Storage life, size, compactness and carrying comfort: coolers offer different storage solutions for your food and drinks when you go camping or picnicking. We give you all our advice so that you make the right choice in this article!
THE CHOICE OF A COOLER DEPENDS ON THE FOLLOWING 4 CRITERIA: ITS STORAGE LIFE, ITS CAPACITY, ITS COMPACTNESS AND ITS CARRYING COMFORT.
The first criteria that will help you choose your cooler is its ability to keep cool.
If you are going hiking for the day and have packed food and drink in your cooler when you're on your way back, you will need a longer storage time than if you were using your cooler to go straight for a picnic without a hike beforehand.
Depending on the models, the food's storage time can be up to 14 hours without an ice pack. "Compact Fresh coolers" are among the most efficient thanks in particular to the innovative Fresh component which reinforces their isothermal energy.
To extend the capacity of your cooler to keep cool you can use ice packs previously placed in your freezer. You can also place your cooler (if it is not too big) in the refrigerator before your hike. The fuller your cooler, the better it will keep cool!
The storage capacity of the cooler is tested according to the European standard EN 12546-2 which provides information on the performance of a cooler without a cold accumulator. To obtain this standard, tests are carried out by an external laboratory. These tests consist of putting water at 5 ° C in the cooler, itself placed in an environment at 32 ° C. The point is then to measure the time it takes for the water to heat up to a temperature of 15 ° C.
The capacity of the coolers can vary from 10 to 36 litres.
It's up to you to choose the model that answers your needs. Are you going for a picnic as a couple? As a family? Between friends? The amount of food to be transported will not be the same depending on each situation. Be careful not to take to much! Because an empty cooler loses storage performance compared to a full cooler.
If you're looking more for a "mini-cooler" for an individual meal, there are also lunch boxes where you can slip in food boxes to feed one or two people. These sizes are less than 5 litres and allow you to store your meal, when hiking or even for going to work
The choice of your cooler can also be made according to its compactness.
If you have little storage space at home or your trunk is already full when you go camping, a soft cooler offers the advantage of being able to be folded to take up very little space when you are not using it. You no longer need to find a big space to store it, once flat, it fits almost anywhere
Other coolers used the self-inflating system, which makes them very compact able.you just have to open the valve and squeeze the cooler to release the air and you're done! In addition, the self-inflating system simultaneously strengthens their isothermal energy.
Finally, rigid coolers offer little compactness but are more resistance. In addition, they often have an electric cooling system.
Be careful! Flexibility does not mean fragility. Some soft coolers are equipped on their lower part with resistant components which allow them to be used on all types of terrain.
If you go hiking, the cooler backpacks allow you to keep your picnic for up to 5 hours without using ice packs. With this 2 in 1 innovation, you no longer have to choose between a backpack and a cooler!
All other coolers are equipped with straps that allow you to carry them over the shoulders.