Ice notes
The packing order that keeps the last can cold
Loading a cooler is a sequence, not a pile. Five minutes at the kitchen counter buys you hours at the other end.
Chill the bag first
An hour before you leave, put a bag of ice or two ice packs into the empty cooler and close it. The liner and foam come down to temperature, so the ice you pack for the trip is not spending its first hour cooling the bag itself. Tip the melt water out just before you load.
Bottom layer: what you want last
Drinks go in first, standing up, with a block of ice or a frozen bottle among them. This is the layer you will not disturb until late in the day, and the reason it stays cold is that nobody keeps opening it. In a backpack, put the heaviest items closest to your spine.
Middle layer: ice, then food
Pour cubes over the drinks so the cold sinks through the load, then set sealed containers on top. Anything that must not get wet goes in a bag of its own — even a leakproof liner cannot stop a lid coming off a salad box in a moving car.
Top deck: the fragile and the frequent
Bread, fruit, crisps and the things people will grab all day belong in the upper deck, where opening them does not vent the cold bay underneath. That is what the second compartment is for, and using it properly is worth more than any number on the label.
At the end of the day
Drain, wipe, and leave the bag open until the liner is dry. Every cooler that ends up smelling was folded away wet. Dry storage is the difference between a bag that lasts two summers and one that lasts ten.
Pack it cold
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