• Welcome to The Bushcraft Forum

    You are currently viewing the site as a guest and some content may not be available to you.

    Registration is quick and easy and will give you full access to the site and allow you to ask questions or make comments and join in on the conversation. If you would like to join then please Register

Cool Boxes.

1 shot willie

Very Obsessed
Messages
24,769
Points
2,550
Age
70
Lorraine and I were chatting the other day about maybe getting a beer and pop cooler for when we are out the back chilling or having BBQs.
Been having a look about and may have a look at one of these Waeco U32 ones 12/240v with USB.


This would also come in handy for long trips camping with the vehicle close by........... 3 to 5 days or more.
Keeping fresh food...... milk...... eggs.....bacon.....sausages.....butter......fruit etc etc fresh over the course of the camp period.
Nice for the beach and family picnics too.

Anyone else use a coolbox of this type........what have you got......and how do you rate it??
 
Av just got the generic blue one bill (somewhere lol)


A do like the look of this one.....look forward to your thoughts if you get it. I was looking for a new one. This Would be ideal for us to. As we a few trips planned for when I’m of work for a few days in August.

So be a dear and buy it and let me know how it is:whistle::rofl:
 
I’ve got one from an online German company called westfalia. Mostly used for car based camping; it isn’t the easiest thing to carry any distance unless you have a fold up trolly.

Best way to use it is to pre-cool it on mains before keeping it topped up in the car.

We also freeze some elements of our food (pre-cooked chilli and curry along with sausages etc) which acts as cool blocks and provides fresh food for later in the week.

38
 
I’ve got one from an online German company called westfalia. Mostly used for car based camping; it isn’t the easiest thing to carry any distance unless you have a fold up trolly.

Best way to use it is to pre-cool it on mains before keeping it topped up in the car.

We also freeze some elements of our food (pre-cooked chilli and curry along with sausages etc) which acts as cool blocks and provides fresh food for later in the week.

38


Good tips 38 :thumbsup:
 
the M2 has always worked ok for me ..... freeze 2 x four pint milk containers (full of water) then freeze a milk .... put all fresh meat on top and its good for a week in the woods ..and the bonus is you have 8 pints of fresh water later in the week 👍

(i know its not what your looking for mate for the garden )
 
Av just got the generic blue one bill (somewhere lol)


A do like the look of this one.....look forward to your thoughts if you get it. I was looking for a new one. This Would be ideal for us to. As we a few trips planned for when I’m of work for a few days in August.

So be a dear and buy it and let me know how it is:whistle::rofl:


Ill go halves with you :rofl::rofl::p
 
the main issue with these "type" fridges is they don't actually "cool" the food stored ..... they are just expensive cool box ,s not fridges ... you would be better of looking at a small camping fridge like Dick,s ....
 
I have had a Camping Gaz fridge for nearly 25 years and still going well. It runs off 12/240volt or camping Gaz butane. Much bigger than the one you're looking at but it does hold a fair bit. Also makes ice for the g&t. I'll try and put a picture up.

Sounds good Dick 25yrs is good service.

As for making ice for the G & Ts.........I thought about freezing the sausages individually and using them :thumbsup::confused:
 
I bought one of these for the summer meet last year

tbh I wasn't very impressed. Once it was unplugged from the car supply it didn't really perform as well as a standard cool box.
After eating pork sausages on Friday morning I missed the BBQ because I was throwing them up (they'd been in there since Wednesday afternoon)
 
Now looking at the Butane Fridge options too
I bought one of these for the summer meet last year

tbh I wasn't very impressed. Once it was unplugged from the car supply it didn't really perform as well as a standard cool box.
After eating pork sausages on Friday morning I missed the BBQ because I was throwing them up (they'd been in there since Wednesday afternoon)


I think they need to stay connected to the power source Paul.....or as Matt says.......its just an ordinary Coolbox if not.
 
Last edited:
That’s why we freeze food to phase it’s use. Also take the box with us so the car gets it running whenever we drive anywhere.

For context we packed a frozen chilli into the car at about 3pm, left the box in the car (unpowered) overnight on a ferry and then drove to the south of France, the chilli was still partially frozen when we went to eat it that evening.

38

38
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bam
I think they need to stay connected to the power source Paul.....or as Matt says.......its just an ordinary Coolbox.
Yes, I realise that but my point was that they're probably not as good as an un-powered coolbox once disconnected.

@38thfoot Yes, lesson learned there the hard way. 1 take or buy frozen. 2 avoid pork or chicken if it's likely to defrost or need to keep for more than half a day.

On a side note: We couldn't find beef sausages in Sainsbury's at Saltash, only pork. Are beef sausages not so common down south?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bam
On a side note: We couldn't find beef sausages in Sainsbury's at Saltash, only pork. Are beef sausages not so common down south?

theres your problem my friend beef sausages are not posh enough for Salisbury,s .... if you had gone to lidls across the road they dont sell pork sausages :rolleyes:

:rofl: (just kidding mate ) but lidls do sell the beef sausages as i bought some for the BBQ at the site as i didnt want to poison everyone there ;):thumbsup:

any ways back on topic please :thumbsup:
 
Yes, I realise that but my point was that they're probably not as good as an un-powered coolbox once disconnected.

@38thfoot Yes, lesson learned there the hard way. 1 take or buy frozen. 2 avoid pork or chicken if it's likely to defrost or need to keep for more than half a day.

On a side note: We couldn't find beef sausages in Sainsbury's at Saltash, only pork. Are beef sausages not so common down south?

While I accept they're no substitute for the real deal, some of the veggie sausages are ok. SOME. They do last longer than the pork ones though and if you're going to smother them with flavourings then its less of an issue.

Not tried the lecky powered cool boxes, have used the more traditional ones and as said, frozen works ok for a day or two and can also keep beer/white wine chill as its doing its slow defrost. Never tried for longer than a couple days so will be curious to see how the thread goes.
 
Lorraine and I were chatting the other day about maybe getting a beer and pop cooler for when we are out the back chilling or having BBQs.
Been having a look about and may have a look at one of these Waeco U32 ones 12/240v with USB.


This would also come in handy for long trips camping with the vehicle close by........... 3 to 5 days or more.
Keeping fresh food...... milk...... eggs.....bacon.....sausages.....butter......fruit etc etc fresh over the course of the camp period.
Nice for the beach and family picnics too.

Anyone else use a coolbox of this type........what have you got......and how do you rate it??

We do if glamping it a bit with my partner for a base camp.
Use frozen ice packs and pack frozen milk, and we can make it work for about 5 days in an english summer without elec.
On the boat we use the 12v when the engine is running, and mains if in a marina. As such, pretty much indefinitely.
Ours is some cheapo version (though have had a Waeco) from Aldi or Lidl?

On 12v they are power hungry, which is why it's only run as such when the engine is running, we then unplug if sailing......
 
Thanks for the input and comments folks :thumbsup:

It is sounding like these powered Coolboxes are ok for hook up to 240v at home or on a campsite......but not really suitable for days in the woods running off the car battery.
Glad I asked the question now because I have no experience of using them.

Weighing things up and considering the time we would use a camping type fridge we are now thinking it is just not worth the investment.

We have just cleared the house of a load of clutter......not going to start adding to it again :rofl::thumbsup:
 
Thanks for the input and comments folks :thumbsup:

It is sounding like these powered Coolboxes are ok for hook up to 240v at home or on a campsite......but not really suitable for days in the woods running off the car battery.

No, not the piezo ones!
There are much more expensive types (forget the name of the technology, as I don't have one) that can run for ages off a car battery, which is why they are hundreds of pounds.........but definitely not the "affordable" piezo ones, they'll flatten a 12 v quite quickly!
 
Back
Top