Cooler or electric fridge / freezer?

[tthrower]

Just got a Cybertent and plan to camp for a couple of days at a time maybe three. What do I need to think about refrigeration wise. Cooler with ice vs. electric frig/freezer combo. If electric which one and why?

Thanks!

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[jahansolu]

This fridge has been the best purchase I have ever made for my CT. You don't have to purchase from this company specifically, there are others that sell the same product. The fridge is originally DC with an AC conversion and there was an owner who posted a detailed step-by-step on how to wire this to the frunk's 48V line. This way you can have your fridge operating 24/7 if you want to. The fridge fits like a glove in the center console space and is also compatible with any Screen Swivel mount you may have installed - the fridge door does not interfere. Just my $0.02.

 

[Jet55]

I just bought this for my road trip to Florida and have it plugged in to the back seat outlet. Very happy with the purchase.

 

[Sterling Shadow]

Definitely think about your needs. I went with a portable fridge/cooler that fits on the floor of my backseat and plugs into the back. Works great, as long as I don’t bring my family anywhere. I don’t take big trips often and the next time I do, I will probably just put it in the bed. The center console is great from reviews but for me, strangely enough, I really like having the big open space there and my needs for a fridge are realistically less than a dozen times a year maybe.

The benefit of the portable fridge/cooler is that it not only holds a lot more, I can set it up to be half freezer/fridge and can use it away from the truck with a plug in or power station.

I still think about the console, and if my travel habits change, I may get one.

Just a few things to think about as they are not all that cheap.

 

[Gigahorse]

I have the center console area tricked out, storage, trash can, tools, etc so didn't want to fill it with a form fit fridge.
I bought a 120v small plug in cooler/freezer for about $90, plugged it into the rear 120v and put it in the passenger floor area when I am traveling solo or in the back seat floor when I have people with me, or in the vault.
I like the ability to move it.

 

[HaulingAss]

I've been toying with an electric fridge/freezer for a long time now, never having pulled the trigger, mostly because what I do now works so well and electric coolers are very large/heavy relative to the amount of cooled space compared to a regular cooler. And they use electricity for the duration of your trip.

I can go three days using sub-zero type cold packs. They last a lot longer, and are much colder, than bagged ice or hard plastic "Blue Ice" cold packs. But you can go at least 6 days by bringing along a second smaller cooler just to hold some spare ice packs for the last three days. By keeping the second smaller cooler out of the sun, and only opening it to retrieve a new ice pack each day for the second half our trip, they will stay frozen for 6 days.

I modified an Oyster aluminum cooler to keep my ice packs frozen for six days by building a liner inside and outside the cooler from 1/4" thick foil bubble insulation. This barely increases the size of the cooler while allowing it to hold 5 or 6 large cold packs like this:

Sandwich five or six together in an Oyster cooler with insulating liners and you have a steady stream of frozen ice packs for the last 3-4 days of your trip.

The two coolers together probably take up just as much space as an electric cooler relative the volume of cooled space but, generally, I only need 2-3 days duration so I don't need to bring the second cooler. The key is for them to be frozen solid in a freezer that is at least 0 degrees F (or colder). The nature of the active ingredient is that it can make good use of colder temperatures. And the inside of the cooler doesn't get flooded, no draining needed.

An electric cooler is the ticket for trips longer than 6 days (unless freezers are readily available to recharge them along the way).

 

[mjezzi]

I bought two of these. They fit under the cyber tent when deployed.

https://a.co/d/bDUa1Ub

 

[tthrower]

Has anyone seen a wheel kit accessory, or dolly for moving the ecoflow glacier 55l around. It weighs 54 lbs. On their website they show a wheel kit for the original glacier.

 

[tthrower]

I bought two of these. They fit under the cyber tent when deployed.

https://a.co/d/bDUa1Ub

That looks like a good option at a very reasonable price! I had already ordered the Ecoflow 55L when I saw your message.

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