Elite Picnic Backpacks

Summer time is a great time to get out doors.  We all know there are lots of out door activities that are fun for the family.  We all need to be careful when out doors in the summer if it is really hot out there.  We can dehydrate really easily when it is hot and humid out there.  Just be sure you have plenty something to drink and keep hydrated.

If you are planning a day at the park with your family bring along things to drink, you can pack a great rolling cooler full of drinks for you and your family.  I know that this type cooler makes things so much easier as it has wheels and a great extendable handle, nothing to carry to make you hot and sticky before your day even begins.

I don’t know about you, but I am trying to skimp and save my pennies these days.  I cook extra for the week and that helps me to pack a lunch for work during the week.  Brownbagging is nothing new, when times get hard.  I think right now qualifies as hard times.

I don’t per say brownbag, but I do have a modern day lunch tote that I pack my lunch in.  It is very stylish and could even carry other things when I am not at the office.

Well, the warmer air is arriving and that brings more people outdoors.  On a nice afternoon in the sun is a great time for a picnic.  Whether it is a romantic picnic for two or a family picnic,  you will need to bring along several different things.  One thing to bring is a picnic tote that is insulated to carry some food items, or you can also bring along a non insulated picnic tote. This tote is great for carring your camera, sunglasses, sunscreen and many other items that you would need.

So, with it being a long cold winter now is the time for that nice day in the park with the familly.  Or that romantic picnic at the top of the mountain.  Which ever it maybe just enjoy that day and best of all enjoy the sun and the people you have with you.

In my opinion, I have found a remarkable new cooler,it is the Collapsible Rolling Cooler. When collapsed it is as small as a computer laptop bag.

The cooler is made with SuperFoam High Performance Insulation, and is lined with a Therma-Flect reflective barrier, which simply means this collapsible, light weight cooler keeps things cool and also is guaranteed not to leak. 

I bypassed the usual dread of hauling the cooler down to the beach. The cooler’s wheels are heavy duty, designed to be used off the road. The wheels didn’t bog down in the sand like heavy plastic and Styrofoam coolers. This cooler also has a retractable, telescopic handle, which makes pulling easy. There’s no bending and stooping to reach a handle as with traditional coolers. The Collapsible Rolling Cooler was the easiest cooler I have every carried on or off the beach.

So. if you are planning a day at the beach or a day at the park or even a day trip this Collapsible Rolling Cooler will make your trip a much easier way to carry all your packed goods.

Wicker picnic baskets are a lovely and a traditional way to pack a breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just brunch on a Sunday afternoon. You can take it with you anywhere — to your backyard garden, your neighborhood park, or as a special luxury treat, on a camping trip. You can even bring it on boat trip you may have planned. They make for a great gift for a friend, family member, loved one, or new neighbor.

Wicker is a type of natural straw popularly used to make not only picnic baskets but chairs, tables, folding walls, and more. Wicker is made out of any flexible branch or twig, but it is most commonly made out of willow branches. The wicker straws or branches are woven or laced together to create a tight weave that is light but solid, simple but elegant.

I think that a BYOB restaurant is great idea.  You can bring your own wine and save money at the same time.  These days that is a great way to have a great dinner and save a few bucks.

A nice way to bring your bottle of wine is in a wine tote.  The wine totes of these days come in so many different styles and sizes.  Walking in to the restaurant with your bottle of wine looks so much nicer in a wine tote vs the brown bag that some people bring them in.

So go to a BYOB restaurant and bring that great bottle of your favorite wine in a nice wine tote and enjoy your evening out.

Historically, a picnic basket was literally a basket used to transport food and other supplies to have a meal, usually lunch, out in nature. These days most picnic baskets are more like backpacks, but their fundamental purpose — to transport food, plates, drink, and cutlery — remains the same.

Classic-style picnic baskets are still available from a number of manufacturers. The classic-style baskets are usually made of wicker or a similar material. Usually consisting of a single large storage space, usually with a handle and flaps that open at both ends on the top. These baskets are suitable for transporting food and liquid relatively short distances, but temperature control is not possible and often the food will undergo some shifting around during transport. More advanced wicker picnic baskets, such as English style hampers, have clips on the inside to hold plates, utensils, and a large picnic cloth.

Picnic totes are the other basic type of picnic basket available on the market. These serve essentially the same function as a traditional picnic basket, but more closely resemble a backpack. The picnic tote also comes equipped with a wide array of clips and sleeves to secure flatware, napkins, cloths, and plates. They also usually have holsters on the side or front to hold bottles of wine or juice. The obvious advantage of a tote over a traditional basket is the greatly reduced difficulty in carrying it for long distances, as the weight is much better distributed. Additionally, totes are usually well padded to help protect the food from damage during transport.

More expensive totes include systems to help regulate the temperature of food and liquid being transported. This may involve heavy insulation on the entire tote, or different areas for hot and cold food. Many totes, even those which don’t regulate the temperature of the food, have insulation on their wine sleeves to ensure that the wine remains at its appropriate temperature.

Picnic baskets and picnic totes come in all manner of shapes, sizes and different colors. Varieties are available for specific functions, such as plastic beach totes. Prices vary drastically, from US$20 for a simple traditional basket to over US$300 for a well-insulated, durable picnic tote.

Summer is coming soon enough and with summer and sun shine and warm weather we will find ourselves out doors more often.  For some of us our family time is important.  Going to the park and packing a Picnic Basket full of all home cooked food is a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon with the family.

Knowing how to pack the picnic basket so to keep the food from spoiling and keeping your family safe is a good thing to know.  You would first have plenty of ice packs to fill the basket and start by putting your meat and dairy at the bottom.  The reason for this is that cool air goes to the bottom hot air rises.  Put ice packs all around the food items, the more the better.  You can then stack other items on top of the bottom items putting ice packs around these food items also.  Be sure that the food you put in the picnic basket is cold, you won’t put hot or warm food items as that will effect the coolines of the picnic basket.

You would always try to keep the basket in the shade vs the sun or in a hot car.

Enjoy your family day in the park with your home cooked food and playing games and most of all be safe.

One of my fondest memories was going to the drive-in-movies my family would get in the car with pillows and blankets and my Mom always brought a cooler tote for the chilled soda. 

To hear the movie we would drive up to a speaker, take the metal speaker place it on the window of the car.  In our car we could talk or scream if the movie was scary and not distrub anyone.

I really miss the drive-in-movies and wish I could take my children to one today.