Does there exist a small (nothing larger or heavier than the Manhattan
Yellow Pages) travel cooler that would keep liquid medicine frozen? By
travel I mean train or plane (no source of electricity). I imagine it
would have to be battery operated although maybe not. The period of
time it would have to go without charging would be maximum 6 - 8
hours.

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Clarification of Question by jan35-ga on 10 Sep 2003 16:56 PDT

To jackburton-ga: The medicine is in little vials and would fit in a
can I think. Yes I am interested.

To aht-ga: The airport closest to me is Newark, NJ. I also am very
close to New York City. The problem is -- how to get it to the place
that packs it up, without it melting on the way?

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Clarification of Question by jan35-ga on 12 Sep 2003 03:00 PDT

to aht-ga: The medicine was shipped,  packed in styrofoam and dry ice,
inside a regular cardboard box. I guess I will try the gel-pack
thing...seems like a good idea. I just thought that something
specificly for keeping stuff frozen might exist.

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Request for Question Clarification by aht-ga on 12 Sep 2003 19:02 PDT

jan35-ga:

The best that a portable cooler can do using fan-assisted
thermo-electric cooling is about 10 degrees Celsius difference between
external and internal temperature, and that's assuming that the
insulating material is excellent and the container is air-tight. The
power needed to maintain this difference for 6-8 hours would require a
battery much larger than the Manhattan Yellow Pages, I'd venture (it
all depends on the volume being cooled, of course). If you were
travelling in the wintertime, and could keep the container outside,
then this wouldn't be a problem, but if you're travelling while the
ambient temperature is above 10 degrees Celsius, you'd need to use the
gel-packs anyway with the thermo-electrics simply complementing them.
And again, you'd be hauling a big battery around.

Hope it works out for you!

aht-ga

Hi Jan,
I have found a portable can cooler that might be suitable, assuming
the liquid you are carrying can be stored in a can size container. If
this of interest to you, please let me know.

jan35-ga:

I've personally had great success in the past using the services of a
shop that specializes in selling frozen salmon to travellers visiting
the region I live in. The important thing is that they flash-freeze
the product first, then pack it in a Styrofoam cooler along with
several deep-frozen gel icepacks, then they seal up the Styrofoam
cooler airtight with a lot of packing tape. Through this method, I've
successfully transported frozen liquids by plane, with the contents
still being frozen over 24 hours later when I finally got to my
destination. They were willing to do this for me even though I wasn't
buying any fish, and the cost was very reasonable (basically just the
cost of materials).

Depending on where you live, you may be able to find a business
selling frozen goods to travellers (ie. near the airport) who can do
the same for you. If this sounds like a possibility for you, let me
know which major city you would be nearest to at the point of
departure, and I can see if I can find a similar type of business for
you. Whether or not they would have a small Styrofoam cooler (ie. no
larger than the Manhattan yellow pages) is the difficult part. As
well, in terms of re-use, as long as you have access to a good freezer
at both ends of the journey, and a steady supply of packing tape, you
can reuse the Styrofoam cooler and the gel icepacks many times.


Regards,

aht-ga

jan35-ga:

Now I'm intrigued... is the medicine frozen when you first receive it,
and if so, how do you bring it home without it melting? If however the
medicine can sustain a little bit of exposure, then you can just use a
"regular" travel cooler and a couple of "regular" gel-packs from
Walmart to get it to the shop, if a shop exists. Alternatively, you
can even try doing it yourself by buying the smallest styrofoam cooler
you can find at Walmart, along with several gel-packs, freeze the
gel-packs for 24 hours, then throw them into the cooler along with a
thermometer and seal it all up with packing tape. Check it again after
12 hours, and if the thermometer is still at or below freezing
temperature, you'll be ok.