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You can get an aerator for about $10-15, I dunked mine in the water last week in a mesh bag before I left and placed them in a dry, cracked open cooler for about 1.5 hours. I was worried but they made it. To be safe an aerator would be the best bet.

Put them on ice!

wet burlap and frozen ice bottles in the cooler and you'll be fine.

Cheers,
Brad

wet burlap and frozen ice bottles in the cooler and you'll be fine.

Cheers,
Brad

+1, but be sure the wet burlap sack is wet with salt water, not fresh!!!

I went to cleaning on the beach a couple years ago.

Grasp the back 6 legs of the crab and smack the mouth down on the corner of your tailgate. The carapise will pop up, then tear it off and spray out or rinse off the entrails and viscera.  Put in a ziploc in your ice chest and cook when you get home  no mess no fuss. This method results in a milder flavor and doesn't smell up the kitchen when cooking but it has the advantages of ke ping the wife happy and leaving the domoic acid at the beach.

I transport to Lodi all the time. Wet burlap or towel in SALT water, put on top of crabs and frozen water bottles.  Ice works, but melts and eventually kills your crab.

I went to cleaning on the beach a couple years ago.

Grasp the back 6 legs of the crab and smack the mouth down on the corner of your tailgate. The carapise will pop up, then tear it off and spray out or rinse off the entrails and viscera.  Put in a ziploc in your ice chest and cook when you get home  no mess no fuss. This method results in a milder flavor and doesn't smell up the kitchen when cooking but it has the advantages of ke ping the wife happy and leaving the domoic acid at the beach.

Video, please. Would love to see the PETA reaction to it 

Seriously, thanks for the tip.

Video, please. Would love to see the PETA reaction to it 

Seriously, thanks for the tip.

It's on YouTube... just search Quick Dungeness Crab Cleaning. Tons of videos show it...  so quick and easy.

I just take a mallet to the knife...

I went to cleaning on the beach a couple years ago.

Grasp the back 6 legs of the crab and smack the mouth down on the corner of your tailgate. The carapise will pop up, then tear it off and spray out or rinse off the entrails and viscera.  Put in a ziploc in your ice chest and cook when you get home  no mess no fuss. This method results in a milder flavor and doesn't smell up the kitchen when cooking but it has the advantages of ke ping the wife happy and leaving the domoic acid at the beach.

If you were to be checked by DGF on the way home, how would you prove the crabs to be legal?

I converted a cooler to an aquarium with a 12V aerator with 2 D battery backup. A few gallons of sea water and an aerator keeps them alive and feisty until dinner time

I went to cleaning on the beach a couple years ago.

Grasp the back 6 legs of the crab and smack the mouth down on the corner of your tailgate. The carapise will pop up, then tear it off and spray out or rinse off the entrails and viscera.  Put in a ziploc in your ice chest and cook when you get home  no mess no fuss. This method results in a milder flavor and doesn't smell up the kitchen when cooking but it has the advantages of ke ping the wife happy and leaving the domoic acid at the beach.

If you were to be checked by DGF on the way home, how would you prove the crabs to be legal?

The warden has the burden of proof, not me.  There is no requirement to keep crabs intact during transportation.  That only applies to abalone and spiny lobsters.