Wet ICE or DRY ICE? That is the question.

Mewton - awesome information but I think I will stick with regular ice.
We were able to find block ice at some tesoric (spelling?) gas stations when we were in WA. When able we bought 1 block and 1 bag of cubes served us well - but then WA was cool 60's daytime and sometimes down to 40 at night. We drained the water off but next time will leave the cold water in per this discussion.

 

Pat,
I'm going to have to change my stance and recommend that you don't keep the water. Darn thermodynamics and heat transfer classes are coming back to haunt me!:cry: Oh it doesn't really hurt and I've always reluctantly drained my cooler water when I've needed to add more ice or provisions but it doesn't really add any cooling energy to the system until all the ice has already melted and the temperature rises above 32 degrees. I don't normally camp with a lot of food in my cooler that would get soggy and what would I take measures to keep it dry so I've never had a problem. But what I've proved to myself by writing up these posts is that the water really doesn't keep it much cooler until all the ice is gone (or nearly so) and it starts warming up in which case you had better be headed to a store for more because it won't keep it cool for long. I still think the mass of water may provide some small benefit but please don't eat soggy steaks on my account. :crazy:

This would be a neat experiment, which cooler reaches 42 degrees the fasted. One which is drained every two hours or one that is never drained. If the conditions are ever just right I may try this sometime.

 

mewton,
well ok we will just carry on as we always have - when it gets down to a small chunk hit the gas station for ice. I use an old cooler for a footstool storage bin in front of the back seat in the van. Put maps, books etc in it. On our long hall to WA we took a soft sided cooler ready for ice pick up when we were out and about - then stowed it in the footstool cooler till we went back to the campground - this double insulation worked well especially when we could get block ice.

 

Pat, I like the idea of a soft sided cooler for block ice as we reload during a camp. We can leave the cooler at camp and not have the melt take place in the vehicle. Thanks, Steve

 

I am a big fan of frozen water bottles. I save the tall square one used for OJ etc . Fill with water and freeze in my home freezer leaving some air space for expansion. I pack them in the cooler. No water to drain and as they thaw I have icewater. Good choice for a 2-3 day trip. Dry ice at 1.59/lb gets a bit expensive. 9 lb bag of dry ice lasted 3 days in a cooler with ice bottles in 90s weather.