Cooler for Flying Meat Home

A great soft cooler that is inexpensive and works well. Baggage handlers haven't been able to damage mine on repeated trips Baja to Alaska in the summer ......two days to home with frozen fish.

polarbearcoolers.com size 48 will hold 46 pounds of frozen meat and make the 50 pound limit. They usually have a 2 for 1 sale in November.. I get mine monogrammed for easy airport ID.

I need to order two more [I have 4] as they go home with visiting nephews returning to Germany etc with fish.
 
In the past I have taken a Yeti, but the cooler weighs so much I am not able bring nearly as much meat back as I could if I had a lighter cooler.

My question is how do you all secure the cooler lids on these cheaper coolers with no latches or holes for zip ties? Duct tape?

Gorilla tape
 
Thanks for the heads up on polar coolers. Just ordered a 48 soft side and having it shipped free with 20% off Labor Day sale code got it for $103. Hope to use test it out this November
 
I also have two polar bear 48s. They are a great cooler or duffle bag depending on how the trip goes.

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So how do you pack the cooler on your way there. They are pretty big to put in luggage.
 
Totes can be lined with cardboard to add some insulation and then drill some holes through the lid and lip of the totes and zip tie shut. Tape some extra zip ties to the top of the lid in case TSA cuts them off. A hunting partner has used rubbermade.

Soft sided coolers are an interesting option.

For hard sided coolers, I would either pack them with gear and add a soft sided duffel to put gear in on the way back. Or perhaps better, buy the cooler once you get there if you are successful so you only have to carry it one way.
 
I take a cheap duffle bag and put my two soft coolers in the. Using a Calcutta and Ice mule. They both fit in. I can bone out a deer or lope, get a cape in it as well. Rack I box up and pad up for the flight
 
No need to have the meat pre frozen...most super markets will sell you dry ice. TSA stopped me when I told them I had 8lbs of dry ice, had to break it on the curb in Bozeman to get it down to 5lbs. After a 3 hour flight most of the meat was frozen in a cheap Coleman cooler we just bought for the way home. Sealed with tape by TSA. Worked like a charm.
 
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