Mounted a Fridge?

^^^ you forgot walking.

 

And tell all the "Backpackers" to ditch their carbon fiber ultra lightweight sheeit and hand build their pack from sticks and rawhide. Only have cast iron pans and a loin cloth.

 

Essentially what you said was that using water ice and dry ice is somehow superior/more "authentic" to using the battery in your truck to run a compressor in a similar cooler type container.

I'm not following that logic at all. Both are boxes designed to keep perishable food longer and drinks colder. The only difference is the methodology of keeping those items cool. One way uses pre frozen ice and carbon dioxide made in a factory using modern day equipment. One used that same modern day equipment built in to the container.

If we're talking about camping sans any modern equipment than the cooler using ice would also be considered a faux pas.

I could go on for quite a while about how the portable 12 volt compressor cooler is far superior to an ice cooler. The only real downside w/ the fridge is cost. It would still work as an ice only cooler if you were without an electrical source. And kept long enough and used enough would pay back the extra cost in ice costs. Maybe a really long time but still a return with many other benefits as well.

But keep using your ice cooler. I don't give a fock.

 

Haha amen! However I will be getting a CVT this spring so I feel backpacking will be limited to my hunting adventure now. Too much fun to drive the back country and see 10x more stuff than walking only 15-30 miles in 2-3 days.

 

This is awesome and probably the cheapest and largest capacity out there. I might end up with this and the fact that I can touch-n-feel before I buy is a plus.

 

Well, they are a fridge. So you don't need to fit all your beer for a week in them, just the beer you want to drink today. And at the end of the day you put warm beers you stored outside the fridge into the fridge and in the morning like magic they are cold!

And actually fridge efficiency (especially in use when they get opened frequently) drops if there is empty space in them. So you certainly don't want too large a fridge.

As to whether to get one or not, well "it depends". At some point solar + fridge weighs a lot less than cooler + enough ice. Especially when you start talking about a second or third cooler just to hold ice for long trips. Certainly proper use and planning with a cooler can go a long way to using them on extended trips. But at some point the fridge wins.

Personally I've been trying to avoid a fridge, but other die hard cooler people I've seen when they eventually succumb to the siren call of the fridge love it, call it the best camping purchase they've ever made and say they wish they had bought one sooner. I remain skeptical, but at some point my skepticism may be swayed by all the happy fridge owners....

 

Yeah man it's a great fridge. Not the best but I didnt have the money to buy an ARB. They do make an 83 or 85 quart ARB but I thought that was too big for my needs. I think the Whynter 65qt might be the best bang for your buck as far as space and price.

 

You can easily carry a similar weight of lithium ion batteries and solar power to ice on any exhibition. If you are going to carry a cooler, then a fridge and battery/solar pack would still be an advantage. The only downside to the fridge/battery/solar is the costs. Fridges, lithium ion batteries and solar panels, especially good ones. are expensive. Worth it to me. Ice has some advantages but since you can make ice in most of these fridges you still have access to those advantages.

 

Those are the reasons I went with the Whynter after a lot of research and consideration of the ARB as well as the separate cooler/freezer (you don't get both on the ARB). Based on the guy that got his from Home Depot with the extended warranty I would have purchased from the same place instead of Amazon.

 

I couldn't resist the fact that I could cover the fridge for 3 more years for only $60 bucks. It was kind of a no brainer for me.

 

I dry camp with my camper a lot I have one 100 watt solar panel and two 80 amp batteries I can go indefinitely with that set up running things that demand a lot more power than a modern portable fridge, water pumps, ham radio gear, fans TV and all the comforts of home. A 100 watt solar panel and controller is less than $150 now. With proper handling they can be put on their side and fit in a pickup bed so that and a battery you could have endless cooling and power left over for an LED light or two and a cell phone charger. If you are all ready spending over $600 for a fridge a solar panel will finish the job.

 

x2.

And what batteries?

 

Why not just use a dorm room size mini fridge?

 

All of the fridges that are meant for camping can take the bumps and terrain of the road and are designed for that. They are also designed to open from the top like a cooler. Whereas a dorm room mini fridge isn't designed to take the "Abuse" and they usually open from the front which would make it difficult to keep food from falling over inside and out of the fridge.

 

I'm confused. Is that a yes or no to his question Bull?

 

Not exactly the same. The cooler fridges have a much smaller and efficient compressor that can be run on 12 volt OR 110 AC. Insulation is different as well as build quality.

 

sub.d.

 

We run an ARB Fridge in the 80 in Baja for a week to 10 days. It stays hooked up to the rig during the day and at night we hook it to a Sears Power Pack unit (less than $100). Runs it for most of the night and keeps things fine. You can charge up the power pack in about 15 minutes by hooking it up to your battery, or use an inverter to charge it with the supplied brick. We have used this system for several years with no issues.

 

The market has become very completive so many people are carrying solar gear now even Amazon. Many outfits sell a package controller and all. I made an aluminum frame for mine that allows me to tilt the panel during the day 90* and of course turn it this does make it a great deal more efficient. If you look up your location there are charts that will give you an optimum angle for your location month to month I just use a volt meter and adjust it for maximum voltage. Just search around for the best deal and make sure you are comparing apples to apples. There are two basic designs on the market now and they are pretty close as far as efficiency so I would not get too concerned when buying a panel for field use.

 

Using a dorm fridge will require an inverter they will not run on 12 volt DC. They are by comparison to a modern DC fridge energy hogs. The solid state (no compressor) units are also energy hogs.