I've gotten spoiled over the years and like to have some meals that feature protein. With groups of 4-8 we usually take a cooler that we portage with a pack frame. Now with a trip of just two I opted to purchase a 60L barrel and am in the process of making the lower section a cooler. So far, I ordered a 2 gal bucket with a Gamma Seal Lid which is roughly 10" D X 10" high. I'll hold this off the bottom of the barrel 2--3 " with some XPS foam board. I'll have approx. 3"around the bucket to insulate. Cutting layers of XPS foam to tightly fit the bucket and sides of the barrel would be tough so I then thought about adding a granular or blown-in insul. between the bucket and barrel and attaching a rigid skirt at the top of the bucket out to the barrel to contain the insulation. That's where things are as of now. Has anyone tried this?

Fill the void with spray foam.

Yes, foam sprayed in is a possibility. After a lot of research, mineral wool safing insulation is a good candidate too. It would also allow me to take it apart if I needed all 60 L for some trips.

This seems like a lot of hassle and overkill. To access the cooler you would need to empty the top of the blue barrel and it takes up a lot of space. What if you were to just use a soft sided style cooler that you could place in the barrel and not end up taking a fixed amount of space every time? Last trip we brought meat for the first 2 nights and did little to insulate it. It was only brats on the second night so I was not as worried about the salted and seasoned meat spoiling in only 2 days. Are you planning on having chicken on day 5 or something like that?

I guess it might make more sense on a longer trip. How long are you expecting this to keep things cold? And how many meals are you planning to get out of it?

As far as I know, spray foam is going to give you the highest R value per inch, and it's the easiest material to use to fill such a space anyway. You'll probably end-up with an R of 4 or 5 maybe. Closed cell spray foam is pricey, but it would give an even better R value than open cell spray foam.

If you want to be able to remove it, cellulose is probably best (highest R value per inch of any loose insulation that isn't fiberglass), but if you want to get really mad scientist, maybe:
Wrap the bucket in wax paper and line the inside walls of the barrel with wax paper before spaying foam.
Remove the bucket, then carefully cut the foam into blocks/sections that can be removed and installed as necessary.

We took a Primus Cooler Sack
It probably won't insulate quite as well as what you are looking at, but it worked well for us and was easy to use.

It's official.
Winter is here. LOL

I realize that the 2 gallon cooler with it's insulation will take up the bottom half of the barrel and that the food bags above would need to be taken out to access the frozen food. What's being gained, though, is at least 3" of insulation all around which hopefully is approaching the R value of a walk-in cooler! I'm pretty sure, now, that I'm going with Iso- board in 2" layers that I'll stack. I'll take out that day"s frozen food to thaw, move a 2" thick piece of foam inside the bucket down to the remaining frozen food and close it up. Four or five days of frozen items for two people might be possible.

Another possibility is to use Reflectix.
Just wrap it around the cold bucket. It can be cut to fit and is easily removable without any muss or fuss.

You're right! When it's cold and gray outside I come up with projects that are a bit questionable.

jcavenagh: "Another possibility is to use Reflectix.
Just wrap it around the cold bucket. It can be cut to fit and is easily removable without any muss or fuss. "

Reflectix has a pretty miserable R value.

Not even remotely a project I'd consider, but it sounds cool! I think I'd use a walmart closed cell foam sleeping pad, cut to size and wrapped around the bucket. Seems like the easiest solution.

Not that you asked, but I just use a few fedex bubble wrap envelopes to wrap frozen protein in. Gets me to at least dinner number 3.

The thing about insulation, any weak point is always the issue. Roto-molded coolers are designed to really seal well but typically don't have very thick insulation. If I can cut the 2" thick insulation "donuts" accurately to fit both the bucket and barrel it might keep frozen food longer than I've managed to before. Here's a rough drawing.

Styrofoam minnow bucket liners

I found 2 Insulated cooler bags that are made for 60 liter barrels and should accommodate your need.

Recreational Barrel Works makes a 60 Liter Insulated Cooler Bag. It is fairly light coming in at 10.6 oz. Its made by reputable manufacturer Ostrum Outdoors. Its bargain priced at $35.29.

Recreational Barrel Works 60 Liter Barrel Cooler

Another and lot more expensive option is North Water 15L Barrel Cooler. It is a double walled 1/2" closed cell barrel cooler. Seems to be well made but it should be at $160.95 Canadian as it looks like it is made in Canada … = $121.84 U.S dollars. Not sure how much better made the North Water Cooler is to warrant such a higher price vs. RBW Barrel.

North Water 15L Barrel Cooler

Thanks! Both of those are nicer than most that I'd found. They're also able to be taken in and out of the barrel easily. Still, it looks like their closed cell foam thickness is only 1/2". I'll have a full 2" of XPS at the narrowest point and 3" at the fullest. This is costing a 40% loss of the barrel's volume but that's why I went with the 60L.

I would suggest one of the above Barrel Coolers and just surround the cooler with the added insulation of your choice. You can then easily take out the barrel cooler when you want a frozen item and then put back the Cooler and surround it with insulation.

When I paddle with a large group and use my BWJ Insulated Food Pack ... I use a piece of High R Value Insulation Foam used in Home construction and place it on on top of my food in the pack. The food is pre frozen and placed in a insulated cooler pack and put in bottom of insulated food pack. A bud put some home blown insulation in some bags and surrounded the insulated cooler with the bagged insulation and it kept things quite cold for 5 days.

I might add that when using the insulated BWJ Food Pack and cooler ... we used the Stu Osthoff method of freezing 2 Orange Juice gallon jugs with water and place them in the food pack to keep things cold. 16 lbs of ice makes the food pack heavy but it’s great to eat steaks, burgers, lunch meat, cheese etc. when tripping. I could go 5 to 6 days over the 4th July and still have good refrigeration. Store food pack in the shade and only go into food pack when you have to.

By the way I freeze all food items and transport with Dry Ice when going up to Quetico.

Now I mostly Solo with some buddies and don’t bring along frozen food.

We like to eat fresh food too, and use blue barrels for carrying in our food and wine. We bring our meat (steaks, brats and pre-cooked bacon), cheese, and butter in a soft-sided cooler stuffed inside one of the barrels. When we go in, the meat is frozen. By the time we get to camp on the first day, take out the steaks and thaw them if still needed. Wine (bladders) go at the bottom of one of the barrels. Our vegetables (potatoes, onion, garlic, green beans, red pepper) don't need to be in a cooler. Everything, including dry food (rice, pasta, pancake mix, trail mix, coffee, oatmeal, etc.) goes in the barrels. 2 x 30L barrels does it for 6 guys for a week. We catch most of our protein though, fishing for dinner, and we've never been skunked.

A follow-up on the barrel/ cooler project. Working with the foam was difficult but 'm happy with the end result. If need be, everything can be removed quickly and reassembled. Time to do a little testing!