Choosing a Cooler Or Fridge

Which camping cooler suits your needs? Is it just for day trips and picnics? Or longer adventures? How often will you use it? Asking these questions will help you decide what it right for you, with a little help from this article.

Soft & Hard Coolers

Soft cooler bags and hard boxes are the cheapest option to keep your food and drink cool. They feature enough insulation to keep ice mostly solid, and the contents fresh; for about a day. If all you need is an option to keep a picnic and drinks cool for the day, a soft or hard cooler will do a superb job.

Ice Boxes

So you need to keep ice for a few days. It can be done! If you purchase an icebox. They are heavier, generally bulkier, and a little more expensive than a cooler; but can keep ice from 3 to 6 days. It’s the heavy duty roto-mold design, and the refrigeration grade insulation between the layers that make this possible.

Thermocoolers

A thermocooler uses 12 or 240 volt power to cool the cabinet. Depending on the model; these will typically cool between 20 and 30 degrees below ambient temperature. Most of them can operate in the reverse, and actually heat the contents up to 60 degrees. However, they will take a while longer to cool the contents than a car fridge or ice box. This style of cooler is also known for drawing a lot of electricity; and should only be run in a car while the engine is on.

Car Fridges

This is the ultimate solution for chilling, or even freezing your goods. A car fridge is a portable version of the one you have at home, and uses a small, quiet compressor to do the cooling. Precise temperature can be set from fridge to freeze, some models even have a separate cabinet - so you can use a fridge and freezer all in one. A car fridge will run easily off your vehicle, so long as the engine runs most of the day. If you wish to use it for overnight or even longer camping trips with the engine switched off - you’ll need to look at an auxiliary battery system or solar power setup to keep it running. Of these four major methods of cooling your food and drink; there’s an option to suit any style.