Every once in a while a product comes along that is so simple yet works so well that a person wonders why they did not think of it themselves.

The cooler insulators from CoolerInsulators.com are an example.

One of the company’s founders, Randy Kempton, was kind enough to give me a little background on where the idea for the insulators originated from.

Randy says, “The need for Cooler Insulators originated from growing up and camping in Southern Arizona where it’s no secret the temperatures routinely surpass the triple digit mark. As a kid, I watched my dad stress and worry about keeping the food cold and keeping it from spoiling …..freezing ice blocks days before our trip started, constantly moving the coolers to the shade throughout the day, getting upset at us kids for opening the cooler, and planning our trips near places he could get ice. I never realized the whole production and operation around keeping food cold until I started taking my kids camping; I can now empathize with my dad. There are few, if any, affordable options for those of us that ‘tent it’ and aren’t fortunate enough to own RV’s with actual refrigerators………….until now!”

I agree even though we don’t tent camp (at least I don’t anymore although my husband usually tents it once a year) but instead have a small popup, with a refrigerator about the size of a large microwave that is full after I put 5 things in it. Coolers are a necessary part of any of our camping trips.

My husband and I had the opportunity to try the 5 gallon beverage insulator cooler, which is pictured below, on our camping trips the past 2 weeks. The insulator worked great, saving us time that we (when I say “we” I really mean my husband since I always make him go get the ice) didn’t have to spend going to buy ice and money we didn’t have to spend buying ice or using gas to drive to a store or gas station to get it.

Although our test of it was not exactly scientific (no fancy lab, goggles, or white suits - instead it was the great outdoors, sunglasses and shorts) we were able to do a side by side comparison because we were camping with my brother and sister-in-law, who have the exact same Rubbermaid 5 gallon beverage cooler that we have (the cooler insulator website says the insulator fits the Igloo and Home Depot 5 gallon beverage coolers but it also fits the Rubbermaid 5 gallon beverage coolers perfectly).

Our cooler, the one with the cooler insulator on, used less than half the ice the cooler without the insulator on used; plus even after all the ice in our cooler had melted our water stayed cold a lot longer.

Both coolers were put in direct sunlight. We didn’t bother trying to keep them in the shade like normal because we really wanted to put the insulator to the test.

The first trip, we were running behind schedule (pretty typical for us - sometimes I think I was born “running late”), so we just dumped the couple trays of ice cubes we had in our freezer into our cooler and headed for the campground. Usually that much ice would barely keep the water cool until the following morning. With the insulator on, we still had ice cold water the next night. By comparison, the 2 blocks of ice (made by freezing water in one gallon milk containers and cutting them off) in the uninsulated cooler had melted and the water was warm.

During the second trip, my husband and brother in law both put a 7 gallon bag of ice in each water cooler on Monday. By the time we left the campground on Thursday we still had ice cold water. My brother in law had warm water that nobody in their family wanted to drink even though he had put more ice in his cooler on Wednesday morning.

I’m sold on this product and I highly recommend it. If you go camping and use coolers, these insulator covers will cut down on the amount of ice you need which means the insulator will end up paying for itself.

They would also be great for non-camping uses, such as for someone who works outside all day and takes their lunch to work in a cooler (there is an insulator for small lunch coolers and one for medium sized lunch coolers).

I plan on getting a second insulator - one for my food cooler so that I can cut down on my ice usage even more (okay, maybe I’ll be nice and get 2 so my husband’s beer cooler keeps his beer frosty cold longer).

Storage of the insulator when it’s not in use is easy. It folds and takes up very little space, which is important to people who tent and those who have small campers like myself.

But, you don’t need to take my word for it. Try one for yourself. There’s really no risk because they come with a 60 day money back guarantee so if you decide it doesn’t work the way you think it should you can return it and receive your purchase price back.

Plus, the insulators have a one year warranty (of course this warranty doesn’t include things like someone deciding to turn the insulator into a space suit for their Halloween costume and destroying it in the process)

Check out the entire line of cooler insulators by visiting: coolerinsulators.com

SPECIAL NOTE: The 5 gallon beverage coolers are temporarily out of stock due to high demand as of the day I’m writing this, August 20, 2008. But the word from company owner Randy K. is that they are expected to be back in stock within the next 2-3 weeks, so keep checking their website. All the other insulator covers are in stock though and can be ordered right away.