Leaving cooler at site on hot day

PlacidWaters

Adventurer
Scenario: Black bear (and raccoon) country, Northeast US, at a campground where there are likely to be people around during the day. You want to leave your site for the day to go hiking etc.

Problem: possible lack of shade where you park your car = cooler left in hot car all day. Even if you can park in the shade, it will be a lot warmer inside the car than outside in the shade. You would lose at least one day of ice.

My idea: Wedge the cooler under the picnic table bench at the site, in the shade, and secure it to the bench with a strong cam strap. Not bear proof, but presence of people might deter bears.

Good or bad? Any other ideas?
 

jeepers29

Active member
Does the campground have a bear box? If yes, then that is what should be used, if no then I would probably use your car. This is why I ended up going to a frig
 

jgaz

Adventurer
Sounds a lot like the way I handle it. My cooler stays in camp every day when I’m working at the Grand Canyon.

As far as large predators, I’m more concerned about the two legged variety, so I add a cable lock. More to say at least I did something.

The one thing I do use is a DIY “coosie” made out of reflective insulation. This addition seems to help
 

Herbie

Rendezvous Conspirator
Depends a lot on the enforcement priorities of the place you're visiting. The bear-country NPs and SPs I've visited would definitely cite you for improper food storage if they caught you doing this. Presence of people may deter animals, but presence of food creates a competing incentive.

That said, I acknowledge that other parks/jurisdictions may care less. In my area, the parks are often forced to put down bears that get too aggressive about human food specifically because people aren't always careful, so it's a high priority here.
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
I had Rangers take empty rubbermaids out of the back of my Jeep while I was backpacking and threatened to cite me when I went and picked em up, because there was no way to prove they never had food stored in em even though they were just our dry boxes for all our bedding sitting in basecamp.. I was told under no circumstances could I leave any containers in a soft sided vehicle, even if they were never used for food storage... this was in Glacier National Park..

If there is a ranger station nearby, swing by there and ask em to hold onto it for you.. the'll be glad too.. they said thats the best recourse if you need to stash equipment, since then, when its feasible I've just been parking my rig at a ranger station and hitchhiking to the trailhead.. they do good job of keeping an eye on all your stuff so you dont gotta worry about it.
 

PlacidWaters

Adventurer
Depends a lot on the enforcement priorities of the place you're visiting.

That's a fact! And the rules are in place for a reason ("a fed bear is a dead bear"), so I'm having my doubts about leaving my cooler at my site. (White Mountain National Forest).
 

troutbum1

New member
One tip I picked up several years ago was to soak a towel in cold water and lay it over the top of the cooler during the day to keep the sun from baking the top of the cooler. For the raccoons you might pick up a length of wire cable at Home Depot, make two loops on the ends and place it around your cooler with a lock. I'm sure this won't work for the bears though. I also use a piece of reflectix cut to fit the inside top of my coolers to help maintain the ice. Does a fairly decent job.
 

FJR Colorado

Explorer
At my off-grid cabin I (stupidly) neglected to place a cooler inside while I ran out for a very quick errand. Left it on the picnic table. Came back in 20 minutes and had a bear ransacking it. It was almost like he was eyeing it from a perch and pounced the minute I left.
 

jgaz

Adventurer
@PlacidWaters I bought a pkg. of sheets from a contractor of this material to cover the inside of my garage door.

Reflectix BP24010 Series Foil Insulation, 24 in. x 10 ft https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BPF22U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_d2ZkFbQPT374P

I made a loose fitting box with no bottom to cover my cooler.
I did glue a couple small blocks of styrofoam insulation to the underside of the top to give at least some of the air gap that radiant barrier needs to be effective.

I just used some leftover material I had and sealed the corners with foil tape used to insulate AC ducts.
 

billiebob

Well-known member
Scenario: Black bear (and raccoon) country, Northeast US, at a campground where there are likely to be people around during the day. You want to leave your site for the day to go hiking etc.

Problem: possible lack of shade where you park your car = cooler left in hot car all day. Even if you can park in the shade, it will be a lot warmer inside the car than outside in the shade. You would lose at least one day of ice.

My idea: Wedge the cooler under the picnic table bench at the site, in the shade, and secure it to the bench with a strong cam strap. Not bear proof, but presence of people might deter bears.

Good or bad? Any other ideas?
(Edited by Admin)

Bears don't differentiate between easy or hard pickins, they focus on scent and will destroy anything to get at it.

Campgrounds usually have strict food guidelines, if they suggest tying it to a picnic table, have at 'er.

My bet, you'll be a statistic.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

1000arms

Well-known member
Scenario: Black bear (and raccoon) country, Northeast US, at a campground where there are likely to be people around during the day. You want to leave your site for the day to go hiking etc.

Problem: possible lack of shade where you park your car = cooler left in hot car all day. Even if you can park in the shade, it will be a lot warmer inside the car than outside in the shade. You would lose at least one day of ice.

My idea: Wedge the cooler under the picnic table bench at the site, in the shade, and secure it to the bench with a strong cam strap. Not bear proof, but presence of people might deter bears.

Good or bad? Any other ideas?
It is a very bad idea to leave a cooler where a bear might access it. It is illegal in many places.

There is an expression, "A fed bear is a dead bear".



I think the following links might be of interest to you. :cool:






A couple of cheap but well insulating comforters can be used to insulate a cooler in a car. Surround the top, bottom and sides of the cooler. Use other bedding to sleep with.
 
Last edited:

PlacidWaters

Adventurer
I'm definitely leaning toward not leaving my cooler at my site. I'd just like to add, though, that time of day "may" make a difference. I've actually never seen a bear at a campground during the day in the WMNF, which isn't to say it can't happen. It could be less likely given that people are active at their site during the day. On the other hand, I've had two young bears (or one bear twice) come up on my porch this summer, when I was inside a few feet away from them.

I have a naive question about coolers: Do you add insulation around the cooler to keep the cold in or to keep the cold out, or both?

Also, I understand that a shiny surface reflects direct sunlight, but does it have any other benefit? If the cooler is in the shade does shiny insulation have any additional impact compare to a non-shiny surface, like styrofoam.

P.S. Billiebob, I'm educated about bears as I grew up in a major bear region and have done a lot of backpacking in bear country. So not exactly "retarded."
 

dreadlocks

Well-known member
insulation is to keep heat out, mylar reflectix stops Infrared/Radiant heat transfer rather well, which is most direct sunlight or sitting in a vehicle.. its the same stuff and reason you put a window shade in when you park in the summer...

but beyond that its insulation is rather minimal, its R value is so low its not doing much at "keeping the cold in"
 

Forum statistics

Threads
185,530
Messages
2,875,574
Members
224,922
Latest member
Randy Towles
Top