Coleman Xtreme cool box review - The challenge of camping for more than a few days without an electric hookup (EHU) (especially with a family) is how to keep meals interesting, easy and cost effective. OK, so there are plenty of dry/tinned/jarred alternatives such as pasta, noodles, hotdogs, beans, sauces etc. and you can use UHT or powered milk. Apparently, the reason why the Coleman coolers are so good is because they inject the polyurethene foam into the cooler casing so there are literally no gaps. This method is not used by most other manufacturers who just use polystyrene, which isn't as efficient and leaves gaps which allow heat exchange. Coleman also did a lot of research into what shapes stay cooler for longer, and it's actually a circular sphere shape that stays cool the longest (least surface area). Obviously for practicality this doesn’t work for boxes whichis why they made the edges curved and elevated the bottom slightly off the floor – all small ways in which their coolers perform a lot better than others.

It is easy to see that these coolers are designed to be minimalist, uncomplicated and just work. They have very few moving parts and are uncomplicated, the lid has a great design whereby it clips firmly shut and the lip design helps contribute to keeping your lovely food nice and cool for when you are ready to use it. This brings us on to Coleman cool boxes, in particular their Xtreme range of coolers. We’ve now tested a couple of cool boxes, and during our numerous conversations with other TentLife Facebook group members, they are arguably the best out there, especially for the price. It also has well thought out features like 2 cup holders on the lid so you can use it as a side table when camping. Additionally, the lid is strong enough to be used as a seat for a person up to 113kg. There’s nothing quite like that first cup of tea or coffee in the morning on a camping trip. So make sure you don’t miss out by adding camping mugs and kettle to your outdoor gear. Decathlon’s selection of camping mugs is made from plastic or hardwearing steel, while our camping kettles can be conveniently boiled on your camping stove. We’ve even got whistling camping kettles that will tell you when it’s ready for you to make your brew.

Cool Box

The Coleman Xtreme coolers are different from the other cooler boxes available as they are insulated with Polyurethane insulation (PU). PU is a very dense and an excellent insulator, filling the entire internal cavity of the cooler, leaving no air gaps and so improving its insulating efficiency. If you’re planning a weekend camping trip, a family picnic or a long road trip and taking food and drinks, you’ll need to find a way to keep them fresh and cool. The solution is a camping cooler. You can keep your food and drinks chilled at optimum temperature with a cool box. With a cool box or cool bag from Decathlon, you don’t have to worry about your salad, cold cuts or cheese sweating in the summer heat. Slightly different handles on this cooler as it is smaller and also has a different way of moving it around where possible (wheels/handle). This is a big 66ltr cooler. It’s the walls filled with polyurethane foam as the insulator. It is a very good looking cooler, we really like the orange and dark grey colouring as it makes it look very smart. Over the weekend we tried to minimise the amount of time we had the cooler open to help it stay cool for longer. We were very impressed to still be able to have cold milk almost 48 hours after we left home.

As well as being well designed from an efficiency point of view it is a very stylish cooler box. I love the grey and orange colour scheme. In addition, Coleman has found that 30% of cooling loss is through the base of the cooler being put on a warm surface. They have found that putting feet on the base of their coolers increases airflow around the base which acts as additional insulation, reducing heat loss from the base.So other than a 12v cool box which come with their own challenges like size and how to power, the only option for decent food when camping is a decent cool box.