[kari]

I was car-camping for about a week and while packing up, was startled to find that my cooler (which was a recent gift) did not fit in the insight unless on its side in the exact center of the rear area up against the seats, and even THEN it was a close fit. I prefer to load the cargo area with large items in the back behind the seats so I still can see behind me. Luckily I was meeting someone at the beach who planned to bring their cooler as well, and I didn't have to bring it after all.

Has anyone found a good cooler solution for the insight?

(and this is the cooler I'm referring to:
coleman ultimate extreme 50-qt cooler
dimentions of 31Lx15-1/2x17H".)

 

[kari]

** I'm going to reply to myself to mention that my stepmom was SO impressed to see how much gear I could cram into the insight. I am not the most efficient beach car-camping person: on the last trip down I had a giant canopy, my tent, 2 inflatable foam pads, a sleeping bag, sheets and blanket for my friend who doesn't have a sleeping bag, a big bag of books, a small bag of knitting, a large pot for cooking corn, a camp stove, a duffel bag, a beach bag with towels, a beach umbrella, 2 accordian chairs, 2 camp folding chairs, my laptop bag for checking in at work once (poop!), and a picnic basket full of dishes.

 

[HB]

That is one MONSTER cooler :!: The only thing I can suggest (assuming you want to carry it already filled) is to wrap a couple of bungy cords around it and keep it on it's side. :badgrin:

 

[boogetyboogety]

Sometimes My Beloved and I take a little road trip and buy foodstuffs that need cooling for the short trip back home. I found one of those canvas-type collapsible, soft-sided coolers at a sporting goods store (might have been Academy) that fits perfectly in the little "underground" trunk in the back. It sits there invisibly until we need it, then we can access it and fill it up and have it disappear again under the foamy trunk lid.

WalMart had a "real" wheeled cooler 2-3 years ago (may still have it, haven't had the need to shop for one lately) that fits perfectly under the hatch when placed east-west all the way in to the trunk edge behind the seats. It holds a ton of stuff, it's one of the ones that's long and horizontal, with the wheels opposite the long folding handle, NOT the roughly-cube-shaped, upright one with the collapsible handle on the same side of the wheels. THAT one won't fit (not upright, anyways). :x

Good luck, let us know what works for you!

 

[kari]

I'm not even sure that on it's side it would have fit in nicely - I'm going to have to spend some time with graph paper and a tape measure before I buy a new cooler to make sure I've got a good diagram of the hatch size!

something long and short sounds like the way to go. I love the idea of a collapsable cooler but I don't think it would be good at the beach in the sun. (we usually go through a block of ice per day with a regular hard box cooler - the extreme type eskimo coolers can stretch the block to 1 1/2 days.) I am totally giving this cooler back to the gifter!