Overland Fridge Freezer Guide

If the stove is the hearth of a camp kitchen, the overland fridge is its heart. The ability to bring refrigerated and even frozen food and drink into the backcountry elevates any overland trip.

There’s something really special about pulling a cold beer from your portable refrigerator when settling into a campsite for the evening. And on long trips, a fridge keeps perishable foods such as meats, dairy, and vegetables fresh when you are off the grid.

Best Overland Fridges

Unlike the old days, when there were very few choices, there are now many options for portable fridges for overlanding, off-roading, and car camping. We’ve identified a few below for various use cases. Some of the models come in different sizes, so you’ll need to determine which size makes the most sense for your vehicle and trips.

DOMETIC CFX3 Portable Compressor Coolers

The Swedish company Dometic’s line of CFX3 portable fridges has taken off in popularity in recent years. These fridges aren’t the cheapest on the market, but they offer a lot for the price and are designed to take some knocks.

They offer a temperature range from -7°F to +50°F, and the temperature can be controlled with your smartphone via a Bluetooth app. Larger models offer dual-zone design, so you can refrigerate and cool. The fridges have separate inputs for AC (120V) and DC power (12V/24V) and can be plugged directly into solar panels.

ARB Elements Weatherproof Fridge Freezers

ARB Elements Weatherproof Fridge Freezers are unrivaled for their tough and secure design and price. If you have the dough and are looking for a super-tough overlanding fridge, this is the one to get.

These things are bombproof. The body and hinges are made of stainless steel and the latches of anodized aluminum. The electrical connections are placed to protect them from the elements and impacts. For security, it comes with a touchpad lid lock and a padlock recess for locking it down.

Costway Camping Portable Electric Car Cooler

The Costway Camping Portable Electric Car Cooler is a good choice if you are looking for a relatively inexpensive overlanding and off-road fridge. While these fridges lack the credentials (and most likely the durability and precision) of the premium brands presented here, they cost far less. This value has made them very popular in the RV, overlanding and off-roading community.

This compressor-driven model offers all of the basics for a portable camping fridge: AC/DC power connectors, LCD control panel, and a temperature range from -4°F to 50°F. You could also check the prices on Alpicool fridges, which are similar in price, quality, and design.

Choosing an Overland Refridgerator

There are many great options nowadays for portable fridge freezers capable of handling the rigors of overland travel. The challenge is figuring out which overland fridge best suits your needs and budget.

Our goal here is to provide key criteria for choosing a fridge and present a few options for different use cases. One thing to note is that you might not need a fridge and an overlanding cooler that uses ice to keep food cool will suffice.

Refrigeration Technologies

There are three types of fridges you’ll typically find used in vehicles: compressor-driven, thermoelectric, and absorption refrigerators. Long story short, compressor-driven fridges are your best choices for overlanding and off-roading.

The primary benefit of compressor-driven models is that they are more efficient, hence making better use of your (often limited) energy sources while in the backcountry. They are also more reliable, as they can maintain internal temperatures regardless of the outside ambient temperatures, which is really important if you will be traveling in hot climates.

We’ll provide more detail below about the differences between the technologies in the FAQs.

Compressor Quality

Different fridge manufacturers often use the same compressor, and there are a few compressor makers who are synonymous with quality. Compressors made by Danfoss, Secop, and Sawafuji are used across the industry and have solid reputations.

Engle and Dometic manufactures their own refrigerators as well, and they are known for their durability. On cheaper fridge models, the compressor is likely to be a generic model. That’s not to say they are necessarily unreliable, but you won’t have the peace of mind provided by a trusted brand.

Control System

It used to be that overland fridges were controlled only through buttons on the unit and small LCD screens. Some of the newer models have Bluetooth-enabled controls, so you can change the settings through a smartphone. It’s not necessary, and the addition of such technology adds cost. But it is nice to be able to control the fridge from your tent if it’s inside the back of your vehicle.

Freezer

Most full-featured portable refrigerators now come with the capability to drop temperatures to freezing as well. This comes in handy for a couple of reasons. You can also store frozen food indefinitely, which can come in handy on long trips where food might go bad, even if refrigerated. You can also bring along ice cream and ice cubes — decedent!

Some fridges are dual-zone, meaning they have two compartments, one of which can be dropped to freezing while the other remains at higher refrigeration temperatures.

Dual zone models tend to be larger and more costly. With single-zone models, you’ll either need to decide whether you want to refrigerate or freeze everything inside.

Insulation

Overlanding fridges should have thick walls to make them as efficient as possible. The limiting factor while off-the-grid is almost always the ability to generate and store enough electricity to power your fridge. Well-insulated portable fridges reduce the amount of energy needed to maintain a consistent temperature inside the fridge. All of the models we’ll mention in this article have robust insulation.

Electrical System

Most portable refrigerators designed for overlanding use 12-volt DC power, as they are intended to work with a vehicle’s 12-volt system, drawing from a car battery or portable power station. Many models nowadays allow you to use AC power and solar sources as well, so you can plug them into a normal power socket at home or at a campground or power them with a solar panel.

This contrasts with small beer fridges or dorm refrigerators that are designed only to plug into the wall (AC power). These aren’t a good pick for overlanding, as they require a power-sucking inverter to convert AC to DC power. Also, they are typically poorly insulated and not built to take abuse. Take home message, make sure to get a fridge that works with a 12-volt source, and if you can afford it get one that works with AC and solar as well.

Power Usage

Overland fridges draw different amounts of power from your battery system or generator (whether solar or gas-powered), so it’s essential to consider how you’ll power the fridge and your needs. This is particularly important if you will be running the fridge from a portable power station, as these power stations come in various capacities.

If you get a large fridge that draws a lot of power, you may be unable to recharge your power station quickly enough to keep the fridge running throughout your trip. You’ll need to match the generation capacity of your power source and the power requirements of your fridge. Our article on overland solar systems, linked above, goes more deeply into the topic of matching your power needs to your power generation and storage system. If you don’t feel like dealing with the need to power a fridge, a cooler might work best for you.

Fridge Size and Capacity

Cargo space is always at a premium when traveling off-road. A portable fridge takes up a good amount of room, so you’ll want to make sure whatever model you buy will fit in your rig and leave room for other essential gear. The other element to consider is the storage capacity inside the refrigerator. As a rule of thumb, the longer you’ll be off the grid, the more space you’ll need. The internal capacity of overland-appropriate fridges varies considerably, from around 25 quarts (24 liters) all the way up to over 100 quarts (95 liters).

Durability

A portable refrigerator that you plan to use for overlanding and off-roading needs to be ruggedly designed. It will be subject to all sorts of abuse that your typical home fridge isn’t made to handle: bouncing around when you go off-road, exposure to extreme outdoor temperatures, and all the grit that goes with being outdoors, including dust, dirt, mud, rain, snow, and ice. All of the models we’ll present here can handle a beating. But keep durability in mind if you branch out, particularly if you are looking at cheaper fridges designed for on-road RVing, which won’t hold up to sustained backcountry and off-road trail abuse.

Company Reliability

An overland fridge is one of the larger investments you’ll make in your overland rig, particularly if you get a higher-end model. Quality comes at a price. More so than many other products, it’s worth spending a bit extra for a portable fridge from a reliable company. We’ll only recommend quality fridges here, which will give you an idea of where to start. Also, look at the warranties from different manufacturers to see which ones provide the longest and most comprehensive coverage.

Overland Fridge FAQs

What is the difference between compressor-driven, thermoelectric, and absorption fridges?

We generally recommend compressor-driven fridges for overlanding, but there are other types on the market. Here’s a rundown of the essential differences between them:

Compressor-powered fridge

Compressor-powered fridges, also known as two-way refrigerators, rely on a small compressor to compress the system’s refrigerant from a gas into a liquid so that heat can be transferred out of the fridge (hence cooling the internal compartment where food and drinks are stored).

Absorption fridge

In an absorption fridge, instead of being compressed, the refrigerant changes from a gas to a liquid via energy provided by a heating element powered by burning propane gas or electricity. Absorption fridges have a reputation for being finicky, which isn’t something you want to deal with when you are in the backcountry.

Thermoelectric fridge

A thermoelectric refrigerator doesn’t rely on a refrigerant that changes state from gas to liquid to carry heat from the fridge. Instead, it relies on a phenomenon known as the Peltier effect, where heat is transferred from one solid material (often ceramic) to a different material when electricity is passed through the system. Current models aren’t as efficient as compressor fridges, and they struggle to stay cool when the outside temperatures get hot.

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