Ice......That's so 2010!

One thing that I never saw myself doing was purchasing a cooler that cost more than $100 dollars. I use to be perfectly content with my igloo coolers. Yes, I never had a woman come over and tell me I have a badass cooler on the beach, but I promise you my beers were still cold. Then came the Yeti craze and I found myself sucked into the roto-mold fan club.

I mean come on guys, it can hold ice for 5 plus days and it is grizzly bear tested! Those two reasons alone were enough to get me to spend not 1, not 2, but over 300 dollars on a cooler. I know what you are thinking…..IDIOT! Well half of fishing or hunting is looking and feeling good. I promise you, a yeti /roto-mold cooler can make anyone feel like a man.

Something that I totally over looked is the fact that I have to fill my coolers with ice. I ignored the fact that it would be a ten dollar bill every time I put ice in my cooler. Well the ice does last for 5 days, but I would use it for Saturday and Sunday then work all week. The next weekend I would need more ice. I noticed I was spending way too much money buying ICE.

Let us do the math:  I have three coolers on the boat. So each cooler requires about 3 bags of ICE. A bag of ICE cost about 3.99 for a 10lb bag.  You’re looking at about $30 dollars a fishing trip in ice alone. I do not even own a huge cooler! Imagine being on a large boat that required more than this. ICE ALONE COULD PUT YOU BROKE!

I am going to save you money by giving you ice alternatives.  

1)    WHY BUY A YETI? AIRIA IS THE WAY TO GO!!!

What is an Airia? Airia is a brand of roto-mold coolers that will change the way we view ice. Each cooler (50qt) comes with TWO -2 DEGREE ICE BRICKS.  The cool thing about these coolers is they give you the opportunity to store your ice in the lid and leave room for your cooler contents. I know you are skeptical as to how long these bricks last, but Airia claims it will last longer than conventional ice.

These coolers are comparable to Yeti in price, but will save you more money in ice for the life of the cooler. SHOP AIRIA TODAY!

2)    SAVE YOUR PLASTICS!

If you’re like us you then your coolers are full of sandwiches, water, Gatorade and BEER! Who cares if you catch a fish as long as you have beer? But seriously, you just spent money on your plastic water and Gatorade bottles why not re-use them?!?!?! The perfect bottles are the 64oz Gatorade bottles and the large water bottles. They are easy to re-fill with water. They freeze solid and can be re-used over and over again. They will standup in a cooler and can minimize the amount of space they take up. If they get covered in fish slime, blood or guts then empty them and wash them in the dishwasher. If you must throw it out please recycle, but you can replace it for another $2.50. This has been done for years. The only problem is you will lose your freezer space.

3)    GALLON BAGS OF ICE

This is a technique that I learned from my parents. Rather than always taking up space in your freezer with the bottles you can use Ziploc bags the night before. Take a few 1 gallon freezer bags and fill them with water. You can stack them on top of one another in the freezer. Allow them to freeze and they are ready to use. The bad thing is they will take up a lot of space in your cooler but is a great cheap way to save on ice. A box of 50 gallon Ziploc bags will cost you about $3.99 that is about $0.08 a bag.

4)    THE COOLER SHOCK

Nu ICE was an ice alternative for your cooler. It is no longer available, but out of the ashes of one product raises another. THE COOLER SHOCK is going to take the market by storm. Originally it was made to transport blood, but they have brought this technology to the market for the average consumer. The packs work by freezing them at 0 degree F and will last you for about 24 hours. They are flat and will line the bottom of a cooler or stand up on its side. This makes it a cool space saver. Shop COOLER SHOCK today.

We hope that a few of these products or alternatives will help you save some much needed cash. Please leave your comments below. If you have other techniques or products please share them. We would love to hear them. Share this with anyone who fishes with shrimp and give us a follow on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.