Frio Insulin Cooler Duo Wallet
Reviewed by The Muddy Madam
The Frío Insulin Cooler Duo Wallet is the best product I have found for keeping insulin cool in hot countries. If insulin gets too warm it stops being effective, so after booking a summer holiday to Rhodes about 13 years ago, not long after being put on insulin, I was really worried about my insulin going off. These were the days before fridges were ubiquitous in hotel rooms, and with blistering hot forecasts I thought I would need something to keep my insulin cool.
I searched around, and I found the Frío wallets advertised in Balance magazine (from Diabetes UK), and it's so simple to use.
How it works
To activate the wallet all you have to do is immerse it in cold water for as little as 5 minutes (depending on wallet size, as there are wallets that can hold from 1-5 pens & vials etc.). Crystals contained in the panels of the wallet absorb water and expand into a gel, which remains cool for 45 hours - relying on the process of evaporation for cooling. Then just towel dry and it's ready to go! (The instructions say it's best to use a paper towel as it is possible for a bit of the dye to run, but I had no paper towels so just used a tea-towel and there was no dye leakage.)
After a quick towel dry, the FRÍO wallet is dry to the touch (a really good feature which means it doesn't wet all your stuff), and then you put it in the Cambrelle® outer cover - which increases the wallet's efficiency and allows it to be carried safely in your pocket or a bag. When the gel starts to shrink back, which takes a couple of days, all you do is put it back in a sink of cold water, and 'Hey Presto' it's as good as new. For more in depth information have a look at the Frío website.
Remember this...
When you get back from your holiday take the inner wallet out of the cover and let it air dry, you can put it near a radiator or on a windowsill, until the gel has dried back into crystals (it will take quite a few days), because if you don't, and put it away it in a drawer it could take weeks or months to dry out, and you really don't want damp drawers (nobody wants damp drawers!).
I actually have 2 now - my original Blue Duo & a new Purple Duo (the one in the photo above. It's my favourite colour!) as I wanted to be able to take a couple of extra insulin pens on my holidays to Morocco, and although I could've gone for a bigger Large wallet or Viva Zipper (which looks very cool…..pun very much intended), I already had a Duo so I thought another Duo would do the trick.
Just to let you know, in March 2016, the Viva Zipper won both the Best Accessory category, and the overall Product of the Year at The Outdoor Industry Awards , so I may have to try it out on my next holiday.
These are the times I have used them over the last 12 years :
On every warm weather holiday I have gone on. Even if I know I have a fridge in the room I take it for going on excursions or to take to take my insulin to dinner at night, because in some countries the nights can be almost as hot as the days.
When I go camping in the British summer. It is especially good for when you are in a tent, because when our UK sun finally does come out a tent heats up quickly. Yes, I know you could use a portable mini-fridge, but an electricity hook up for tent use can be either non-existent or costly, and why bother with the faff when a FrÍo wallet and a bit of water does the same thing.
In the car during (off-roading) days out. Like a tent, a car interior heats up very quickly in the summer, and if you've left your bag in the car your insulin can heat up much quicker than you think (this is why they warn you about not leaving a dog alone in a car, because you may think it isn't that warm, but inside the temperature can sky rocket).
Should you get one?
It's such a low-tech solution for a potentially life-threatening problem (I mean, all you need is access to water to make it work), so it's a total no-brainer to get one!
Where to buy?
Frío, Amazon and some pharmacies.
There are 7 great colours (Blue, Black, Burgundy, Green, Purple, Red & Paradise Pink), and bigger and smaller sizes other than the Duo.
(UPDATE March 2018 : They have now added some funky limited editions too😁)
Wallet prices usually start from £8.50 and the Duo Wallet shown above is around £14-15
