When you hear SHIMANO, the first thing that comes to mind is, after all, bicycle parts like derailleurs and brakes, but SHIMANO, which also has a long history in the world of fishing tackle, makes cooler boxes that put that technology to use, too.
What we tried this time were the hard-type “VACILAND” and the soft-type “Mini Cooler Bag Pro.”
We used the VACILAND as the food store for a three-day, two-night OMM, and took the Mini Cooler Bag Pro out on a ride under the blazing sun, to test the cooling performance and usability of each.
The VACILAND, used as the food store for three days and two nights at OMM
It's a cooler box that draws on the cooling technology SHIMANO has cultivated in the world of fishing, and the ST we used this time uses urethane foam.
The maximum ice retention period is 5.5 days for the 32L and 6.5 days for the 40L.
Of course, these are figures from SHIMANO's own test, measured by putting in ice equal to 40% of the capacity and repeating a cycle of 9 hours at 30°C and 15 hours at 20°C. In actual use, results will vary with the outside temperature, sunlight, how often it's opened and closed, and what you put inside.
So this isn't a story of “it really stays cold for six days!”
Rather, what we wanted to know this time wasn't the numbers on the spec sheet but a real-world review: what's it like when you just use it normally for playing outdoors in midsummer?
For the three-day, two-night OMM, not just drinks but meat, vegetables and other ingredients we didn't want to spoil all went into the VACILAND. Putting in a frozen 2L plastic bottle to double as an ice pack and drinking water is handy.
By the way, partly because we packed so as to open and close it as little as possible, the frozen grilled rice balls were still rock solid on the night of the second day.
While the VACILAND uses a highly airtight construction that presses the gasket on firmly, its levers, which use the principle of leverage, let you open and close it with relatively little force; what's more, the lid opens from either the left or the right, and can also be taken right off.
This is quietly handy~.
At a campsite, before you know it tables, chairs and gear pile up around the cooler too, so simply because it “opens from either side,” you don't have to go to the trouble of turning the whole thing around.
It has a drain plug, too, and even the clean-up after use has been well thought out.
It's in details like these that you really feel this is a maker that has been building coolers as fishing gear for many years.
But it's heavy
It's not all good news.
The VACILAND EL weighs 9.0kg for the 32L and 9.5kg for the 40L, for the body alone. Pack in food, drinks, ice and ice packs, and naturally it gets pretty heavy.
Rather than a tool for carrying around on foot, I think it's suited to the kind of use where you bring it to the campsite by car and spend a few days based there.
But there's a reason for that weight. Rather than lightness, being able to entrust your food to it for several days with peace of mind. The VACILAND is a tool that chose the latter.
In bicycle terms, perhaps it's easiest to say it's not a lightweight racing bike but something like a touring bike that you load up and ride far away.
The job it's good at is clear.
And for the bike, the Mini Cooler Bag Pro
On the other hand, if you're using one on a bike, it's a completely different story.
The Mini Cooler Bag Pro, which we took out to a race under the blazing sun, was a cooler with quite a different character from the VACILAND.
This time we tucked it inside a bag during the race and rode with drinks and grapes in it.
It's a midsummer race, so naturally it's hot the whole time. While you're riding there's a breeze, so it's not so bad, but the moment you stop, the sweat comes pouring out.
Partway through, cooling off in a river, I took the grapes out of the bag, and they were still nicely chilled.
The cold of the river, and chilled grapes.
Put into words it may not sound like much, but the happiness of being able to have something cold after riding under the blazing sun is something special. The same goes for BIVO: for that one mouthful, you want to carry it along even if it means a bit more to haul. And it turns “it's hot, let's head home” into “it's hot, but I want to play a little longer!”
The Cooler Bag Pro is one of those tools.
Five hours after the race ended the ice had, as you'd expect, melted, but the meltwater was still cold. That said, the bag itself had got quite wet from condensation, so you need to take care with what you put in alongside it and how you put it in. (Putting it in upright so it would fit in the pannier may have been the cause)
Even taken out under the blazing sun, it was striking that what remained wasn't “a bit cool” but cold enough to properly refresh you. But as a cyclist, what I found interesting wasn't only the cooling performance.
It's that at this size, it can go straight inside a bag.
Instead of taking along a big, bulky cooler box, you can slip a “little refrigerator” into the bag you use every day. That may be what makes the Mini Cooler Bag Pro so versatile.
With a cooler, the way you play in summer changes a little
What I felt after using the two this time was that, more than the cooling figures themselves, when a cooler does its job properly, you gain a little breathing room in your summer outdoor play.
“I wonder if this will spoil.”
“I wonder if it's still cold.”
“Maybe I'd better drink it up soon.”
You don't have to think about those things every time.
A cooler box just needs to keep things cold.
That's certainly true, but with bicycles, too, it's not as if anything will do as long as it rolls.
Where are you going?
What are you taking?
How many days will you play?
Choose a tool that properly fits how you'll use it, and play becomes just a little freer.
The hot days are far from over. Bring along cold drinks and food, and let's go out and play through the rest of summer!
Cooler Bag series
VACILAND series
