Cooler or mini refrigerator?

[andi220]

Ok guys, I am tent camping in Sept for a week, what do you think would be better cooler or mini refrigerator?

 

[John VN]

Ok guys, I am tent camping in Sept for a week, what do you think would be better cooler or mini refrigerator?

Not a tent camper, but if I did it would be a mini fridge and a small cooler for the NA beer after early morning half marathon and other exercising.

McFlurry John

 

[KristinU]

I'd go for a mini fridge or a 12v cooler. Messing with ice gets old fast. When we had our pop-up (before we added the propane fridge to it) we used a 12v cooler and it worked great.

 

[loislane]

Another vote for the electric cooler. Coleman makes a nice one. We've borrowed my parent's electric cooler for a few trips now and plan to just buy our own - it's so handy. It has a 12v plug, so you can plug it in to the car outlet while traveling, and then it has an adapter so you can plug it into a regular plug at the campground.

We have a fridge in the popup as well, but found that this is a great addition to hold all our drinks and we keep it outside the camper under the awning. That way, the kids aren't running in and out of the camper all the time to get a drink.

 

[andi220]

This time of year the mini fridges are about the same price as the coolers! I was thinking of taking the stuff to the fort in a cooler with dry ice and then transfer to mini fridge! I love the feedback keep it coming! And thanks!

 

[jeeptruck]

I just got a NICE mini fridge with freezer (not just the cheesey freezer compartment but actual freezer) off craigslist for $30. I would say maybe check CL out for a fridge or cooler. We are bringing both.

 

[KristinU]

Another vote for the electric cooler. Coleman makes a nice one. We've borrowed my parent's electric cooler for a few trips now and plan to just buy our own - it's so handy. It has a 12v plug, so you can plug it in to the car outlet while traveling, and then it has an adapter so you can plug it into a regular plug at the campground.

We have a fridge in the popup as well, but found that this is a great addition to hold all our drinks and we keep it outside the camper under the awning. That way, the kids aren't running in and out of the camper all the time to get a drink.

You just gave me an "UM, DUH!" moment...we should totally be using ours for beverages outside of the camper! We could even wire a 12v outlet into our rear storage hatch for it. I smell a project coming on!

 

[loislane]

You just gave me an "UM, DUH!" moment...we should totally be using ours for beverages outside of the camper! We could even wire a 12v outlet into our rear storage hatch for it. I smell a project coming on!

Yay - I love a good project! We just found it was so much easier - and kept the camper cooler/cleaner - to have the drinks outside.

The electric cooler will only keep things about 40 degrees cooler than the outside temp, so we didn't use it for perishable stuff. Soda, bottled water, and juice pouches. But that freed up space in the camper fridge for the actual perishable stuff.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Not at the Fort, but on a weekend tent trip in may in Virginia, we used dry ice. Kept everything very cold. In fact it froze some things. Oops. (Cooler was jam packed for a group of 20 campers.)

 

[andi220]

I thought about the dry ice as well.

 

[KristinU]

We did our little project today: http://winnieadventures.blogspot.com/2014/08/mod-12v-outlet-for-coleman.html

Thanks again for this thread and making my lightbulb go off!

 

[2goofycampers]

Again, the craftiness on this board is top notch.

 

[loislane]

Great job!

 

[andi220]

I appreciate all the info! We decided to purchase a mini fridge! So we will be using that and a cooler!

 

[rock_doctor]

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