Testing the limits of Polar Bear/Techiice Ice? Too long?

[PA Girl]

I need input from experienced Techiice/Polar Bear users.

We are taking a fair amount of meats and other frozen stuff on the upcoming trip.

The butcher is vac-packing the meats as well as deep freezing for me.

I have a large Polar Bear with several sheets (8) of Techiice.

My concern is keeping everything frozen.

I have two options:

1. Deliver the cooler ahead of time to Mom's house and let them pack it early on the travel day. Door to door transit time would be (assuming all goes well) about 14 hours. The downside of this plan is that it requires 2 hours of travel.

2. Take the cooler myself. Door to door travel time would be at least 29 hours, assuming no delays, maybe longer.

Anyone who has used these products care to offer their experiences? I know the website says 24 hours but I am skeptical.

[tjwgrr]

Last trip to STJ we packed steaks and a few other frozen meats in Techni-Ice inside a soft-sided cooler. Soft sided cooler then went inside an extra suitcase.

Packed direct from freezer at around 4:00-4:30 am. Arrived at the villa in STJ around 5:00 pm, so 12-13 hours. Everything was frozen rock-solid.

Baggage holds on aircraft are quite cold in flight, plus it was quite chilly (mid-November) at both our departure and connecting airports.

The view of Coral Bay and Drake's Passage made the steaks taste especially good!!!

[liamsaunt]

We traveled with a polar bear cooler and techni ice in June. Everything in the cooler was frozen solid, and I packed it up right before leaving. We got picked up at, I think, 3:30 AM, and thanks to multiple flight problems, did not set foot on St. John until 10 PM. When I unpacked, probably around 11 PM or so, everything was still rock solid, not even the slightest bit thawed. Keep in mind too, that this was June and it was HOT.

I think you'll be fine at 29 hours, especially since your butcher is going to deep freeze for you.

[PA Girl]

Thanks for the information. We are going to take it on the 29 hour journey. I didn't really consider the fact that the weather will be cold and that should only help the situation.

Keeping it my charge will allow me to pack smarter. I am doing at least 5 meals for the stay-at-home crew plus breakfast meats and various treats.

We have 8 sheets, not smiley face sheets.

[chrisn]

PA Girl, we are also testing the limits. Our journey will be around 29 hours. I'm going for it!

[psufan]

We were in a similar travel situation last June. Meat was still frozen solid after 24 hours. I did add a few frozen water bottles as extra insurance. Even they stayed solid!

[RickG]

Thanks for the thread, this is very timely for us. We are arriving a day earlier in March than planned and staying with Ronnie at the Crystal Palace on STT. So, I'm looking, best case, at a 4AM on day one to 3PM on day two - 36 hours.

I've done this in the past to the BVIs with a hard side extreme cooler just fine.

I think its time for a science fair research project.

Cheers, RickG

[Xislandgirl]

We packed a carry on rolling cooler. We did not use any techni ice. We vac. sealed all our meat and layered everything with newspaper. We packed it at 5am and got to the villa around 5:30pm and everything was still frozen solid, so I am guessing that 29 hours and techni ice would be no problem at all.

[chicagoans]

We had the same situation as X: carry on cooler, frozen meat, fish, lobster bisque, no ice packs. Still frozen solid after about 13 or 14 hours of travel. We were so happy to have our yummy stuff -- you will be too!

Another benefit: the empty roller cooler became our 4th carry on for the way home, since everything we brought magically expanded while we were there.

[RJ in Wisconsin]

What can you do if you have to leave home at noon to get to the airport, stay overnite at a hotel, and then fly out to St. Thomas the next day?
And, what if this was in April or May in the upper Midwest?
Has anyone ever had any experience with a hotel being able to put a cooler full of meat & techni ice in some sort of freezer on their premises?

[augie]

We left our house at 2PM on Sunday last year, stayed overnight in a hotel in Ft. Lauderdale before flying out of Miami on Monday afternoon.

I enquired ahead of time and was told that they could not hold any of our food in the freezer, so I packed the frozen food and techni-ice, then filled in every available crack with dry ice.

I just made sure that all of the dry ice had either evaporated or got removed from the cooler before we left for the airport.

I may have been able to get by without the dry ice, but I had first timer's paranoia!

[minnjim]

So you can bring a cooler as a carry-on as long as it fits the size restrictions?

[chicagoans]

So you can bring a cooler as a carry-on as long as it fits the size restrictions?

Yes, as long as what you're bringing in it isn't liquid, you're fine.

[rpplano]

I think its time for a science fair research project.

Cheers, RickG[/quote]
My wife has several "science fair projects" going in our fridge. Time to clean it out.

[PA Girl]

I started/activated the techniice on Saturday. I am glad I did it sooner than later. It seemed to take a while to "plump up" and required more scrunching that I anticipated.

It is all ready to go and so am I.