Do you bring coolers?

[Nate R]

Trying to get an idea of what others do.

If you have a fridge on your rig, how big?
Do you bring a cooler along when you camp? 2 coolers? 3? How many people and how long does that support you?

Wondering how much food the small fridges really hold for people in real use....Can you get by for a weekend for 2 people with no cooler, and just the fridge in your FGRV?

[Bob Miller]

Considering that not all your food should need refrigeration, the typical FGRV refrigerator is more than adequate. It's all about: a) Only taking what you will need and, b) package sizes & shapes. Small, tall and square is best, round and fat, not to good for space conservation. For just a couple, even 5 days isn't all that difficult.

[Carol H]

I carry a cooler for those frequently required items such as drinks. :-) Simple because I often running my old fridge on propane and in hot weather the less its opened the better as it takes it awhile in hot weather to recover from having been open. You could easily get by for a week-end trip for two with only using the fridge though.

[Doug Mager]

When we camp, installed fridge is ALWAYS full.

We pack 2 coolers (ice cooled) and a suplimantal 'dry goods' container.

[Gilda]

'So glad you asked as this was a question I had when I was a "newbie". Now that we have camped with the trailer off and on for two years we have a "system". We have an "icebox", not a refrigerator, in the trailer therefore we have to estimate how long a block of ice will last and when we might need to "re-supply". Generally, an ice block will last 3-4 days if the weather is not too hot. If our trip is for 3-4 four days we only need to use the icebox as there is enough space for everything. If our trip is longer we bring a cooler. The icebox is for meats, cheeses, eggs and salad dressings. The cooler is for fresh vegetables, lettuce, cabbage, carrots and fruits such as apples and oranges. I put a wire shelf http://www.containerstore.com/shop/k...C-40396FAB6524 into the cooler so the fresh items are held above the ice block and are not swimming in melted water. We keep the cooler in the trunk of the tow car so bears (in bear country) cannot get into it. Sometimes we plan to only have fresh food the first 3-4 days and then move on to staples for our other meals when we extend our trip. Think dry spaghetti or rice or dehydrated vegetables, cans of tomato sauce, chili, beef stew, tuna, chicken, fruits, vegetables etc. Staples like fresh carrots, potatoes, cabbage, apples and oranges last a really long time if they are stored in a cool spot.

Think like a sailor or a backpacker when camping and you can have some terrific meals without having everything fresh. Check out this book and website for some great food ideas. The Boat Galley Cookbook

[Eddie Longest]

Gilda
The website you linked to is really great. Galley space in my new trailer is really tight and I had bought several paper towel holders but none really worked. The bungee cord paper towel holder I think will solve my issues.
Thanks
Eddie

[Donna D.]

I'm with Carol. Bring a cooler for those items that you want to keep cold, but are used frequently... like beverages... juice, bottled water, beer, wine, etc.

Even those using ice boxes would be surprised how long it takes to get the interior back down to cold temperature everytime the door is opened. I think it's especially important to keep the door closed if you're depending on ice.

Do yourself a favor and get an indoor/outdoor temperature gauge. Put the outdoor portion inside the refer/ice box and monitor the temperature. It's cheap insurance compared to food spoilage or possibly getting sick while out camping.

[ericw]

We have a family of 5 and have a small fridge inside our Scamp. We have different styles of camping and eating. We can stretch the one fridge out to 4 days, but more typically we stop every 2-3 days as we are conveniently by a grocery store. Sometimes we add another fridge when we camp in one spot for longer periods of time (~7 days). That is largely due to what we eat and how much food/drinks we choose to keep cold.

I use compressor fridges and have found them very effective at keeping things cold in the hot weather or with frequent door openings. However, those variables obviously make them work harder.

[Bobbie Mayer]

On longer trips I bring a cooler for extra ice and food. (I just have an icebox so less room than a fridge.) Weekend trips, or cooler weather, no.

[Jon Vermilye]

I have a 5 cu ft refrigerator, and keep a small cooler in the back of the tow vehicle. I use it to keep things frozen driving back from the store, and to hold some of the more important stuff when defrosting the fridge. Almost all my trips are long term (months).

[floyd]

We commonly take more than one cooler, One in the TV to keep cold drinks and a couple of those small soft-sided ones to keep stuff which could suffer from the heat, like cameras or candy, or for carrying drinks and snacks on a walk or a bike ride.

[Mike Magee]

My 3 cubic foot fridge seems large enough for one or two people.

However, I have become disenchanted with its cooling ability and intend to take a cooler next summer so I can be certain that my milk and stuff won't spoil. I wish I had a Danfoss compressor 12v fridge... or maybe even an icebox would be better than this stupid Norwarm (NorCOLD my FOOT)!

[Ice-breaker]

We have a nice large 6.7 cu-ft 3-way fridge in our Escape 19'. It is large enough that for many trips we could make do without a cooler. However, I like to bring along a cooler for mostly drinks, which can then sit outside with me when we are enjoying the sun and having a few cool ones.

[ruscal]

We have a mid sized fridge that really works well and has no trouble keeping food at any temp we select. The size is good for a few days duration.
We also carry 2 plastic Colman coolers about 24" long size. One typically has block and cubed ice and a few drinks that are accessed often. We store it in the shade outside the trailer.
The other cooler is used for dry food storage to protect it from sun, bugs, and animals. It is also stored outside.
This has been working well for us.
Russ

[stevebaz]

The tiny fridge in our Scamp 13 is good for 2 people for the weekend except for our large consumption of liquids. So we have the extra cooler for things that can swim in melted cooler water. Anything more than a weekend we will also carry an extra cooler with block Ice and everything frozen in side. In the cool of the morning we transfer frozen to the fridge or out to thaw for the day or the next day. The cooler with the drinks is in the truck at all times and carrys cube ice, snacks like sealed cheese sticks and condiments with the drinks, all this stuf can swim. We travel about by day and our refreshments goes with us. We tend to set up base camp so to speak and travel about by day so having this cooler with us is important. we pack dry goods in a large extra tub so bread, chips and fruit and snacks dont get smashed. It is also easier to pack the truck when you dont have to worry about stuff getting smashed along the way. Toss it in and go. The fridge works well if everything that goes in is cold so transfering from the ice chest to the fridge works well. If you use the fridge like home going in and out and running supplys down and restocking all at once its going to suck.

[C&G in FL]

Originally Posted by Ice-breaker

We have a nice large 6.7 cu-ft 3-way fridge in our Escape 19'. It is large enough that for many trips we could make do without a cooler. However, I like to bring along a cooler for mostly drinks, which can then sit outside with me when we are enjoying the sun and having a few cool ones.

Typically, when we are "camping," we do not sit around the campsite all day long. As a result, many of our meals are purchased from various establishments in our daily travels. But we also have a small cooler which is used for whatever liquid refreshments we may want in our travels or at the end of a day's explorations. Since we are out and about much of the time, it is not an inconvenience to stop at a grocery store to restock. So our refrigerator always has staples (milk, eggs, hot dogs, salad dressing, etc.) but we usually do not try to store food for multi-day planned meals. It would be different if we planned on sitting around the camping site all week but we don't camp that way.

[honda03842]

Nate,

We never carry a cooler and average over 7 months a year in our Scamp with the small fridge. We have learned to live without ice and drink fluids at fridge temps or room temp. Our motorhome had a much larger fridge and we found we carried a lot more stuff, but stuff that just didn't get used very often.

We find the small fridge adequate. It does mean we find that we have to shop every few days but that's not a problem. As well, we always carry a couple of pounds of smoked salmon, requiring no refrigeration.

We find we eat differently when we travel eating breakfast and one real meal a day with a light snack during the day sometime.

Compared to a home fridge our RV fridge is anemic but adequate. We use fans blowing across the external coils to improve fridge efficiency.

[Terry R.]

We find the fridge in our Casita quite adequate, and do not carry an extra cooler. When we have electric, we take an ice maker, this cools or liquids.

The other thing we do is carry meats I have canned, so they need no refrigeration. We carry prepared, home canned soups and chili, as well as different home dehydrated vegetables and fruits. These items really help with cutting down on the need for fridge space.

We found a powdered milk we like, okay, to mix up in a qt. bottle for a day or two. Chilled it is good, or we carry shelf stable qts. of milk we buy for a $1, at the Dollar Tree, and chill as needed. It comes in a nice rectangular box that fits easily. It is very good.

We use egg powder for recipes, as well as the dried milk. We carry spices and can put together about anything we need. terry r.

[Dan Jones]

We have no fridge or icebox in our Scamp. Instead we keep a large, efficient cooler in the topper of the pickup. During the day when we are at the campsite we keep it on the tongue box and at night we store it in the truck topper. It’s also handy to take the cooler with us so we have access to cold pop or water when away from the trailer out shopping or sightseeing and also handy for keeping food cold when we return from the supermarket.

Items that need to be kept dry are stored in a dry container in the cooler.

I think we are under the impression that we are still camping in a tent...

Dan

[Hazel in Sk]

We have a tiny 3way fridge in our Trillium and find it adequate for two without an additional cooler. We don't keep lots of beer/pop etc ready to drink though.

The fridge holds some milk, juice, eggs, cheese, sausage (garlic, pepperoni, typically), some already ready cut veggies in ziplocks (cabbage, onion, celery, carrots, parsnip typically), bacon, meat for a day or two (ziplocked) and two or three days meat in the freezer. I also pack in some frozen food in square boxes - home made soup or stew or chilli. They stay frozen for days but I keep track so we can use them before they completely thaw.

Our fridge is more efficient if we cool it well overnight at home before adding the food, and keeps very cool while we are travelling and leaving it untouched.