Checked Baggage Cooler Recommendation for Flying Meat Home

[Mountainman3]

I bought a wheeled Coleman from Wally World last year in MT. The wheels make it easier to get to and from baggage.

I put one elk ham, both back straps and tenders. Weight was 72# and the cooler was full to the top. All deboned. I couldn’t have squeezed a popcorn fart in there!

What size cooler depends on how much meat you wanna bring home. I would think the 120 qt will get to your 100# weight limit pretty easily. Make sure you pack news papers or some sort of towels to take up any extra space in the cooler to help maintain the cold.


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[MattB]

@Doc Holliday

Seems some folks are confusing Quart Capacity with Can Capacity. A 48 can soft cooler will easily hold 50+ lbs of frozen meat.

Yeah, me, Artic Red River, and the guy who sends 200 clients a year home with 48 qt coolers that hold around 50# of meat.....

 

[kevf]

I flew last year with a FIY set up. I didn't get a chance tobtry my set up, but here is what it was, let me know whether you believe that could have worked.

I packed two large flexible luggage. Large enough to pack 70lbs meat, and I brought double sided aluminium reflective bubble insulation material tailored to the inside of the bags. I was planning to also had layers of newspaper around it. Light and collapsible setup.

I was anticipating to get my meat frozen at a butcher shop, drop that in, and jope it will still be rock solid 14hr after.

What do you think?

 

[ColeyG]

Another vote for the Yeti Hopper 30 as the ideal solution for the "traveling with meat" problem. Loaded with boned out meat it will way just under 50lbs and it does an awesome job keeping things cold for up to a few days at a time. After a handful of airplane trips with hard sided coolers and oversize/weight fees, my two Hoppers have paid for themselves and we use them all of the time for other fishing and camping trips to the point where my hard sided coolers primarily sit on the shelves these days.

 

[william schmaltz]

These threads are always funny. It's fairly typical on Rokslide. Guys looking for justification in buying something expensive and a bunch of guys giving real world examples of the cheapest version working just fine. Then all that information that was asked for is just ignored and the expensive product is bought anyways. If you want an expensive cooler, just buy one and enjoy. It's your money and it's fun to have nice things! But it doesn't matter what you use if you're travel is less than 24 hours.

We travel every summer back to the midwest usually around the first week of July. We take two coolers of fish and bring back two coolers of beef. It's about 18 hours from freezer to freezer and everything has always been frozen solid. Typically we just buy whatever the cheapest ($20) 48 qt cooler is on the shelf at Freds at the time. Packed full it's a perfect 50#. Not sure how many groups of hunting/fishing friends we've sent with the same cheap coolers over the last 7 years, but it has to be over 50 coolers with no meat loss.

 

[TrueAt1stLight]

TAG. This is a great thread!

 

[Btrevett]

Get the lightest cooler you can find. A Yeti or similar takes up too much weight empty. If the meat is hard frozen you won’t need much for a NA flight, unless there’s overnight layovers. The belly of an airplane is cold. I’ve done this a lot and you can’t even fill a 60 qt cheap Wallyworld cooler full of meat and stay under 50lb weight limits. So be mindful that you will either be going overweight or paying for an extra bag. Figure out what is cheaper.

Also, buy an Ice Mule backpack cooler. You can fit a whole boned out frozen deer in one and carry it as a carry on. I’ve done it many times. Brutal on long walks through big airports, but it can help avoid the extra bag fees.

When you mention the ice mule for carry on, which size are you referring to ?

 

[SDHNTR]

When you mention the ice mule for carry on, which size are you referring to ?

Not sure. It’s a backpack model and pretty good sized. 40l + I’d say.

 

[Trial153]

Ice mule pro, XL and XXL. You will fit 50 pounds of boned out meat in the XL and and 75 in XXL.

Put the meat in bags in the cooler so it takes shape then put the whole cooler bag in the freezer with the top open. Close it up and zip tie it for added security and you good to go. I have had up to 36 hours of travel time and meat it still frozen pretty good.

 

[j3butch]

These threads are always funny. It's fairly typical on Rokslide. Guys looking for justification in buying something expensive and a bunch of guys giving real world examples of the cheapest version working just fine. Then all that information that was asked for is just ignored and the expensive product is bought anyways. If you want an expensive cooler, just buy one and enjoy. It's your money and it's fun to have nice things! But it doesn't matter what you use if you're travel is less than 24 hours.

We travel every summer back to the midwest usually around the first week of July. We take two coolers of fish and bring back two coolers of beef. It's about 18 hours from freezer to freezer and everything has always been frozen solid. Typically we just buy whatever the cheapest ($20) 48 qt cooler is on the shelf at Freds at the time. Packed full it's a perfect 50#. Not sure how many groups of hunting/fishing friends we've sent with the same cheap coolers over the last 7 years, but it has to be over 50 coolers with no meat loss.

These threads are always funny. It's fairly typical on Rokslide. Guys looking for justification in buying something expensive and a bunch of guys giving real world examples of the cheapest version working just fine. Then all that information that was asked for is just ignored and the expensive product is bought anyways. If you want an expensive cooler, just buy one and enjoy. It's your money and it's fun to have nice things! But it doesn't matter what you use if you're travel is less than 24 hours.

We travel every summer back to the midwest usually around the first week of July. We take two coolers of fish and bring back two coolers of beef. It's about 18 hours from freezer to freezer and everything has always been frozen solid. Typically we just buy whatever the cheapest ($20) 48 qt cooler is on the shelf at Freds at the time. Packed full it's a perfect 50#. Not sure how many groups of hunting/fishing friends we've sent with the same cheap coolers over the last 7 years, but it has to be over 50 coolers with no meat loss.

What size/type cooler would you recommend for a dall head w horns for Euro, hide and some meat to fly back with as checked luggage?