Cool Drinks

Submitted: Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 20:45

ThreadID: 19836 Views:2339 Replies:8 FollowUps:8

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John

I manage in my campertriler (a fantastic T-Van) without a a fridge freezer. After many years sailing I have discovered producs that are fine without refrigeration (such as long life milk). It helps that I am not a big meat eater and am happy with red wine.
I went away over 5 days fly fising recently and the day temps were around 38 every day. Horror! the red wine was too hot to drink.
My wife suggested wrapping the wine in a wet tea towel, an old idea and I was sceptical about the difference it would make.
Too my surprise it made the wine much cooler and even some coke was drinkable. It was much cooler than when kept in the river !
This idea my also be usefull even if you have a fridge to reduce energy consumption when restocking.
Made a great holiday even better. One note of caution I Saw 3 snakes over the 5 days., including a brown that climbed if my wifes leg while sitting in the river. (she said I have never yelled as loud when I saw it. She also said I should have not have yelled but said " Angela dont move because you will be bitten, there is a snake climbing up your leg". I think she is calmer in these situations than I am)
Cheers John

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Reply By: Member - Camper (SA) - Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 21:40

Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 21:40

That's the principle of the cool safe or Koolgardie safe, John, one of which you could make in miniture. It would cool pretty well if mounted outside the CT and moved through the air at highway speed.
Hm I wonder????
Camper

AnswerID: 95247

Reply By: Member - Willie , Epping .Syd. - Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 21:53

Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 21:53

Hi John ,

I cannnot do without an eski AND a fridge . I am a softy !

Did you catch any trout ? Where did you fish ?

Three snakes is not a lot for five days - that's what waders are for ! But the snake crawling up your wife's leg is a shocker . Brave lady to let you stay there after that .

I once had a water rat start climbing my waders at Providence Portal .I don't know which of us got the bigger fright .

Cheers ,

Willie .

AnswerID: 95250

Follow Up By: John - Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 22:31

Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 22:31

Hi Willie
Yes lots of Trout best was 1 1/2 lb. I would tell you where it was but then I would have to shoot you.
Cheers John

FollowupID: 354048

Follow Up By: Member - Moggs - Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 23:57

Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 23:57

....and if you had a fridge you could have brought it back to show him :)

FollowupID: 354059

Reply By: Member - Jimbo (VIC) - Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 21:57

Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 21:57

I had an old uncle who died 20 years ago who told me when he was "young", working in the bush, in the heat, they simply wrapped the bottles of beer in wet cloths and sat them under the truck for half an hour and "icy" cold beer at the end of the shift.

Simply doesn't work. Cools it from hot to warm. If you can tolerate warm beer, great. A warm beer at the end of a hot day will do you more harm than an "off" steak.

If you can afford $30,000 on a camper, another $700 on a small fridge would not seem to be an outlandish waste. Could even get your Coke cold.

Just my thoughts. I do love a cold beer, and more importantly, on a hot day a cold drink of water revives me.

Cheers,

Jim.

AnswerID: 95254

Follow Up By: John - Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 22:27

Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 22:27

Dear Jimbo
Yes i agree the method does not cool enough to make beer aceptable, but the drinks were more like coolish than warm. Not bad for an air temp of 38C. There was also little wind which I would have expected to improve the performance.
Cheers John

FollowupID: 354047

Follow Up By: Member - Moggs - Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 23:56

Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 23:56

Yep, works like a gem...we always carry many wet tea towels in the back of our horse and cart right next to the stone axe and the sextant ;)

Treat yourself...get a fridge :)

FollowupID: 354058

Reply By: Member - Sand Man (SA) - Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 23:56

Thursday, Jan 27, 2005 at 23:56

John,

You mean you don't chill your red wine during our summer climate?????

Bill

I'm diagonally parked in a parallel Universe!

Member
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AnswerID: 95288

Follow Up By: Squizzy - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 07:26

Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 07:26

We have to have our reds chilled during the warmer months........

Geoff.

FollowupID: 354071

Reply By: Member - Mozza (NSW) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 08:43

Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 08:43

looked what i found on the 'Tip, Quotes & Facts' page of exploroz!..

"Tip - Never put warm drinks into your car fridge. Instead, wrap bottles in a wet teatowel and leave out overnight. In the morning they will be cool enough to put into your fridge - helps conserve your fridge battery. "

AnswerID: 95319

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:37

Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 20:37

If you can afford a TVan, why not dish out some small change for a fridge/freezer?

AnswerID: 95431

Follow Up By: John - Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:38

Friday, Jan 28, 2005 at 21:38

Dear Trukster
Thanks for your comments. Everone sems concerned by my lack of cold stuff, perhaps they are worried I will invite myself over and drink their beer.
I concede that I will one day I will get around to getting a fridge, but for a red wine drinking semi vegitarian the advantages are not as great as you think. I rent a farmers hut in Canberra every year to go fly fishing I use the kerro fridge in the hut but stay in the TVan because it is much more comfortable than the hut. It is nice to have a cold beer and soft drinks but its not a big deal.
The cost is not a great concern ( It is not small change however I generally have a philosophy of buying the best and fridge solar pannels and charging from the car would run to 10% of the cost of the Tvan), but the added complexity of extra sola pannels and the risk that they will be pinched when away from camp could take they gloss from any holiday.
The Tvan is packed and ready to go at a moments notice. If the weather is good I can leave with very little preperation. The complication of perishable goods, longer set up time etc has got drawbacks.
Dont feel sorry for me, how many men have a beatifull wife that doesnt freak out when a brown snake wraps around her leg.
Cheers John

FollowupID: 354191

Reply By: trippin - Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 13:40

Saturday, Jan 29, 2005 at 13:40

Hi John,
the wet tea towl works ok and on the principle of evapotation to cool. The faster the wet stuff (water in this case) evaporates the better is works. Some liquids evapotate faster than water and so cool better- try metho or any fast evapotating stuff: petrol, acetone etc.

AnswerID: 95518