Convince me I need a fridge!

D

ducktapeguy

Adventurer
MarcFJ60 said:
I should also add it is a bit more inconvenient to load up. Either you have to bring all your stuff to the car or load it up and bring it to the car and heave it in. Mine weighs a fair bit more than my cooler, loaded or unloaded. I have an Edgestar which has a metal skin. Not sure if an Engel or ARB is appreciably lighter.
Click to expand...

Just wondering, but did your fridge come with two metal basket liners? That's typically how I load my fridge, I just bring the baskets in and load them up and carry the whole thing out. Or I load directly from shopping a few days ahead of time. You definitely don't want to try carrying a fully loaded fridge around.
 
MarcFJ60

MarcFJ60

Adventurer
It did, and it never occurred to me to do it that way. That is both genius and common sense! Apparently I am neither a genius or have common sense because that never crossed my mind. :(
 
stingray1300

stingray1300

Explorer
I've had all manner of coolers over the years (steel sided Coleman's to Igloos). Just got used to having to get ice after a few days. But it seems to be getting harder to find BLOCK ice anymore. Most places sell crushed ice, and that doesn't last..
.
So, I bypassed the $400 Yeti cooler for the better performing and better rated Pelican cooler. Oh, and it's about 1/2 the price of the Yeti, if that matters to anyone... (less marketing to pay for?)
.
A camping buddy of ours kept shaming me about not having a fridge (he's had an ARB for years). I finally found a decent deal w/free cover and free S&H, and I bought an ARB. Then the grief started... my dear wife would just huff and puff around about me spending $800 on a fridge. After a while, she calmed down, but I could tell it still grated on her. Oh well, what could I do?
.
A few weeks later, we loaded up for a week of off roading and camping in Death Valley (January). When it came dinner time, my wife went to prepping things as normal. A moment later, she came over to me, grabbed my chin with one hand rather firmly, and said "I L-O-V-E that fridge!!!!!!!" Gee, that's great dear, but why exactly.... "Because I can reach into it and NOT get my hands in frigid water and ice trying to find what I need, and all the labels aren't water-logged off the jars!"
.
Happy wife, happy life ;)
 
L

lchavez

Observer
Already great info in this thread, here are a few more in case you decide to go with a fridge. Note: mine stays in xterra for 9 months of the year. I am usually out every weekend and as others have mentioned, serves double duty in town for groceries or just keeping cold water and soda at the ready. Only reason I remove it is because it just gets to dang hot here in Phoenix in the summer and I don't want it to try and keep up with 130 degree interior temperatures.

Second Battery: you will want second battery for piece of mind. I would get a day, maybe two before fridge battery monitor would cut out on car battery. most new fridges have battery level safety monitors, but i never trust anything when I am remote (including myself to set it correctly). I use an Arkpak that I modified with an ARB plug for my ARB fridge. You do need the expense of an Arkpak, I have one because i use it for many other items and that's a different discussion anyways.

volume: no ice, more space food/drink.

Location: Think about where you are going to install it and how you will access it during your excursions. Keep in mind the space needed to open the lid.

Solar: I have a 60W brief case style Renogy system that works very well. 60W will not keep up with the fridge so I loose about 10% of the battery per day. This gives me 5 days, or 50% of battery at end of trip. 100 watts would probably do it if you wanted to get a complete charge or are concerned with sun.

Tips to minimize battery draw
- Freeze items you do not need on first day like meat and water. .
- pre-chill fridge night before, most can run off of 110 also.
- pre-chill items that are going into fridge from your house fridge.
This will usually buys me a whole day of cooling before fridge kicks in

I have been pleased with the ARB 50. like the removable lid for loading stuff, plus I cannot open the lid all the way where I have it installed in my vehicle so being able to easily pop the lid off is great. I have been running it for over three years now without issue.
 
Stryder106

Stryder106

Explorer
stingray1300 said:
I've had all manner of coolers over the years (steel sided Coleman's to Igloos). Just got used to having to get ice after a few days. But it seems to be getting harder to find BLOCK ice anymore. Most places sell crushed ice, and that doesn't last..
.
So, I bypassed the $400 Yeti cooler for the better performing and better rated Pelican cooler. Oh, and it's about 1/2 the price of the Yeti, if that matters to anyone... (less marketing to pay for?)
.
A camping buddy of ours kept shaming me about not having a fridge (he's had an ARB for years). I finally found a decent deal w/free cover and free S&H, and I bought an ARB. Then the grief started... my dear wife would just huff and puff around about me spending $800 on a fridge. After a while, she calmed down, but I could tell it still grated on her. Oh well, what could I do?
.
A few weeks later, we loaded up for a week of off roading and camping in Death Valley (January). When it came dinner time, my wife went to prepping things as normal. A moment later, she came over to me, grabbed my chin with one hand rather firmly, and said "I L-O-V-E that fridge!!!!!!!" Gee, that's great dear, but why exactly.... "Because I can reach into it and NOT get my hands in frigid water and ice trying to find what I need, and all the labels aren't water-logged off the jars!"
.
Happy wife, happy life ;)
Click to expand...

^^THIS^^
 
J

JPaul

Observer
I was fortunate and was able to pick up an older ARB fridge (the ones made by Engel) for less than $300. I haven't used it camping yet, but I did use it the day after I got it to keep ice cream frozen for my daughter's birthday party which was outside at the park near our house. Since then I've used it for things like bringing leftovers home, and bringing some aged steaks up to my in-laws to grill for father's day. I'm now going to be keeping it turned on all the time in case the need arises. I almost could have used it earlier today to bring back some shake's for the family, I had driven an hour up to Bear Lake in Utah from Logan Utah (I was attending the WIMU ham radio conference that was up there this weekend), but unfortunately the place I wanted to go to was closed. But that would've been awesome to come back with some frozen goodies to share. Try doing that with a cooler.

A fridge really is a luxury in all honesty, we've all survived just fine using coolers and dried food and whatnot, but man, if I can afford a fridge then by golly I'm going to take advantage of it!!! Just because you can survive off of a cheap foam cooler loaded with ice doesn't mean you HAVE to!

Technically a cooler with ice is a luxury as well, ask anyone who grew up before the 50's or whenever they became mainstream. They had no such thing really. Or if they did they were probably really well off. Cars are a luxury as well compared to back when they were hardly used by anyone, now it's considered a must even for those that still can't really afford one.

Still, if you don't want a fridge, or it won't work for your lifestyle, or if you can't really afford one, then by all means stick to coolers and ice. Nothing wrong with that at all. If you can't afford one then either wait until you can or search for a really good bargain like I did. If I hadn't found this one for as cheap as I did, I'd still be using a cooler. But I don't think it's worth going into debt for.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
grogie

grogie

Like to Camp
In my youth, I camped a lot using beat up ranch trucks, old sleeping bags and ground tents that leaked when you touched the sides during a rain storm. Later, I upgraded to a better-equipped 4x4, than a trailer with a Tepui RTT. I have been using a decent cooler, but my grip has been that it was always buried in the back of my Jeep. So a few months ago, I installed a rear slide for the cooler, which what an improvement that turned out to be... just roll it out instead of dragging it out and shoving it back in multiple times a day on long Jeep trips.

But with the cooler, I still had to daily add a small bag of ice, drain the water, and certainly NOT put warm food in it.

So a few weeks ago, I went a step further and I ordered a Snomaster 42. And what an awesome improvement! Besides camping, it can go in any vehicle, and currently, it's running in my gargage, stocked with ice cold water and beer. I am also working on setting up a dual battery setup in my Jeep, which sure is more cost, but I absolutely have no regrets, just as I don't regret no longer using a ground tent. Life is too short the way that it is. I work hard, and I'm going to enjoy the added improvement that a fridge/freezer brings.
 
Overdrive

Overdrive

Adventurer
I was on the fence for years about buying a fridge. But two things pushed me to the "buy it" side...TeriAnn's advice in her book and the fact that the Engel fridges are on sale for about 33% off with free shipping!

I actually think having both a fridge and hi-perf cooler is the way to go. Drinks in the cooler, and food in the fridge. They would also act as a back-up to each other.
 
J

JPaul

Observer
The other nice thing about having a fridge is you can run it as a freezer, re-freeze your melted ice (water) and put it back in the cooler. You could get by with a smaller (and cheaper) fridge this way, though it'd take more room to have a fridge and a cooler than just a fridge or just a cooler.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk
 
jacobconroy

jacobconroy

Hillbilly of Leisure
Happykamper said:
Fridge no ice GOOD !!! Cooler soggy food messy yuck yuck BAD !!!
Click to expand...

LOL
Or,... "Extra $ in wallet for electronical fridgitator = camping easy!!! But, mostest electronical requirement for Mr. Car = YUCKY-POO-GROSS!"

Seriously though, last weekend we took the camper out (meaning that the Wifey wanted to come along). To pull the camper, I needed to take a rig that doesn't have a second deep-cycle yet. Mr. National Luna wasn't invited. Mr. Yeti came along for the ride.

What a bummer. Had to go to the store... just to buy ice. Had to limit the amount of food we took to make room for... ice. I had to stop at a second store along the way to ADD... ice. In the end, we ate everybody else's food and didn't use the Yeti. Heck, I couldn't bring myself to store the BOOZE in the Yeti. When we came home, I had to immediately carry the Yeti into the house, unload the Yeti, and then carry it back outside to dump.... ice! Money on the ground Yo!

To quote Ferris Bueller in regards to purchasing a "real refrigerator", "If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."
 
Last edited:
grogie

grogie

Like to Camp
Christophe Noel said:
I know, by the statistics, you guys don't always read the Expedition Portal home page, but you really should.

Coen and Karin of Landcruisingadventure.com have been on the road for 14 years. Here's their take on the fridge: https://expeditionportal.com/do-you-need-a-fridge-for-your-overland-journey/
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, and I do actually pay attention to the posted articles and thanks to all of you that share them.

Interseting story, and wow, going without refrigeration for more then a camping trip, just seems like a hassle.

Personally, I have my grandparent's original ice box that they used until 1949, when they had power ran out to their Wyoming ranch house. They had to drive into town once a week to an ice house, which the roads back then were like what we'd now call taking an expedition. (haha)
 
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