Best Coolers For Car Camping – Top 5 Review
Car camping can be an extremely fun and rewarding experience. One common issue is poor cooling and refrigeration for food and drinks, but we can fix that! A good way to improve your car camping experience is to have a high quality cooler, so we have created a list of out top 5 favorite car camping coolers for you to take on your next trip!
How Do I Choose a Camping Cooler?
The size of a camping cooler is usually dependent on the amount of people and the duration of the trip you are taking. A small camping cooler (10-20 quarts) is ideal if you are going on a camping trip by yourself for a couple days. A medium camping cooler (20-40 quarts) is preferred if you are going on a camping trip by yourself for three to four days, and a large camping cooler (40+ quarts) is ideal for a weeklong camping trip.
Can Bears Smell Food in a Car Cooler?
Yes, a bear has an extremely strong sense of smell. However, you can minimize food scents from inside your car by storing food in tight, sealed containers, and you can also keep the windows of your vehicle rolled up. Bears are often smart enough to recognize coolers on sight, so we recommend to hide yours under a blanket or something else if possible.
Are Car Coolers Worth It?
Most coolers retain ice just fine, but it’s the long multi-day trips when ice retention really becomes important. It is even better when coolers can also serve as refrigerators or warmers. As someone who camps myself, I always try to improve my camping conditions in any ways possible, so having a high quality cooler is definitely a good start.
Best Coolers for Car Camping - Top 5
In this article, we have created a list of our top 5 favorite coolers for car camping. Some of them have warming and refrigerating abilities while others are just regular cold retention coolers that you need to put ice into. It’s time to level up your car camping game!
Euhomy 12 Volt Refrigerator
The Euhomy 12 Volt Refrigerator has a dual section freezer and chiller that is equipped with a powerful compressor for fast cooling. It is equipped with 120/240V AC and 12/24V DC adapters, which can be used at home or in the car. The RV refrigerator provides three (low, medium, and high) battery protection functions at different levels, so you don’t have to worry about it shorting out your car battery.
Additionally, the sound of the 12v fridge is only 40 decibels when it is running, so it is quiet and doesn’t move. It has a LCD panel that allows you to check the status of its cooling and adjust the temperature range at any time.
Ivation Electric Cooler and Warmer
The Ivation Electric Cooler and Warmer use powerful thermoelectric technology to provides dependable cooling & warming for all your drinks and perishables. It keeps drinks icy cold at 40°F and maintains hot food at 130F. It has a 45L interior, and it has a handle and wheels to make it portable for any activity!
Koolatron Kool Kaddy
The Koolatron Kool Kaddy is a 42L cooler and warmer that uses thermoelectric technology and a brushless fan motor to efficiently cool to 40°F (22°C) below surrounding temperature or warms to 140°F (60°C) using less power than your vehicle’s tail light. It has a secure magnetic door seal and removable tray/shelf, so you can use this unit as a classic chest-style cooler or put it on its side as a portable mini refrigerator.
ZENY Mini Fridge Electric Cooler and Warmer
This mini fridge has a 26L capacity and uses an energy-efficient thermoelectric cooling system to minimize noise and movement. It works with both 110V AC and 12V DC power with a car outlet plug and it has a locking handle in order to keep the lid tightly sealed, so there are no worries of it falling over when you drive on a bumpy road.
Igloo Portable Beverage Cooler
This 24L Igloo Portable Beverage Cooler has a swing-up bale handle with comfort grip for easy carrying and a 8′ long power chord that plugs into any 12V DC receptacle. The cooler also has a quiet brushless motor and uses convection cooling with a fan to circulate cold air. This cooler is not designed as a refrigerator, so you will need to add ice, but it keeps the food and drinks cold much longer and it fits nicely in cars.
Wrap-Up
A high quality cooler can really have a positive influence when car camping. There are many different features these coolers have that make them unique and a great choice. Hopefully we have helped you get a better grasp on what you are looking for in a cooler and guided you on making a smart purchase!
