12v cooler recommendation?
Contributors to this thread:Equipment
From: SDHNTR(home)
09-Sep-21
Anybody use a 12v cooler for extended truck camping? Sometimes ice runs back to town aren’t convenient. I see 80-100qt options and they run the gamut on pricing. Anybody have one they like?
From: JTreeman
10-Sep-21
I think Engel are kinda the standard for quality. The guy I hunted with in Australia had 2-3 in camp. There is no option to “run and get ice” there. They seemed to work good. Not sure the sizes he had, but they were pretty big. And I think they were fairly expensive….not sure if that helps much.
—Jim
From: DanaC
10-Sep-21
Have you considered a '3-way' RV fridge? Run on AC, DC or propane. Not cheap, but...
https://www.dometic.com/en-us/outdoor/food-and-beverage/refrigerators/rv-refrigerators/dometic-rm-2193-30914
From: SDHNTR(home)
10-Sep-21
Yes I’ve considered the RV fridge route but propane isn’t always convenient either. Thanks, JT. I have a standard Engle ice chest on my boat and I think it outperforms the other roto coolers (yeti, et al) I own. I’ll check them out.
From: Grey Ghost
10-Sep-21
According to Engel’s tech pages, you can only expect about 3 hrs of refrigerator/freezer run time on a fully charged 12v battery.
So, you’ll need a system to charge the battery fairly frequently. You could use your vehicles alternator to charge the battery, but that would require running the vehicle every 3 hours. A set of solar panels would probably be my choice, but that has obvious limitations, too.
In my mind, a standard compact 110v freezer and a portable generator might be a better way to go.
Matt
From: Ok...Russ
10-Sep-21
Going to need something bigger than that Nate to bring your elk home in!! Can't help from experience but would lean towards the propane powered fridge and take a 20lb can. GG reply about the 3 hr limit changed my mind. Last time I drove to elk hunt, I bought a chest freezer off craigslist and took my portable generator. My topper doesn't have a back glass so ran the generator on the 12 hour drive out and got freezer to zero. Ran it a few hours every day when hunting and it was ready for the elk quarters! Good luck.
From: DanaC
10-Sep-21
A buddy did something similar, chest freezer on a trailer, but he ran an inverter off his truck while driving, kept his stuff cold.
From: Pop-r
10-Sep-21
I use a freezer every trip. I just use a generator mostly with some solar/battery power. I've looked at a gas one and may go that route in the future as a 20lb bottle will run you about 20 days for a 7 cubic foot freezer. Can't beat that.
From: SDHNTR(home)
10-Sep-21
Yes I’ve got a 100w solo at panel and a controller. I’ve got a Gen and a freezer and have gone that route too. Was just looking for something a bit more manageable.
From: SDHNTR(home)
10-Sep-21
Grey Ghost, I’m curious where you saw that one could only run about three hours. From what I can see they run at about a 2 amp draw. With a 80+ amphour battery, I see plenty of juice.
From: DanaC
10-Sep-21
I mentioned propane refrigerator above. Do you use a gas grill or stove? Gas lamps/lanterns? Could run everything off a tank, with a back-up handy. They even make propane generators and inverters. (I'm looking at one for home backup.)
Good topic, lots of options available, depending on your kit and cargo space.
From: Ok...Russ
10-Sep-21
Sorry if I sidetracked your initial question - didn't know you'd tried every other suggestion already.
From: SDHNTR(home)
10-Sep-21
Sometimes I use propane and sometimes I don’t. My angle here is a more mobile camp set up so trying to minimize necessary components and make packing/unpacking more efficient.
