is well-insulated. I once used one of our 150qt coolers to pack for a camping trip - one with frozen items + non-frozen items. The frozen stuff was still fairly frozen after 3 days of 90 degree heat, even though it was mixed with ice and other stuff.

If you're concerned about the warmth of the interior of a vehicle, you can always wrap the cooler in an extra blanket or 2. Good idea to have when traveling cross country in the winter anyway!

 

We take a freezer on a raft trip every August.

Top-quality cooler, dry ice, duct tape. Keep it closed! 3 days in 100 degree temps still frozen - at least on the bottom.

 

jerry how where the roads ?? did u hit lots of snow ?? i hope ya took a bunch of brokers

 

Start with a new style 5 day cooler. Use techni ice packs.

 

If TSA is good with it I would recommend techni ice as well, I've been really impressed with it the last couple years.