# Ice



## Anish (Mar 6, 2009)

Instead of paying for ice (which can REALLY add up if you are camping for long enough) and dealing with water soaking things in your cooler, freeze a bunch of water bottles that would otherwise be thrown away and use them instead of the bags of ice cubes.
We have been doing this for the last two years and it works really well. Last year, we used my son's left over juicy Juice bottles in addition to the smaller bottles. We even froze extras and packed an old cooler. Our ice made it a full two weeks!
Saves money and keeps at least a few more bottles out of the landfills.
The first year we tried this we camped for a month. The ice made it through the first half of the trip, then we had to swing back home for the day to do laundry and take care of a few things. When we had taken the first load of bottles out of the freezer to use in the cooler we put a whole load of unfrozen bottles in the freezer. So when we ran home for the day, we just rotated the thawed bottles with the frozen ones and we were set for ice again!
Works great and can save you a load of money!


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## FreeTime (Jan 8, 2001)

For years I have frozen milk/juice bottles for ice. The gallon size work if you have a big cooler, the half gallon for smaller ones. It saves a ton and you just grab them and go! 

This helps if you have an extra freezer. I have a stand up freezer in the garage, these make it run more efficiently as well because a full freezer is much cheaper to run than an empty one. 

I keep extras on top of it full of water and any empty space gets filled with a jug! It makes for readily available ice and saves money on running the freezer...double win.
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## Busterboy (Feb 13, 2004)

FreeTime,

I have done the same thing as you have for the same reasons, quick ice, full freezer, etc. The problem that I have is that the milk jugs only last maybe 2-3 cycles before the handles crack and break. I have tried more water, less water and the results are the same. The 2 bad things are lifting the jug out of the freezer and having the handle break away and the jug fall on your foot or shatter on the floor sending ice chips everywhere or having the jug leak water onto the the other stuff in the cooler as it thaws out. I have tried heavier ice tea plastic jugs and have gotten maybe 4-5 uses from them before their handles break as well.

Buster boy


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## tbarden11 (Mar 2, 2011)

I use the ice mountain jugs....1 gallon size....get them at walmart for $ 1.....when ice melts have water for camping

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## Forest Meister (Mar 7, 2010)

Two liter pop bottles work great, are small enough to fit in a lot of places, can be used multiple times because of the heavy plastic and if you can salvage the label they can be turned in at the end of the camping season. If not, you are only out a dime! we have used some for several years.

I also freeze up a bunch of bottled water both for ice and to have a cold drink while out on the lake. It really helps when the fish are biting so fast you work up a sweat hauling them in. ...........it could happen!


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## Ausable Junkie (Oct 2, 2002)

I use frozen Otter Pops. Their small size allows you to utilize every nook and cranny in the cooler, more like indiviual ice cubes.


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## STEINFISHSKI (Jan 30, 2001)

Ausable Junkie said:


> I use frozen Otter Pops. Their small size allows you to utilize every nook and cranny in the cooler, more like indiviual ice cubes.


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

I wanna be an otter....umm... er....

:evilsmile :help:

Nice find!
:lol:


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## Woodbutcher-1 (Nov 21, 2004)

I have 6 1 quart motor oil bottles that were cleaned out with hot soapy water at first. Fill them not quite to the top, then add 1 heaping teaspoon of salt to each container and freeze. They will last much,much longer then the same container without the salt.

Read that somewhere about 12 to 15 years ago and have been using them ever since. Yes the same bottles and never once changed the salt water.


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## oldgeezer (May 27, 2012)

Where I live, a 24 pack of water from the grocery store is cheaper to buy than 1 bag of ice. Once thawed there's lots of uses for the water. I don't normally refill/refreeze them. cost vs time is not worth it to me.


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## alex-v (Mar 24, 2005)

The only thing to keep in mind is that there is a layer of warmer water that starts to insulate the frozen water once the thawing starts. That layer of water can be 40 degrees and there will still be ice in the center of the container. Just like dropping an ice cube into a hot cup of coffee. It will start to melt right away and then the melting slows down. This is because the liquid around the ice cube has cooled off and then prevents the hot coffee from melting the ice as fast as it started off doing. The principal works in reverse and the layer of water will keep the ice from cooling off the stuff in the cooler.

It does not matter much for keeping beer or soft drinks cool for the day but to keep food at a safe temperature you might want to reconsider the extended use of bottles of ice. Nothing beats direct contact with ice and pouring off the excess water every 6 to 8 hours.


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