Either,but Ironman are selling a fridge that is cheaper than the others. They are a chinese made fridge that any company can buy and put their brand on it and they come in 3 sizes ,30L,40L and 50L.
They are using the same Danfoss compressor as many other brands and initial reports have given them the thumbs up.
Ive heard you can get them for $85.00 ex factory if you can track the manufacturer down.
I got my ARB for around $20, it's pretty easy to find a deal like that.
It would involve a trip up to Vancouver in July for "Cruiser Days" and try your luck at the winning ticket. We have given away several fridges in recent years
Why? I plan* on moving mine around between Cruisers and even our road trip car. All you need is a 12V supply, no reason you couldn't throw a marine battery in your drift boat.
*the plan is to buy one when we have the extra $$$, so far no luck on that front.
I guess you could, I tend to either end up in a buddies drift boat or my NRS Super Puma dont think I would want a battery in my expensive raft. I guess when changing vehicles, boats, types of outings I just find the Yeti less of a pain in the ass. Oh and it wont kill my wallet, or car battery......
My 10 year old ARB fridge will keep stuff cold 8-12 hours easily when turned off as I do this all the time. I don't have dual batts in the 12V rig so I play it safe overnight. While I'm driving I keep the t-stat down to just above freezing so everything is thouroughly chilled.
Like others have posted, the $500 USD I paid for mine was the single best camping investment I have ever made. 25 years of buying ice and throwing away food would have paid for a couple of them. I never throw food away now, I just put it in the house fridge when I get back.
There's a lot of variance in how long a fridge will keep things cold without power. I've not done any formal tests. When we camped in Michigan's UP in October, we just turned it off overnight and it was fine. Obviously, in the desert, YMMV.
The biggest factor other than ambient temp is whether or not the fridge is full. If it's half air inside, it'll warm up much faster than packed full of goods that are cold.
Generally, a fridge's insulation is not going to compete with the best cooler model's on the market today. However, they're still darn good, because the power draw is relatively small, so the compressor is not working hard because of lack of sufficient insulation.
I saw the Yeti in action at Moab, and then checked one out at Cabela's on the way home. Nice cooler, and probably the way to go if you have no power, but holy crap are they expensive. The comparable size to the 47l ARB fridge was $500ish.
I had just picked up an ARB 50, and was also contemplating a yeti for bulk storage of cold goods. The size thats comparable are outside dimensions, but your inside storage is almost trippled.....yes they are hard to swallow in price, i said to myself, geez for 250 bux more i can plug it in. They are great for hunting though!!
Cruiserdrew, you nailed it but you forgot the bike rack, and snorkel. dont ever let anyone see you ride the bike but have it just in case. modified quote from the Expedition Portal conversation with the robot. Just sayin
Average ARB 50 qt is $800.00. Plus or minus a few $$. anything less by 20 or so is questionable. They are pretty much fair traded. Engle is close to pricing themselves out of the market. I own 3 two Engles and one ARB. The ARB is the best for the price.
I'll have to join the others and agree that you don't know how handy they are until you have one. Costco trips (Especially when you don't live in town) road trips, the list is endless. The price isnt bad when you consider how long they last. I bought mine in '04 and after seeing how often we used it, my father also bought one in '04.
The only issue was about a year and a half ago, my display went blank because of a dead internal battery. A few bucks later, it was fine.
I laugh when Yeti cooler is paired with "Cheap/inexpensive." I was given a Yeti this year as a 40th birthday gift by my hunting partner. Inexpensive and Yeti don't go together. You're still dealing with ice and my wife isn't about to muck around with ice on a Costco trip.
Andrew I don't see vehicle mounted laptops on your list...
I guess I just think a cooler is much more versatile when talking about a broad range of outdoor activities. Sure a large yeti is 500, but it goes from raft to car to hunting camp to road trip. For the same price as an arb fridge I can get a yeti 250 which is a beast of a cooler not to mention if you live in grizzly (here in Montana) or black bear country its a certified bear proof container.
You can stop at any major truck stop (Loves, TA, Pilot) and pick up a time 12v cooler for $100. They're kind of cheap and can only cool to 34 degrees below ambient temp.
You can stop at any major truck stop (Loves, TA, Pilot) and pick up a time 12v cooler for $100. They're kind of cheap and can only cool to 34 degrees below ambient temp.
