Hot Weather And Storing Insulin While On Holiday

I have never had a problem storing insulin in a Frio wallet and have been camping (not hotel fridge) and trekking (no holiday "home") in pretty warm climes (Venezuela, India, Madagascar, Uganda, Ghana, ...).
I make sure the Frio wallets remain "charged" and keep them out of direct sunlight.
If you have the luxury of a hotel, you may have a fridge or at least a sheltered corner to keep the insulin in.

Frio describe their wallets as "keeps insulin and other temperature sensitive medications 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)."
Unless you leave you insulin in direct sunlight, it is very unlikely to reach those temperatures.

Take a look at their website (https://friouk.com/the-frio-wallet/) for further advice.

helensaramay said:

I have never had a problem storing insulin in a Frio wallet and have been camping (not hotel fridge) and trekking (no holiday "home") in pretty warm climes (Venezuela, India, Madagascar, Uganda, Ghana, ...).
I make sure the Frio wallets remain "charged" and keep them out of direct sunlight.
If you have the luxury of a hotel, you may have a fridge or at least a sheltered corner to keep the insulin in.

Frio describe their wallets as "keeps insulin and other temperature sensitive medications 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)."
Unless you leave you insulin in direct sunlight, it is very unlikely to reach those temperatures.

Take a look at their website (https://friouk.com/the-frio-wallet/) for further advice.

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Can't believe I've never heard of this before, that looks incredible. Think I'll order some!

jlarsson said:

Can't believe I've never heard of this before, that looks incredible. Think I'll order some!

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The camping and trekking are extra but I would certainly recommend getting one or two!
And they seem to last for ever. I bought two for two pens over 12 years ago. They accompany me on every holiday and are still going strong.
One word of warning/advice: it has been suggested an over-enthusiastic security guy (or gal) may be concerned by the gel. So I travel with them uncharged and put them in water as soon as I arrive in my hotel (or campsite).
I may be being overly cautious but would rather keep my insulin tucked (and insulated) in the depths of my hand luggage for the flight than have my Frio wallets confiscated.

If there's no fridge in my room hotels usually allow me to store it in a fridge in the kitchen.
If there is a fridge in your room be careful.I've had insulin freeze in the top of the "cheap" room fridge doors even though not in the freezer section.
During the day I keep insulin pens in a small cooler bag/pouch after freezing the bag overnight

I wouldn't worry too much, as long as you keep it in the shade in your hotel room, some hotels have fridges some don't, insulin is pretty hardy.

A cautionary tale - last month I accidentally left my basal insulin in the sleeping compartment of my tent, and when we got back after a day out in blistering temperatures, despite the insulated bag the insulin registered at 33 degrees. Way too hot!
My Frio pouch is brilliant for keeping insulin cool in my handbag, though.

Have used Frio bags over last 6 years on my trips to see family in Thailand never had any problems in 40+C heat can also use them on the flight overin Hand luggage.

You can store most things in cold water. If you are in a hotel room, use the bathroom sink, they are normally porcelain/stainless steel which is a cold material by default, put the plug in securely and fill it with a small amount, you don't need to fill the water to the top, it'll keep anything cool for several hours as long as it is not in direct sunlight, which they generally aren't. It also depends if you have something that is already open, use the drinking glass if they have provided one, instead of toothpaste and brushes put your vials in, or, whatever, you can stand it upright and only fill the sink with a very small amount of water, so, it won't tip over, otherwise, get something like a plastic food zipper bag that you put in your kitchen fridge, and put your vial and needles in that and place that in the sink instead, the bag will be cool and watertight for hours.
If you go away in the Winter months, you can use snow, if your hotel room is not in direct sunlight during the day you can pile snow up in one corner of your verandah, if you have one, and stick anything in it to keep it cold for hours, the snow won't melt quickly, if you can store bottled beer in it, or tin cans, you can store anything in there, be imaginative.

I have very recently been staying on a boat in Greece. We left the boat for a 5 day car trip. My spare insulin was left in the fridge. On our return the fridge had switched itself off and the fridge was extremely hot. The saloon was over 40 degrees! I rushed to the pharmacy to see if Humulog was available in Greece and she tools me it was worth seeing if it was still useable, I was completely certain it wouldn’t be, but it was! So in future I won’t worry about it

Hi Debbie_p,
I have used a Frio duo for over 15 years, and have been to very hot places like Morocco and Tenerife, and never had any issues. I've found it so useful for camping, keeping in the car on hot days and travelling abroad, especially as you only need water to make it work (which was a godsend hiking in Greece).
I loved it so much that I even wrote a couple of reviews for it (and the bigger version, the Viva) on TheMudLife.co.uk website.

littlemolly said:

I have very recently been staying on a boat in Greece. We left the boat for a 5 day car trip. My spare insulin was left in the fridge. On our return the fridge had switched itself off and the fridge was extremely hot. The saloon was over 40 degrees! I rushed to the pharmacy to see if Humulog was available in Greece and she tools me it was worth seeing if it was still useable, I was completely certain it wouldn’t be, but it was! So in future I won’t worry about it

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How

I always use Frio bags, I've never had any problem going through security at the airport. Always tell them I am carrying Insulin. Just been to Jersey. Set the bags up the night before and stored them with the Insulin in in the fridge overnight and they were ready for the next day. Stayed in Jersey for 12 nights and just topped up the bags with water they worked really well for 12 nights as we had no fridge.