All diabetics know it’s important to keep insulin as cool as possible. Last year whilst I was traveling I didn’t use anything to keep my many vials of insulin cold other than common sense. I tried not to leave my vials in a hot bus, next to a campfire or take them in and out of the refrigerator varying the temperature. After nine months I didn’t have any problems with my insulin at all, even when traveling from extreme heat to Calgary snow.

Before heading to South America this year I decided to look into Frio Insulin Cooling Wallets that I had read about on diabetic forums like Reality Check.

Overall, users of the wallets seemed to think they were really good for short periods of time whilst traveling. As my travel plans were pretty open ended and I hadn’t used anything at all the previous year, I decided to buy one and hope that it lived up to it’s reputation.

Now that I’ve been using the Extra Large Frio Cooling Wallet for the past 5 months I’m going to be honest and say it’s okay, but definitely not as great as I’d hoped.

The first thing that went against the wallet was the price. Whilst you can buy Frio Insulin Cooling Wallets online for approximately USD$30 or less, I decided to buy mine at the last minute and didn’t have time to wait for postage from Amazon to Australia. So I ended up buying from my local Diabetes Australia outlet. However the price was an expensive AUD$65 per wallet and whilst it would have been great to have purchased two for storing all the insulin vials I packed, my budget could not stretch to AUD$130 for two protective cases – that’s three days of living somewhere else in the world.

Frio Cooling Wallet

Frio Cooling Wallets come in two parts, an outer case and the inner cooling wallet. The cooling wallet is filled with small gel-balls that when activated expand and keep the contents of the wallet cool. To activate you simple submerge the inner wallet in water for about 10 minutes and wait.

Initially I was impressed. The channels of the wallet expanded significantly and the inside was nice and cool. Unfortunately I found the first few times that the gel channels expanded so much that I could fit fewer 3ml vials than I had initially hoped, so I needed to leave about half out.

After the first couple of weeks of use I noticed the wallet had gained a water stain on the back that has never disappeared. I started to worry that this was a mould spot, but it hasn’t developed much further than the permanent discoloration and permanent wetness.

Frio water stain

Also after the first couple of months I noticed that the gel-balls in the front of the wallet began to disappear. Now after five months on the road the front of the pouch barely swells at all, with most of the front panel empty. Only the back of the pouch generates the cooling effect. I have no idea what happened to the front gel balls, there are no holes in the wallet and I’ve never over-soaked it with water.

Frio Front

But for the negatives I’ve experienced so far there are definitely positives. I’ve found that using the Frio Insulin Cooling Wallet is better than having nothing at all. If not just for the cooling purpose but also for the added protection the Frio wallet provides my vials of insulin. I’m able to keep them neatly contained and the wallet fits nicely into my Kathmandu cell pouch that holds my other supplies like test strips and spare syringes.

Frio Insulin Cooling Wallets also come in a variety of sizes and will fit entire pens and 10ml vials as well as the 3ml, providing something for most people’s needs.

So whilst the Frio Insulin Cooling Wallets are certainly not a diabetic traveler’s savior, they are handy to have if you’re looking for something to protect your insulin whilst you’re out adventuring.