I don’t know of anyone who goes camping without a portable ice box of some sort. They’re an essential piece of gear, and we all know it. I’ve tried many different types and brands over the years, and will never forget how eye-opening it was for me when I invested in a good one. All of a sudden, my weekend trips turned into several day trips, and the time I spent going into town for more ice was better spent doing other things.

If you know you’re going away camping for a weekend, there are a few things you can do in the week leading up to heading off that will maximise the length of time your Adventure Kings portable ice box will stay cool and keep your food and drink safe.

1. Keep any old milk bottles or ice cream containers; the bigger the better. Fill them 3/4 with water and freeze them at least a few days before going camping. A week would be ideal. Block ice lasts much longer than party ice from a servo, and when it melts, it keeps the water in a container. This keeps the inside of your ice box dry, which helps keep your food fresh. You can also drink the cold water once it melts a little.

2. Make sure any of the food or drink you want to put in the Adventure Kings portable ice box is cold before you go. Keep it in a fridge at home or buy cold cases of beer from the bottle-o. This will greatly increase the amount of time your ice lasts, as it won’t melt at all in the time it takes your food and drink to cool down. I sometimes put blocks of ice in my portable ice box overnight, or fill it with frozen vegetables.

3. Drain the cold water out of your portable ice box regularly. How regularly? Well, it depends how pedantic you want to be. Every couple of hours is ideal, every day is good, and every half-day is easily manageable. I’ve had ice stay in an Adventure Kings portable ice box for 6 days in the peak of summer before by doing this. Take out the frozen milk bottles and drain the cold water out of them as well. This will stop the cold water from slowly melting the ice, and it works!

4. Wherever possible, keep your portable ice box in a shaded area. It might mean moving it a couple of times throughout the day, but it does make a difference.

5. If you can, make sure your portable ice box is full. The more stuff you have in it, the better it will hold temperature. Air heats up a lot quicker than liquid or solid goods, so minimising the amount of air ‘space’ in the portable ice box is a good thing to do. One of my ‘go-to’ portable ice boxes is an Adventure Kings 80L. A big box for sure, but if I don’t have to carry food and drink for heaps of people, I’ll just take enough for me and then fill up as much of the leftover space as possible with ice. If you don’t have enough frozen milk bottles, party ice from a servo will still work well. Just remember point number 3 here.

Plenty of us aren’t made of money, and a portable fridge/freezer might be out of our reach for this reason, amongst others. It doesn’t mean we have to eat soggy or spoiled food, or worse yet, drink warm beer! If some of these steps seem excessive to you, consider how much planning might go into a small trip away. In the grand scheme of things, they are an easy way of maximising the fun you have with family and friends when out camping

It’s easy to spend huge money on portable ice boxes, but Adventure Kings have a huge range to suit any use and budget. Do your research and consider how big you need to go, but if you’re like me, you’ll end up with a few of different sizes for different purposes. A 100L portable ice box would be a great addition to a camping setup for a large group of people, and a 40L portable ice box has enough space for beers and ice for 2 people for a good night.

Look after your Adventure Kings portable ice box and it will look after you.