Best Food Cooler

[JettBoii]

Pack food for 3 days and buy on the last day. You probably will not eat all 4 days worth of food.

 

[Pistonpilot]

Another vote for the StrongBags cooler. Quality is top notch and the insulation is great. Worth the money.

 

[Flyby1206]

I use the strongbags cooler with a cvs water bag full of ice. The cooler is big and has many, large pockets. The cvs hot water/ice bottle is great because I don't have to depend on a freezer in base or refrigerator at the hotel. I just fill it up morning and night (and some times during the day in the summer) and my food stays cold without getting wet.

What is a CVS water bag? Anyone have a link?

 

[polarpop]

Strongbags customer service sucks. I have a strongbags cooler sitting in my basement with two broken zippers (after 3 weeks of use), that they refused to fix... They were happy to give me 5% off purchasing a new bag however. F-them.

 

[detwilers]

http://www.aerocoast.com/products_detail.php?p_id=21

I'm digging this bag. Un-velcro two of the strips and the laptop bag flops down to go through security. It can be completely separated for squeezing into overhead bins. It says it fits a 14" laptop but my 15.6" laptop fit after a little coercing. Two decent size side pouches, two compartments in the front, and a large "dry goods" compartment up top. I don't have a problem fitting my 4 day worth of food in there, but Your Mileage May Vary of course, depending on how you eat and what you pack. The bag stays at least as cold as my old ebags. My only complaint is that the provided plastic fitting for the velcro straps is a bit tight. Easily solved by purchasing a couple 1.5 inch D-rings from hardware or a craft store and replacing the original fitting.

With respect to keeping it all cold, I tried frozen gel packs, but what happens if you can't get to a place to refreeze them when they get warm? The best thing I've found so far is to buy a couple ice bags (like for an injury) from walgreens or walmart, and keep em filled with ice. No matter where I am, I can get ice, either from the aircraft or the hotel ice machine. It's a little higher maintenance than gel packs, but you can always count on it.

+1 on the Aerocast bag. Cooler and a laptop case combined. Made by an expressjet fo too. Aerocast have good flight cases also.

 

[SplitBar]

I use this one. I have found it to be great if you have access to a freezer a couple of the nights. It has lots of extra storage for all the things you mentioned plus some "dry goods" like oat-meal, etc.

http://www.stopoverstore.com/product/detail.cfm/pnid/355/pnid2/1329/nid/1331/pid/1876

I got the same one. Love it!! Lots of different pockets for different stuff and large main compartment for the cooler. I think I paid around $30 from Stop Over Store last year.

 

[Av8trix616]

What is a CVS water bag? Anyone have a link?

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/s...id=Shopping_Feed_Products_Google_Free_Listing

 

[DrewBlows]

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/s...id=Shopping_Feed_Products_Google_Free_Listing

That's it. Works great.

 

[skywav8r]

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/s...id=Shopping_Feed_Products_Google_Free_Listing

The ice bag works great but...... don't buy the one in the picture. It has cloth sides with a rubber inner core. The cloth holds moisture and may get moldy after a long time....trust me. The pharmacy sells another one that is just rubber. No mold, no moisture, just cold food. Easy to get ice on every layover to keep your grub yummy.



mueller ice bag

http://www.google.com/images?q=muel...&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1280&bih=592

 

[wmudriver]

How does the Aerocoast cooler attach to your luggage? Is there straps to go over the luggage handle or do you have to carry it seperate?

 

[Av8trix616]

How does the Aerocoast cooler attach to your luggage? Is there straps to go over the luggage handle or do you have to carry it seperate?

It has a sleeve that fits over your luggage handle. Both the laptop and the cooler do, actually, so you can carry them separately if you only need one on a trip.

 

[AWACoff]

Just go to the camping section at Walmart and pick out the "8 pack cooler". It has a large zippered front pocket and a removable plastic hard shell liner. It keeps ice for 24 hours no problem and the carrying strap fits right over your rollerboard handle.

For cooking on the overnight, your hotel room and flight kit come with all of the essential tools.

1. Take iron out of closet and turn to desired heat setting.

2. Take Jepps binder/ FOM binder/ etc. and place on ironing board.

3. Open your binder and then open the rings up.

4. Place iron upside down in the "3 rings".

5. Close 3 rings so that iron is held firmly in the inverted position.

6. Place metal cookie sheet that you brought from home on iron.

7. Heat up a delicious stir fry/ fresh hamburger/ macaroni and cheese/ etc.


This really works and is an idea I was given by a 757 pilot who wanted to eat healthy in Europe but didn't want to fork over the money due to the horrible exchange rate.


The cookie sheet packs flat in your rollerboard so it doesn't take up any room. Irons get hot enough to do real grilling and you can make a killer stir fry (need metal bowl) if there is a local grocery store close by on your overnight.

 

[ceo_of_the_sofa]

Just go to the camping section at Walmart and pick out the "8 pack cooler". It has a large zippered front pocket and a removable plastic hard shell liner. It keeps ice for 24 hours no problem and the carrying strap fits right over your rollerboard handle.

For cooking on the overnight, your hotel room and flight kit come with all of the essential tools.

1. Take iron out of closet and turn to desired heat setting.

2. Take Jepps binder/ FOM binder/ etc. and place on ironing board.

3. Open your binder and then open the rings up.

4. Place iron upside down in the "3 rings".

5. Close 3 rings so that iron is held firmly in the inverted position.

6. Place metal cookie sheet that you brought from home on iron.

7. Heat up a delicious stir fry/ fresh hamburger/ macaroni and cheese/ etc.


This really works and is an idea I was given by a 757 pilot who wanted to eat healthy in Europe but didn't want to fork over the money due to the horrible exchange rate.


The cookie sheet packs flat in your rollerboard so it doesn't take up any room. Irons get hot enough to do real grilling and you can make a killer stir fry (need metal bowl) if there is a local grocery store close by on your overnight.

wow, post of the year!

and, I second the walmart cooler, the best!

 

[Jetjockey]

Like hobos living in boxcars.

 

[Tram]

Ok, so.. you guys bring a cooler.. What do you put in it?