New Cooler

[stevesflyshop]

I thought since everyone has these great do it yourself projects that I've printed off, I'd share our so-so do it yourself project. A friend and I are going on a hunting trip and we decided we needed more cooler space. The outside dimensions are 5 feet long by 2 1/2 feet wide by 18 inches tall. Basically, we wanted it to fit in the suburban with room for additional gear.

We built this with 7/16 particle board in the outside, 2x2 frame, 1 1/2 foam insulation, 1/4 inch particle board over the foam and waterproof plastic sheeting (stuff for shower walls) on the inside. We will have a drain in place and then a paintjob. We're hoping it works.

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Looking at it now, I wish we would have gone ahead and built it 4 feet wide so that it took up the whole back end of the suburban.

Steve

[Syr02]

You need to try to be able to put a drain plug in it somewhere these work great they are just a booger to clean with out a drain plug

[stevesflyshop]

We've got the 3/4 inch pipe and all fittings - just ran out of motivation at the end and quit. I couldn't imagine trying to clean out one of these without a drain.

[eradicator]

That looks outstanding. Let us know how the finished product works so I can copy your genius idea.

[bentstk]

Put weather stripping around the lid and use dry-ice, no drain needed. We put dry-ice in a Igloo cooler and duct taped it, lasted the whole 5days in Colorado.

[stevesflyshop]

An update: We used the thin plastic sheeting and it didn't work. The glue didn't hold and we think it is because of the temperature changes and the light flimsy plastic. We replaced the inside with the hard, less flexible sheeting. So far that has held fine.

[stevesflyshop]

Well I've had 2 trips to Texas with the cooler and it is working great. The thicker plastic sheeting stood up to quarters of meat bouncing around and hasn't cracked. The cooler also keeps regular ice for about 3 days.

The only additional improvement I am going to do is to add handles. There aren't any and since it sits flush on the floor of the suburban, it's tough to move. Otherwise, it's working real well.