European cooler brands?

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uncompromise

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For a variety of reasons we are not investing in a fridge just ye. We’d prefer to spend 20-30% of the necessary setup (fridge, battery, solar, etc) and buy a solid cooler that will keep fresh food fresh for a week, and let us eke out more time with freeze-dried food.

The reason for this post, as is the case with a number of mine since joining this forum, is that the popular brands that dominate overlanding forums, if even available to purchase in Europe, come in at sometimes more than double the price.

Take this, for example, from Igloo:
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We’re looking for a rotomolded cooler that is heavy duty, reliable, and will keep things cool for at least a week. To date, the only brand I‘ve found that appears to meet our criteria is Petromax, who have a 50 litre cooler they claim will keep food cold for up to 12 days.

DCEB9D80-EC97-4E80-8674-B3D792BF943B.png

Dometic has the slightly smaller CL-42 for €199 - and claims it will keep food cold for up to ten days.

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So my obvious question is, for anyone with experience buying this sort of thing in Europe, are there any other reputable brands I don‘t know about? I’m struggling with sticker shock right now ....
 
leeloo

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In europe you can find Coleman coolers, a lot more reasonable prices and similar quality with Igloo and others..
A decent one is between 70 -110 euro..
 
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MrWilsonWJ

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I have no idea if they are available in Europe, but I've used a lot of Rtic Cooler products and they are as good as any Yeti or Pelican cooler for a lot less money.
 
MMc

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Malay a cooler are sold direct and are very well made, and better than most. The freight might make out of your price range.
 
uncompromise

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thanks for all of the responses:
  • @leeloo - Checked out Coleman, but their xtreme range is the best they have, and while the price is great, the ice storage duration is not; if we wanted to go up to a 100l cooler we could get something that would keep our food cold long enough, but we want something half that size
  • @MrWilsonWJ - RTIC seem like a great brand, but I can’t find a single reseller in Europe
  • @MMc - do you have any more information? I Google for Malay + cooler / ice box etc, but couldn’t get a clear return with a product line
At this point it appears to be a toss up between the dometic, the petromax, the icemaster pro 50, the Monoprice Pure Outdoor, and the Lurpin 50.

With the exception of the Petromax, all of these coolers are available in the US. The Petromax seems to keep things cold the longest, the Dometic not as long, but it‘s a quality product, and the others seem to max out at a week, and have varying reviews on quality and reliability.
 
MMc

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Sorry, spell check got me. Maluna is the brand . They have most standard sizes. A unique hinge system.
 
MazeVX

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I can tell you that I know the dometic from a friend and it's a very good thing, but in my opinion, it's to much money for a icebox.
 
El-Dracho

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Have so far not so intensively engaged with passive coolers, because for me and my purpose clearly outweigh the pros of a compressor cooler. If I were to buy a passive cooler, I would - as with the compressor cooler - choose one of the well-known and proven manufacturers or brands. For example, Petromax, which is a well-known traditional company, which products are known for quality, durability and customers service. Likewise, Engel, who are also known for tremendous quality and durability in their compressor coolers, also has passive coolers in the product program. The two would be my first choice, simply because I want to rely on the material and do not want to buy twice.

Of course we can all only share experiences and views here. Look at this and the coolers that are on the market and compare that with your requirements and wishes. So you can find the right product for your purposes and decide what you choose for your needs.
 
leeloo

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a dual battery and a fridge can be done on a budget.
Unless I would only go on occasions for short week end trips, I would go for a fridge. Honestly it is the best camping mod I ever had on the car, even better than the hard-shell RTT that I used to have.
I think more than 100-120 euro for a cooler is to much, and it defeats the purpose....
 
uncompromise

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leeloo said:
a dual battery and a fridge can be done on a budget.
Unless I would only go on occasions for short week end trips, I would go for a fridge. Honestly it is the best camping mod I ever had on the car, even better than the hard-shell RTT that I used to have.
I think more than 100-120 euro for a cooler is to much, and it defeats the purpose....
Click to expand...
i’d love to see the math on a budget fridge setup. By my calculations, I didn’t see myself getting much change out of €1000 by the time I’d bought the fridge and setup a dual battery system to support it.
 
leeloo

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Depends on your vehicle and you can start small and upgrade after, as need it.
I did a break down of different options here.

Overland auxiliary battery systems

Prices are valid in Europe, and are in Euro. Depending on quality/brand they might vary, I chose some middle ground options to give you an idea. Option A Cost Option B Cost Option C Cost VSR - voltage sensing relay 35 DC TO DC & solar 330 Solar generator aprox 40 amps 450 90-100 Amp...
www.overlandbound.com www.overlandbound.com

For you, the cheapest thing to get you started would be a VSR + AGM battery + wiring.. about 230 euro and you are good to go if you can do the install yourself. ( is not that hard )
My first fridge was a 35l Snomaster traveler, got it on sale for 360 euro, not a bad price and it is not a terrible fridge (takes a bit more power due to poor insulation, otherwise is ok)
If you have a vehicle with a smart alternator and use a VSR, the battery will not be charge full, so when you do the math lets say normally you would get a 80 amp AGM, with VSR you might need a 100 AH AGM, since it will not be charged full. But you can live with it for while, and it will not be wasted. In time, when you grow up :) , you replace the 20 euro VSR( that you can keep as a spare ) with BCDC, add solar and so on .. as need it.
It is what I did. First I had VSR + AGM. It was fine, I was able to camp almost 2 days without moving . After I replaced the VSR with a BCDC and added solar I can stay indefinitely in one spot and my AGM never goes down less than 75 % - that helps with the longevity of the battery and reserve power - always a good thing.
If you like, you can contact me via private message, towards the end of May, if COVID 19 restrictions ease in France a bit, I might be near your area and be able to help you with the install even.
 
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ChadHahn

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Depending on how long you will be gone using a fridge and a battery pack like a Yeti is a good alternative. When I travel, I have the fridge plugged into the Yeti and the Yeti into the cigarette lighter. I have an insulated cover for my fridge and even in the summer heat of Arizona it doesn't draw a whole lot of power.

The good thing about going this route is you can add a solar panel to this down the line.
 
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