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Frio wallets - do they work?

snowleopard

snowleopard

Well-Known Member
Messages
63
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Having bought one for a long journey, I soaked it last night in preparation. I put a temperature probe inside and found it was only 1° below ambient. Is this what I can expect? On the face of it, it hardly seems worth having but does it help when temperatures are higher?
 
The hotter the outside temperature the greater the rate of water evaporation and the cooler the contents of the bag will be.

Make sure the Frio bag isn't buried in your luggage, I try to keep mine at the top so that it can "breathe"
 
I found the Frio worked very well recently in Spain, They stay cool based on evaporation therefore, the ambient temp will affect the cooling required. For example when in Spain I needed to "recharge" the Frio every couple of days, whereas in the UK when playing with it it took over a week to loose most of its moisture.
 
I had problems this year with it in Italy and Spain. It was expanding too much in cold water and twice I found myself with medication I just could not access. The second time I had to split the side seam a little For the subsequent days of my holiday I used my other one which was for two "pens" and no problems thereafter.
 
snowleopard said:
Having bought one for a long journey, I soaked it last night in preparation. I put a temperature probe inside and found it was only 1° below ambient. Is this what I can expect? On the face of it, it hardly seems worth having but does it help when temperatures are higher?
Click to expand...

From the Frio website:

The FRIO® travel wallet is an evaporative cooling unit, purposely designed to keep in-use insulin cool within safe temperatures of 18-26°C (64.4-78.8°F) for 45 hours minimum, even in a constant environmental temperature of 37.8°C (100°F).

The wallet can be 're-activated'/'topped-up' to provide continuous safe storage conditions for subsequent periods of 45 hours minimum for up to 28 days (one month).

Note: 28 days (one month) is the life of in-use insulin. The wallet is re-useable.

Note: insulin must be at the manufacturer's recommended temperature before being placed in the FRIO® wallet. Please check the manufacturer's information leaflet for your specific medication.

http://www.frioinsulincoolingcase.com/frio-faq.html

I've been using the same Frio wallet for the last 6-7 years and it still works fine, although they are a bit pricey to purchase they do last a long time.

 
asparagusp said:
I had problems this year with it in Italy and Spain. It was expanding too much in cold water and twice I found myself with medication I just could not access. The second time I had to split the side seam a little For the subsequent days of my holiday I used my other one which was for two "pens" and no problems thereafter.
Click to expand...

That happens if you leave the wallet soaking too long, it expands so much it's difficult to get the pen inside :)
 
Thanks Noblehead! It takes days for the inflation to come down! Two lessons learnt though. Be careful not to leave it soaking too long and just in case you are caught out, carry a second one!

PS It's a good idea to use them too in the summer here. We occasionally do have high temperatures!
 
Hot countries & hot cars.. They work well..!
Never had an issue with airport security either.
 
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