I just had a MRI and have lower back foraminal narrowing at the L3/L4 region. I've been a slacker my whole life - eat and drink what I will and deal with the consequences later. I played tennis four times a week for three decades, and then had knee issues, and it's been downhill from there. Well, now at 65 I'm dealing with the consequences and have started the whole "lifestyle change" thing that includes going to a plant based/anti-inflammatory diet. Probably TMI.
The reason I'm chiming in here is that I'll likely spend months at a time living out of my 80s keystone, and it would be really good if I could keep leafy and other veges cold enough to last a week or more. My $500 camper has a $1000 solar system - 490 watts and 200 ah. I just finished sewing all the sideliner vinyl panels together - 38' x 36" of windowed and solid panels. That was about $300 for all the materials, not counting the $900 sewing machine. I have 22 yards of remnant upholstery fabric with a "rust theme" that I'll be sewing into abstract patterns and then using to make a new 48" bed and 42" wide cushions for the dinette that will make a second bed. I'll use excess fabric to pattern the walls with a reflectix backing and an arctic "rust themed" arctic panel.
The upshot is that a $600 12 volt fridge doesn't seem outrageous given I'll be spending three or four months a year living out of the camper. While I'm hungry all the time with this plant based diet, I am ok with it. I have a 120 qt. cooler for rafting, but am not willing to put up with all the dampness and so forth. I don't want to have to pay attention to food at that level. I just want it to be ready, and reasonably fresh. I'll be heading out for a a monthlong shakedown cruise in a couple weeks. I'll use my coolers and leave the rear five feet of the camper bare board. Lots of plastic boxes with "stuff" in them...
As an aside, beers are plant based, but man, - 200 calories each for good IPA... LOL
This thread has me really leaning towards just biting the bullet and getting a 12v fridge. Thanks for all the perspectives. This forum is really relevant for me in this stage of life...
Jeff
Laramie, WY