Where to buy a 12v drink cooler for cars

Hi,

I%26#39;m coming to California/LA in July and have been advised to buy a 12v cooler to keep in the rental car to cool drinks.

I need to do this in the LAX area before heading to Death Valley so I was wondering where the best place to pick up a cooler would be?

What%26#39;s the price on one of those things? $50?

Thanks,

Where to buy a 12v drink cooler for cars

If you%26#39;re only using it for a short period of time, during your trip, you can buy a disposable styrofoam cooler at any supermarket. Buy some ice while you%26#39;re there as well to put in it. Those are under $5. If you want an actual cooler, you can buy one easily at a store like Target or most drugs stores (CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, etc) in the summer. There is a Home Depot not far from LAX that will most likely have a bunch of options as well.

Where to buy a 12v drink cooler for cars

I guess I%26#39;m going to use it every day so I%26#39;d better go for a small 12v dc cooler to have in the luggage compartment. Is this a device that is common in electricity stores or in other types of stores? I%26#39;m dropping by one or two outlets, can I expect to find it there?

We have been dragging a small 12V cooler for over 10 years in our luggage. Last years we were tired of it and just bought us a larger cooler (some $ 15,--). Don%26#39;t buy a 12V. Its small and expensive (some $ 75,--). Put wrapped (everywhere available) ice in it and you%26#39;ll be fine all day. We always freeze a couple of bottles of water and put them in the cooler. You%26#39;ll have cold water all day (even in Death Valley in an a/c car) and the cooler stays cool.

Tet

I see your point Tet, but this means I have to freeze the ice elements (what do you call those things?) every night or buy new ones every day to keep the bag cold.

I was thinking of buying a soft sided 12v cooler which is pretty easy to pack and bring back home.

Wal-Mart, Sports Chalet, REI or other sports/camping store such as Big 5, Chicks, etc. All of those stores have websites so you could check prices and locations. We don%26#39;t really have electricity stores here.

Bags of ice or those blue fake ice things are available at every gas station for less than $3, so you could get them every morning when you gas up the car.

No. You can just stop by any grocery store, gas station, convenience store etc and buy a new bag of ice every day for a dollar or two.

We like to keep a cooler with us in the car all the time. We have a small, hard sided cooler we got at a sporting-goods store similar to Big 5. WalMart and K-Mart also sell them. We use two of the ';Blue Ice'; packets and it keeps everything very cool.

Many, many motels here in the western US have small refrigerators with teeny tiny freezers in them. A Blue Ice packet will fit in them and re-freeze overnight.

Or alternatively, ice is available everywhere, including your motel hallway. Just get gallon size zip-loc baggies, fill %26#39;em up with ice and you%26#39;ll be all set!

I do recommend getting a proper insulated cooler rather than a styrofoam one. They cost about $15.

When we went to Britain for two months in 2006, I packed a collapsable cooler and Blue Ice and did the same thing. Each B%26amp;B we stayed at re-froze the bags overnight. Then we always had cool drinks and handy picnic supplies for lunches :-)