Badwater Forum

Glad you brought this up. I've been thinking about using dry ice this year, for the first time.
You say that you layered the dry ice on top of the water ice...do you need to separate the two, or can you put the dry ice right on top of the water ice?
What ratio of dry to wet ice would you recommend?

I'd be interested to hear other people's experience with dry ice as well. The people I've talked to before have said it works very well. Any other comments?

Thanks!

We used Dry Ice (from Reddy Ice) in 2003 & 2004 and will use it again this year. We'll get about 70lb of it. We use it to keep our wet ice supply from melting as quickly, so we put the dry ice on the BOTTOM of the cooler with some newspaper over the top. Do NOT remove the wet ice from the bag when you put it into the cooler with the dry ice or you will end up with one big block of (rock hard) wet ice that will require an ice pick to get out of the cooler.

Be very careful what you put into the dry ice cooler. Forgotten bottles of beer will freeze solid and explode. Ice cream is a great treat during BW which the dry ice will allow you to keep frozen.

Jim

Thanks, RSJ!

Many years ago I worked for an industrial gas company which sold dry-ice. Be VERY careful about handling the stuff... insulated gloves are strongly recommended. Also, it attracts biting bugs (CO2).

Dry-ice has some industrial uses, you might check welding supply companies, which sell industrial gases such as argon, oxygen, acetylene, and cabon dioxide.

Incidently, you can buy a dry-ice maker pretty cheaply - less than $150 - you can buy a CO2 cylinder from any gas supply company.

Thanks for the input, John.

I don't have any problem finding a source for the stuff. Our local grocery store has it, as well as several other places in town. I have an advantage that way, since we live close enough to drive to DV. But it's interesting that a dry ice maker can be bought so cheaply.

I was figuring on handling the dry ice with a plastic scoop, and handling the scoop with leather gardening gloves. Do you think that would be a safe arrangement? (Do you suppose anyone has ever been treated for frostbite while running Badwater?)

Fortunately, Death Valley has very few biting insects. Most require water to reproduce, and this is...well...a desert! I don't recall EVER seeing a mosquito there. Just makes you want to rush out and by a plane ticket, doesn't it John? Do you have black flies where you live?

Sorry for the delay in replying. It's very time-consuming, looking after the England team at the World Cup. I'm getting behind on all the important stuff...

Dry ice is very cold... about -109ºF... that's MINUS. A plastic scoop would work; I was thinking of a wooden-handled garden trowel. And gloves, of course.

Safe handling and storage info can be found at this link... http://www.frozenontime.com/dryice_safehandling.htm

No black flies here, it's too far south. We've got lots of other flying bugs... jogging in the evening is problematic. I hold a hand in front of my face in the worst parts, and still get bugs in my mouth, nose, and eyes.

Just a follow-up on my dry ice experience.
We bought $30 worth of the stuff on Thursday (before my Saturday start) and used it to transport a cooler of ice and food to DV. It worked very well for that, but was totally gone by Saturday, when my run actually started.
It worked very well, just sitting in the cooler in its own plastic bag. Handling was not a problem. But we need to (a) buy a whole lot more of it, or (b) find a source in Lone Pine so we can get it closer to starting time.
Otherwise, we won't be using it next time.

Marcia,

How much did $30 buy and how big was your cooler? I wish I had seen your post at the forum asking Bill the ratio before you left for your solo because I remembered off-hand how much he used.

I went back into the BW forum archives and in his post dated Sun., Dec. 4, 2005 he posted that for his 2003 race he filled a 120 quart cooler with about 100# of H2O ice and 35# of CO2 ice and that worked well for them for the whole race, so about a 3:1 H2O:CO2 ratio worked well. I noticed he told you he bought 60# of dry ice, so I wonder if he topped off the 35# during the race.

And by the way...CONGRATULATIONS on your awesome finish!!!

Connie Karras

I think it was something like 15 pounds. Not much.
I don't think I can afford to use the optimum amount.

Marcia,

Yeah, if it wasn't for Bill paying my expenses, there's no way I could make it to Death Valley. It's certainly expensive.

But the dry ice problem certainly didn't affect your finish! Awesome time. What a nice surprise you'll be there crewing in a few weeks - can't wait to meet you.

Look forward to your report,

Connie Karras