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CAMPING AND TRAVELING WITH DRY ICE
Plan on using
10 to 20 pounds of dry ice for every 24-hour period depending upon the size
of the ice chest. Dry Ice will keep everything frozen in this ice chest,
including extra ice, so keep non-frozen goods to be refrigerated with
regular ice in a separate ice chest. Dry Ice normally comes in 10-inch
squares, 2 inches thick weighing about 10 pounds each square. Plan to put
one square per each 15 inches of ice chest length. This will work out to 2
squares (20 pounds) for an average 40-quart cooler. For larger containers
and longer camping or traveling times, multiply dry ice quantities by these
rates. Dry Ice, at -109.0°F or -78.5°C, will freeze and keep frozen
everything in its container until it is completely sublimated. These frozen
items will take some extra time to thaw because they have been so cold.
HOW TO PACK DRY ICE
If the Dry
Ice is placed on top of the food (cold sinks), it will work better. However
it is sometimes in the way so many people prefer to keep the Dry Ice on the
bottom of the ice chest for convenience. When packing items in the container
fill the empty space with wadded newspaper or other filler. Any
"dead air space" will cause the Dry Ice to sublimate faster. The best
storage container is a three-inch thick urethane insulated box. Lining the
inside of your ice chest with sheets of Styrofoam will increase the life of
Dry Ice. Dry Ice sublimation (changing from a solid to a gas) will vary
depending on the temperature, air pressure and thickness of insulation. The
more Dry Ice you have stored in the container, the longer it will last.
TRANSPORTING BY AUTO OR VAN
Plan
to pick up the Dry Ice as close to the time it is needed as possible. If
possible pack insulating items such as sleeping bags around the ice chest.
This will stretch the time that the Dry Ice lasts. If it is transported inside
a car or van (not in the trunk) for more than 10 minutes make sure there is
fresh air. After 15 minutes with Dry Ice only in its paper bag in the
passenger seat next to me, I started to breathe faster and faster as though
I were running a race. I couldn't figure out why I was so out of breath
until I saw the car air system was set in the re-circulated position, not
fresh outside air.
TRANSPORTING BY AIRPLANE
Pick up
Dry Ice as close to departure time as convenient. Carry it in a
well-insulated container such as an ice chest or insulated soft pack. If it
is transported inside a car or van for more than 10 minutes make sure there
is fresh air available. Most airlines will not let you carry more than two kilograms
(4.4 pounds) of Dry Ice on the airplane without special arrangements. Because Dry Ice will sublimate
continuously from the time of purchase, you can confidently declare that
there is no more than two kilograms at the time you check in at the airport.
Dry
Ice will
sublimate slightly faster due to the lower pressure that the airline
maintains during flight. Make
plans to refrigerate or add Dry Ice when arriving at your destination.
Where to find Dry Ice
in your area? GO TO:
Sell dry
ice to the public?
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manufacturers and sellers of Dry Ice. Thank you for supporting them.
CAMPING STORIES
FROZEN LETTUCE
One time camping my wife and I had too many leftovers to keep in our ice chest with ice. So
we put the salad in our freezer ice chest. The dry ice was only 15 pounds at
the beginning of the trip on the bottom of the ice chest, and extra ice was
on top of it, and then the salad at the very top. We thought that the ice
would be plenty of insulation, but we had real crispy salad the next
morning. A true ice lettuce salad!
HOW TO KEEP ICE FOR WEEKS
One camper reports: "I have a 100-quart Coleman that I pack before leaving with a 50-pound block of dry
ice and two 25-pound blocks of regular ice on either side of the dry ice. The dry
ice is wrapped in many layers of newspaper, which is a marvelous insulator.
If the cooler is kept in the shade and covered with a heavy blanket, the dry
ice will last from 8-10 days at which time the wet ice first begins to melt.
This will then last another 4-5 days. I would be willing to bet that using
another method I heard (burying the ice chest in sand) in conjunction with mine would keep the wet ice available for 2-3 weeks. However, there is a
downside. (1) Only frozen foods can be kept in the cooler until the dry ice is gone (no beer). (2) Lots of weight -- the whole shebang weighs 100 lbs.
sans food. Dry Ice is very dense - a 50 lb. block is the same size as a 25
lb. block of wet ice."
OUTFITTER'S SECRET
Jenifer Trout of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, reveals John Judson of the
Quartercircle-Circle Ranch's secret:
My family went with an outfitter on a horse packing trip in Colorado last summer. On the second night in the
wilderness, John lamented that our menu was screwed up because the ice cream was "too frozen". He pulled it out of the cooler and bounced it on
a slab of wood. It was a brick! He'd brought the food in 2 small coolers which doubled as stools. One was for refrigerated food and the other was for
frozen food. Each day, he'd move some food (mostly meat) from the frozen cooler to the refrigerated cooler. He used no wet ice or ice packs at all. We
had ice cream on our third night out - after it had thawed to an appropriate temperature in the refrigerated cooler. His trick was a block of dry ice
wrapped in news paper - and it worked unbelievably well!
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