Ok I’m off tramping for a week next for the first time. been driving for a while and done the odd night out here and there but never a full week…
My question is how much are them cool boxes I see sat in the passenger seats of drivers cabs and what’s the best one to buy? After a quick search I’m getting them around £40 but I don’t see the point in buying one if I’m just doing the 1 week. Do they run straight off the 12v or 24v or do I need an inverter?
They plug into the 12v socket. They are fine for keeping drinks cool, which saves a lot of money over paying MSA prices for a can of Coke, they don’t get cool enough to keep meat in safely all week when it’s hot outside, and you can’t keep them plugged in overnight or they will flatten the batteries, plus they tend to be a bit noisy. About £40 is what I’d pay if I wanted one.
Harry Monk:
They plug into the 12v socket. They are fine for keeping drinks cool, which saves a lot of money over paying MSA prices for a can of Coke, they don’t get cool enough to keep meat in safely all week when it’s hot outside, and you can’t keep them plugged in overnight or they will flatten the batteries, plus they tend to be a bit noisy. About £40 is what I’d pay if I wanted one.
PS Good luck.
Ok fair point… maybe I should look towards food that doesn’t need to be kept cool
I’d definitely see if tramping is for you first…
The one thing for sure I’d get if I didn’t have a microwave would be a gas cooker, that way you can cook up water for dried food and heat up tinned stuff.
Berty:
Ok fair point… maybe I should look towards food that doesn’t need to be kept cool
When I had one, I used to freeze sachets of Capri-Sun at home over the weekend (£2 for 10 at Iceland) , then put them on top of whatever was in the coolbox when I went to work on Monday, they would normally stay frozen until about Wednesday and helped keep the things beneath them cool. Then, once they had thawed out, I would just drink them. Coolboxes aren’t as good as a compressor fridge, but they are a lot better than nothing.
Well i tramp full time…Just come out of a truck with a fridge…To one without…Had a waeco tropicool before…And have just bought a new one…21ltr…Runs of the 12/24volt…As well as mains through an inverter…I leave it running all week.Night and day…With no problems…I have tuna & chicken salads that last me all week in there with no problems…Bit pricey at £156. Of amazon…But worth the money i think.
Berty:
Ok fair point… maybe I should look towards food that doesn’t need to be kept cool
When I had one, I used to freeze sachets of Capri-Sun at home over the weekend (£2 for 10 at Iceland) , then put them on top of whatever was in the coolbox when I went to work on Monday, they would normally stay frozen until about Wednesday and helped keep the things beneath them cool. Then, once they had thawed out, I would just drink them. Coolboxes aren’t as good as a compressor fridge, but they are a lot better than nothing.
It’s a wonder they didn’t leak after you freezed them… the scania I drove in my last job had a fridge in it but I never done a night out for them typical eh? Although all it seemed to do was get soaking wet or freeze everything I could never get the setting right.
Think I’m just get a small camping stove and take tinned food, buy milk daily and try and get some hot water for my flask…
A cool box is OK, but if youre out all week, every week, then a proper compressor fridge is probably worth it. Compressor fridges can actually get to sub zero temps, but solid state coolers are normally specced at getting to 10 or 16 degrees below ambient. So, if youre running a night heater at 22deg you ll struggle to get below 10 or 12 deg. Domestic fridges are about 4 degrees. They are more expensive than a solid state type tho. Good uns are long lived and repairable too. If doing only odd nights then buy fresh milk from the services, if doing lots o nights, then get a big `un and stock it up.
daftvader:
Well i tramp full time…Just come out of a truck with a fridge…To one without…Had a waeco tropicool before…And have just bought a new one…21ltr…Runs of the 12/24volt…As well as mains through an inverter…I leave it running all week.Night and day…With no problems…I have tuna & chicken salads that last me all week in there with no problems…Bit pricey at £156. Of amazon…But worth the money i think.
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Sod that. I’ve got a fridge built into mine and I’d refuse a new unit without one now.
I have one from Go Outdoors, I think it was £80, the Outwell one. It runs-off 12v, and I keep it plugged-in all week. It keeps bottles of pop cool, as well as milk and salad fresh. I haven’t had any problems. The capacity is quite good, and it reckons to keep stuff a maximum of 20 degrees colder than
I think the thing to remember is that a cool box keeps things cool that are already cool, they struggle to cool things down. The Outwell cools things down to some extent, but nothing like a fridge does.
I keep all of my chilled and fresh stuff in there, such as milk, butter, sandwich meats, salad, and bottles of Lucozade, but I have one of the Outwell cool bags for my ambient stuff, such as tins, noodles, etc.
No doubt the Waeco ones are a lot more substantial, but if you’re like me, and primarily eat sandwiches, the Outwell one is a good choice, especially if you don’t know whether you want to start being out all week.
You do right by testing the water first for a week. Knowing that you’ll be leaving home on a Monday, and not seeing it again until Friday, possibly Saturday morning is a massive psychological difference to the odd night-out. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but I can’t deny that I miss my family. It makes you appreciate home more, which is a big advantage.
As far as I’m aware ive got
Mon - steak / jkt Tate / grilled toms / strawberrys + cream
Tues - chicken roast
Wed - lamb chops , tates and veg
Thurs - stew
Fri - hot pot
And I sleep in my own bed every night
Not ideal food but i always carry dried food that only needs hot water ie pot noodles, rice, pastas ect, pre prepared stuff in a pot so theres no washing up ect. Sandwiches, yoghurts and drinks in the fridge will save you a fortune on food during the day, i just have one main meal in the evening at a stop/cafe.Im lucky in that my FH has a built in fridge but as others have said a cool box is only around £40 but…if doing the job longer its worthwhile and money saving in the long run to invest in a proper compressor fridge, add a 24volt kettle and as a back up a single burner camping Gaz stove and youre self sustainable without having to pay inflated prices…
Ps- goes without saying but never ever use the gas stove inside the cab. I only ever use mine on the floor outside. The little gas canisters are cheap and last a fair while.
