“Ugghh, my food is wet,” replied Tyson.
“Wet? What?”
Tyson had an unfortunate occurrence that many of us experience. He discovered his food submerged in his cooler that was full of ice—now melted into water. Understandably, he was frustrated and sad that he wasted food and money. Oh, and, he was hungry now!
Sound familiar? Yep, we’ve all been there. Fortunately, camping and overlanding has changed over the last decade.The premise might remain the same, but the amount of gear available today to make camping and overlanding more fun and efficient is staggering. One piece of gear that many consider their best purchase is a 12-volt refrigerator. I said it. I am one of those people. It’s the best money I have spent on a piece of gear, period.
I consider a 12-volt refrigerator a “game changer.” It makes overlanding more efficient and simpler; and dare I say, more fun. No more stopping for ice. No more deviating off route to the nearest store to resupply ice. No more spending money onice. No more strategically stacking food or placing it in containers so it won’t end up soaking in water. With a 12-volt fridge, I can bring tasty, healthy food without the worry of it being ruined. Crispy asparagus? Check. Frozen hamburger or steaks? Check. I can also stay out longer, exploring and adventuring in Mother Nature.
One company that designs, engineers, and fabricates outstanding overland gear is ARB. This Australian based company is known for a variety of 4x4 equipment. Everything from their exceptional, aesthetically pleasing bull bars to their stout, air-activated differential lockers. However, scan their website, and you quickly discover aplethora of additional gear for the overlander. Fortunately, I got my hands on one of ARB’s new fridge/freezers for an adventure “chasing” trout in Wyoming. The ClassicFridge/Freezer was redesigned; and the new Classic II Series was released in April,2019.
The new fridge/freezer came superbly wrapped from the ARB office in Seattle,Washington. I opened the box and found the fridge/freezer carefully packaged with the necessary cords, manual, and wifi antenna. The new fridge/freezer was unboxed,mounted atop my ARB drawer, and plugged into my vehicle’s 12-volt socket within 10 minutes. The Classic II comes in a new color scheme of black and gunmetal gray,rather than the dated blue and gray. I powered on the fridge/freezer and waited for itto cool. Within 20 minutes, the fridge/freezer temperature reached 34 degrees. I packed it with a bunch of goodies and my wife and I headed north to Jackson Hole,Wyoming, on the “hunt” for trout.
The Classic II comes with Bluetooth capability, which allowed me to control and monitor the fridge/freezer through the ARB app or with my ARB LINX Controller. I monitored the fridge’s temperature through my LINX system as we motored toward the Teton Range. My wife and I found a lovely place to camp on the east side of the mountain range, so I grabbed a chilled beer and setup camp, while Louise prepared dinner. The 37 Liter model has ample space, and allowed us to store food and beverages for a long weekend. The LED light inside enabled us to see the fridge contents, which were organized and separated thanks to the removable basket.
As the sun set behind the Teton Range, I was glad the display was backlit, which allowed me to easily find the controls in the dark night. The fridge/freezer has a built-in battery shut-off that turns off the fridge before it depletes my vehicle’s battery, an excellent feature for piece of mind. I can set the battery monitor to low, medium, and high according to battery size and the amount of volts needed to start the vehicle.
The following morning, I checked to the built-in fridge/freezer battery monitor and was surprised to find the fridge had used little of my auxiliary battery power. The monitor displayed the amount of voltage that remained in my battery, an excellent new feature. The fridge performed flawlessly over the next four days as we “chased” trout in the Wyoming high country. I really enjoyed having the ability to monitor the fridge/freezer through my LINX controller or the app. After placing some warm beverages in the fridge/freezer, I decreased the temperature of the fridge/freezer while driving the Grey’s River Road so that the beverages would be cold by the time we got to camp.
Fridge/freezers are not inexpensive. ARB’s line of fridge/freezers range from $900 to $1500 depending on the size (37Q-83Q). However, could it your best overland purchase? I think so. It’s mine.
Likes:
-Color scheme
-Quick cool down to set temperature
-Built-in battery voltage monitor
-Ability to monitor and control through the ARB App and/or ARB’s LINX
-Varied capacity models (37 QT, 50 QT, 63 QT, 82 QT)
Dislikes:
-Would like to see separate fridge and freezer compartments; rather than one compartment that’s either all fridge or freezer
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