Techni-ice

[mbw1024]

We tried a techni ice test last night. FAIL! But after reading up on the forum, we didn't "puff it up" enough.
Trying another test today.
Now I wonder how much we need. If we are taking the 12 pack polar bear cooler, how many sheets of t-ice would you recommend?

Thanks!

[PA Girl]

If the contents are frozen nice and solid, one sheet should be fine. I used two once in my 48 can cooler (one on top, one on the bottom) for a 36+ hour trip and the sheets were still solid on arrival.

I think it does take an incredible amount of time and energy to properly "scrunch" those sheets! But worth it when they are prepped right.

[loria]

agree... they have to be like little wet pillows...really soak them and massage them-- you will go 'a ha!' when you see it !
they work great! and are very re-useable.

[jimg20]

I agree with both. We normally do very well with one sheet in our 24 full of frozen food. The food and t-ice are still frozen solid. The only food that was not frozen was the bacon. I asked the butcher about it later and he said you can't keep the bacon frozen. When I asked why he said, "too much salt."

Take the time to get the sheet totally saturated and all the air squeezed out. Not only do they last all day, the sheets last for many uses. We've only thrown one sheet away after about 5 years. The plastic cover was wearing out.

JIM

[mbw1024]

Does this look about right?

[mbw1024]

Oh. Thought I attached a photo hmmm.

[mbw1024]

[jimg20]

Yes it does. There is also a tactal aspect of this. It should give very little if you squeeze them between your thumb and index finger.

JIM

[mbw1024]

Thank you.

[PaminMaine]

The last time I took my 12 can cooler I had it stuffed totally full, to the point I had a hard time zipping it. I froze the entire bag for a few days prior to our trip. It kept the food frozen solid with travel time 24+ hours. No techni ice this trip.

[PA Girl]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1379278127.629968.jpg

Yes, that looks good. You want those little chambers to be like plump little pillows that are on the verge of bursting.

I take a new sheet each trip and use it for our beach drinks and leave it in the freezer when we depart. The ones I use for our weekly trips to our cottage have held up pretty well but have developed holes here and there. I think the sheets work far better than just ice.

Keep an eye on your man in the grocery store!

[needmesomesun]

I've always wondered about this ice, but didn't some forum members have an issue getting this stuff past security a while back? Or is this for checked bags? We travel with our meats in our carry on, since it is so heavy and there isn't a weight limit like the checked bags. Somehow our stuff is still mostly frozen on arrival. I'd try it if I wasn't afraid that it would be taken away. Especially for our fish. Any input?

[jimg20]

The use of T-ice, like almost everything with TSA, is controversial. Can it be considered a gel? The answer depends on which airport and even which person is looking at your bag.

We have carried our T-ice on. The way we do it is to put the T-ice in the bottom of our Polar Bear cooler and then load the food on top. We then put the entire cooler into the freezer. Since we can't put the cooler in the car or stack it by the door like the other bags, and because I am not very smart, I tape a note inside the front door to remind myself to get the cooler. When I get to the TSA check point, the cooler goes into the machine. When it comes out, they want to look inside. I tell them it is frozen meat. They look inside the cooler and confirm that it is meat. They give it back and off I go. They don't ask to empty the cooler. Some say that once they clear TSA, the pull the T-ice up along side the meat.

JIM

[RickG]

We skip the techni-ice for our Polar Bear 24 carryon. With a full cooler, with the whole cooler in the freezer, all of our items are frozen when we arrive. This includes shrimp, which is the hardest to keep frozen. For checking a cooler, we stuff all the techni-ice we can, usually two sheets for a Polar Bear 24, sometimes one sheet.

I love techni-ice and I'm addicted to having it for the beach cooler. We'll bring our Polar Bear 24 with no food, use it as carryon luggage, and bring two sheets of unactivated techni-ice with us. Beach drinks!

We stopped bringing provisions for land vacations a couple of years ago, the hassle wasn't worth the potential of small savings over DC food prices. Since we started sailing we are bringing provisions again. This allows us to save grocery shopping time before heading out on the boat.

Cheers, RickG

[needmesomesun]

Thanks for the info Jim!