Overland fridge/freezer or just fridge?

[jacobconroy]

Hi,
Yet another discussion about fridges (I've read them all). Want to discuss it some more Yall?

I'm torn between the National Luna 40 with 60 mm of insulation and the 52 Weekender with the 10 liter freezer and 40mm of insulation. Does anyone really need the freezer? If you have it, do you use it? Would you buy one again? I plan to put a group 31 deep cycle battery in the rig, so the insulation might not matter too much for my trips.

I usually go out for two days, and spend a week out once each year. To date I've never had any frozen stuff on a trip. The only thing I can think of is ice for mixed drinks. But, I'm worried that I'll either shell out +$1500.00 and regret having a freezer, or wish I had bought one. If you have a really good reason to have the freezer...convince me!

Also considering the ARB 47. Thanks.

 

[ChadHahn]

I think National Lunas are seriously over priced in the U.S. They cost about half of what they sell for here in South Africa. For the price of a fridge/freezer combo, you could get two full size Dometics or Indel Bs. I would start with a Dometic and if you find you are missing not having a freezer you can pick up a smaller capacity one and be out ahead price wise.

I have a Dometic and a Indel B both about 50 qts and haven't had a problem with either one of them.

Chad

 

[JackW]

Check out the SnoMaster line of fridge/freezers - I saw them at Overland Expo East and was very impressed with them. One of my friends bought one.
The dual compartment BD/C-60D has two compartments of 32L & 24L - either or both compartments can be independently set to be either a freezer or fridge.
They come with the transit bag and are much less than the National Luna. I'm seriously thinking of replacing my Engel with one of these.

www.snomasterusa.com

 

[El Solis]

Two words: frozen margaritas. I have the NL and just pop in some premixed margaritas before a trip and have frozen, slushy margaritas with zero effort at camp. That and Popsicles for the kids.

 

[MANUCHAO]

I got the fridge/freezer....NL
I use my freezer for frozen meat/fish/poultry.
When I don't need the freezer I just set the temp to fridge mode....

Having the option to freeze food is a plus for us, and like it very much.. specially on multi day/week trips..

To the OP I think you answer your own question....
If you have done without you ahead of the game....
You better off getting some dry ice for those rare occasions when you need to keep items frozen during a trip.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

My Indel B 50 has two compartments, with the smaller one over the compressor functioning as a fridge section when I have the main section set to freeze. It's nice to have the option to freeze things when necessary, but in very hot weather (110+) the bottom freezes and stuff on top is just very cold unless you leave the box closed most of the time. Once you get used to it, you can pretty much predict what will freeze in given conditions and what won't. I agree with the suggestion to get a pair of Indel 50s if they fit your space.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

The great thing about the freezer is you can simply toss your frozen meat back into your home freezer when you return from your trip, because as we all know you shouldn't re-freeze meat that has been thawed in the fridge/cooler unless you cook it first. We use both the freezer and a cooler when we go out, the cooler contains the non-freezer items and we can toss a frozen steak in there in the morning to thaw for dinner, we also use bottles of frozen water in the cooler that we can toss back into the freezer as needed. It all makes perfect sense to me anyway.

 

[Crikeymike]

Also, keeping things frozen means the fridge will be running a lot more often. If you take frozen food, how long will you be on the road for? It sure is handy, but you won't be adding more frozen food to it along the journey, most likely.

I like the other guy's idea. Set the thing to freeze then put the non-frozen foods in the section above the compressor. Our fridges have the same thing in the 40L and 50L.

 

[El Diablo]

Check out the SnoMaster line of fridge/freezers - I saw them at Overland Expo East and was very impressed with them. One of my friends bought one.
The dual compartment BD/C-60D has two compartments of 32L & 24L - either or both compartments can be independently set to be either a freezer or fridge.
They come with the transit bag and are much less than the National Luna. I'm seriously thinking of replacing my Engel with one of these.

www.snomasterusa.com

Thanks for the link to snomaster. I'm thinking about getting a fridge/freezer and didn't know about this company. They look a lot like the National Lunas. Just curious, did your friend get a good deal at the expo?

 

[jacobconroy]

Thanks for the replies all. Lots of good points and ideas (especially the pre-mixed margaritas). I hadn't looked at SnoMaster yet, but have seen the name come up often in threads from either Africa or Australia.

However, I found a really great deal on a Jeepkitchen and bought it yesterday. This matters because neither of the NL units will fit in the cabinet. One is too long, one is too tall. So, now I think I'm stuck with either the ARB 47 or an Engel45, neither of which have a freezer compartment. I'll need to do some obsessing and find out if there is a quality fridge/freezer that will fit in a 28″D x 15.5″W x 21″H space. If you happen to know of one I'd check it out.

 

[JackW]

Thanks for the link to snomaster. I'm thinking about getting a fridge/freezer and didn't know about this company. They look a lot like the National Lunas. Just curious, did your friend get a good deal at the expo?

I'm not sure what he paid but he said it was significantly less than a National Luna and when you factored in the included transit bag was even comparable to an Engel or ARB. David has several older ARB's or Engels and am 80 quart National Luna so he must have been pretty impressed to buy one.

 

[Ducky's Dad]

Whatever you get, try to fit a transit bag. It does help.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

Thanks for the replies all. Lots of good points and ideas (especially the pre-mixed margaritas). I hadn't looked at SnoMaster yet, but have seen the name come up often in threads from either Africa or Australia.

However, I found a really great deal on a Jeepkitchen and bought it yesterday. This matters because neither of the NL units will fit in the cabinet. One is too long, one is too tall. So, now I think I'm stuck with either the ARB 47 or an Engel45, neither of which have a freezer compartment. I'll need to do some obsessing and find out if there is a quality fridge/freezer that will fit in a 28″D x 15.5″W x 21″H space. If you happen to know of one I'd check it out.

I believe that you can find dimensions for all of the fridges/freezers in a thread on here or online.

 

[El Diablo]

I'm not sure what he paid but he said it was significantly less than a National Luna and when you factored in the included transit bag was even comparable to an Engel or ARB. David has several older ARB's or Engels and am 80 quart National Luna so he must have been pretty impressed to buy one.

Ok thanks for the info! I checked them out on their website and they have a better warranty then NL also (5 years vs 3 years on the compressor). I'm putting one at the top of my list now.

 

[TwinStick]

We have a 50qt & an 82qt ARB. When going out for a week or more, we usually put all the beverages in a cooler. We have containers of frozen water instead of ice. We carry additional frozen containers in the ARB set to freeze & just rotate them every day or every other day or so. The method to that madness is: 1) keep the wear & tear on the ARB's to a minimum (not everybody is gentle with things, if it can be broken....my wife will find a way). We have people come visit many times when we are camping & they dont have the first clue on how to even open one. We don't always bring both. Hoping to use them a LOT more next year when the wife retires too. With both filled, should be able to stay gone for a good while. I think water & fuel will be our limiting factors.