If you are planning an Event or a Camping trip and you want to keep food and drinks cold, chances are you are going to utilize an ice chest or a portable fridge to keep food frozen and beer chilled. IF you are considering to use an Ice box you are probably going to find that ice boxes only going to keep the items cold depending on how well you pack your icebox . IF you end up with a cheap ice box you can be rest assured you will eventually have soggy & rotten food, and warm drinks leaving you with nothing more than a pool of water.
In order to improve the ice rating on your ice chest you need to do a few things right to be able to get good ice retention make a few different adjustments. Regardless if you are using a high performance Cryolux ice box or an Esky cooler, there are a few tips and tricks for how to keep ice from melting.

The Thumb rule When it comes to keep ice from melting is to minimise openings on the cooler and minimise the duration the lid is kept open. If you open the Esky over and over again you are just going to let the warm air in which will result in the ice melting quicker.

Its Also advised that you pre-cool the icebox before you start packing the icebox , You can leave a few frozen bottles of water overnight which will cool the walls down . The Quality of Ice used in the icebox is very important. The ones from the Service Station are usually only around 0 Degree C which is just ready to melt. Its best you freezer big tubs of water in your freezer, this way you have big chunks of ice in your esky. You may even add a hand full of salt in your water which will make it freeze colder and eventually melt slower. Its recommended that you fill half your box with ice and rest half with your food and drinks which are already chilled. If you are going to leave the box outside in the camp site. Its recommended that you Wrap the cooler up with a wet towel which will help keep the box cool and retain temperature inside and a thick wet towel also helps insulate the cooler further. All of this put together is going to allow for a cooler ice box and prevent the ice from melting.

Keep the cooler in the shade, if possible. The shade is far cooler than in sunlight, and the sunlight is going to melt the ice faster. Although sometimes you are going to find this isn’t possible, when it is, always seek out the shade.