Portable Insulin Fridges

[dwatkin]

On September 1st I am taking part in Leg 1 of the Clipper Round the World yacht race from London to Uruguay. This takes over 5 weeks and as a Type 1 diabetic insulin will not last without refrigeration and the yacht has none. I urgently need reliable insulin fridge to take onboard the yacht. Does anyone have experience of any of the fridges on offer as the reviews on Amazon are mixed to say the least.

One in particular caught my eye which is the LifeInABox fridge but details and reviews are sparse. I can't post a URL but a search will get you there if interested.

Advice greatly appreciated.

 

[Juicyj]

Hello @dwatkin All things considered in regards to portability and insulin shelf life, I would suggest looking at the Frio wallet instead of a portable fridge to store your insulin, they can store in-use insulin up to 28 days, but are re-usable and as long as you can pick up fresh insulin at Uruguay, then this should just get you there, I don't have any knowledge of portable fridges but would be concerned about the practicality of using one on a yacht.

https://friouk.com/the-frio-wallet/

 

[Antje77]

With 5 weeks I'd go without a fridge and use Frio. It will be only a couple of days over the month you can keep insulin out of the fridge anyway, so it will likely be fine for a couple days longer. Even if not, it won't be useless all at once suddenly on day 29, it will lose some of it's potency first. Portable fridges are, as far as I know, pretty unreliable. Imagine it freezing your insulin. That would render your insulin useless all at once in the middle of the ocean..
If you decide you want a fridge, be sure to contact the team beforehand, as it may be necessary to have extra batteries on board to power it. Racing yachts don't like extra batteries because they're heavy, and they don't like fridges because they use a lot of power.

Be sure to tell us how your trip was when you're back, sounds like a wonderful adventure!

 

[Fndwheelie]

Can I suggest contacting the organisers, or finding a forum like this for participants past and present. I’m sure you can’t be the first ever diabetic to participate in this event. Hopefully you could get advice from others who have been in the same situation. Not just regarding the insulin but also food and generally managing the condition in such an extreme environment. I wish that you will have a fantastic time. And please share the experience with us here. (If allowed)

 

[dwatkin]

Hello @dwatkin All things considered in regards to portability and insulin shelf life, I would suggest looking at the Frio wallet instead of a portable fridge to store your insulin, they can store in-use insulin up to 28 days, but are re-usable and as long as you can pick up fresh insulin at Uruguay, then this should just get you there, I don't have any knowledge of portable fridges but would be concerned about the practicality of using one on a yacht.

Many thanks for your reply. I do always use the wallets and originally planned to rely on only them. However when I contacted Frio they indicated that they did not believe their product was suitable because of the duration exceeding the 4 weeks they (and the insulin manufacturers) warrant. Therefore, because of the consequences of having nothing apart from 'bad' insulin as we cross the doldrums I'm going to have to adopt a belt and braces approach. This consists of taking double the insulin I expect to need, keeping 50-60% in Frio wallets and the remainder in the best insulin specific fridge I can find and affort.

 

[dwatkin]

I have no experience of insulin fridges as I always use Frio pouches.
With insulin cartridges, rather than prefilled pens, you can transport a lot of insulin a Frio wallet.
I usually take one wallet with my in-use pens and another half full of enough insulin cartridges for 3 or 4 weeks.
I use a small wallet (big enough for two pens) and know there are larger ones if your dose is higher and need something larger to store your spare insulin cartridges.

The benefit of Frio wallets is they require no power; they don't even need cold water.
I expect they are also cheaper than insulin fridges (less than £20 for the larger wallet) and take up less room.

Many thanks for your reply. I do always use the wallets and originally planned to rely on only them but Frio did not recommend them for this.

 

[dwatkin]

Can I suggest contacting the organisers, or finding a forum like this for participants past and present. I’m sure you can’t be the first ever diabetic to participate in this event. Hopefully you could get advice from others who have been in the same situation. Not just regarding the insulin but also food and generally managing the condition in such an extreme environment. I wish that you will have a fantastic time. And please share the experience with us here. (If allowed)

I completely agree but I've struggled to get in touch with the 4 previous Type 1s who have tried to do the race. In 50% of the cases it didnt end well. Inm one case sea sickness caused DKA and the poor chap had to be taken ashore. However I've done 4 weeks training including 6 days offshore and I'm comfortable it can be done. The fridge is simply part of my belt and braces approach. The risk of the insulin not lasting is small but the effect on everyone elses race is huge so I have to play safe.

 

[dwatkin]

With 5 weeks I'd go without a fridge and use Frio. It will be only a couple of days over the month you can keep insulin out of the fridge anyway, so it will likely be fine for a couple days longer. Even if not, it won't be useless all at once suddenly on day 29, it will lose some of it's potency first. Portable fridges are, as far as I know, pretty unreliable. Imagine it freezing your insulin. That would render your insulin useless all at once in the middle of the ocean..
If you decide you want a fridge, be sure to contact the team beforehand, as it may be necessary to have extra batteries on board to power it. Racing yachts don't like extra batteries because they're heavy, and they don't like fridges because they use a lot of power.

Be sure to tell us how your trip was when you're back, sounds like a wonderful adventure!

 

[dwatkin]

Many thanks. I think I owe it to the other crew to get a small insulin specific fridge but I will only put 40% of my insulin there in case it freezes it. I'll try and write a blog or at least a synopsis when I get back in November. If anyone wants to watch the race start it is Sept 1st from London. I can't post a URL but google Clipper Round The World !

And if anyone wants to see my abandon ship grab bag or the stuff I'm taking for Type 1 do let me know!

 

[Antje77]

Sounds like you have a solid plan
What ship will you be on?

And if anyone wants to see my abandon ship grab bag or the stuff I'm taking for Type 1 do let me know!

Of course we want to see it!
To post pictures on the forum you'll have to shrink them first. I'm not very computer savvy, so I let facebook do that for me and copy from there, but there are more sophisticated ways to shrink pics

 

[eventhorizon]

I completely agree but I've struggled to get in touch with the 4 previous Type 1s who have tried to do the race. In 50% of the cases it didnt end well. Inm one case sea sickness caused DKA and the poor chap had to be taken ashore. However I've done 4 weeks training including 6 days offshore and I'm comfortable it can be done. The fridge is simply part of my belt and braces approach. The risk of the insulin not lasting is small but the effect on everyone elses race is huge so I have to play safe.

Watch out for the sea sickness. I've done loads of sailing. Then 2 summers ago on a yacht delivery trip Dartmouth to Gibraltar it got me. Turned me into a blubbering useless wreck. Managed the t1- just. Took some seasick tablets and got it over it but I was a liability for a while.

 

[dwatkin]

Watch out for the sea sickness. I've done loads of sailing. Then 2 summers ago on a yacht delivery trip Dartmouth to Gibraltar it got me. Turned me into a blubbering useless wreck. Managed the t1- just. Took some seasick tablets and got it over it but I was a liability for a while.

Thanks. I know sea sickness is a nightmare for us. I don't suffer but I'm not complacent so I'll be applying scopaderm patches but I appreciate your advice. Thank you

 

[dwatkin]

Sounds like you have a solid plan
What ship will you be on?

Of course we want to see it!
To post pictures on the forum you'll have to shrink them first. I'm not very computer savvy, so I let facebook do that for me and copy from there, but there are more sophisticated ways to shrink pics

At present our yacht is enigmatically named CV20 but next week we will have a sponsor and a name. There are 11 identical 70' racing yachts all leaving London on September 1st bound for Portugal as a first stop and Punta del Este as my final destination. The yachts then continue around the world. I'll try and work out how to post pictures.

'https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/about/about-the-race