Nothing says mission complete like cracking open a cold one after a long day out on the trail. Plus being able to pull ice cream out of the back of a truck that doesn’t say “free candy” on the side is a party trick that will never get old.
Over the past 2 years, I’ve gone through 2 trucks, traveled over 60,000 miles behind the wheel, and probably consumed more cheap beer than I dare to mention. The one thing consistent during this entire time though was my National Luna Weekender 50 Twin Fridge/Freezer. From the back of the Land Cruiser to our current JK Rubicon, it’s performed it’s duty flawlessly and has served up many an ice cold beverage.
My National Luna 50 is a combo unit that features a 40 liter fridge paired with a 10 liter freezer, all packed inside a beautiful (and durable) stainless steel body. The biggest selling point for me on the fridge was the fact that it had both a dedicated freezer and fridge, so I wouldn’t be stuck choosing between the two.
Another perk of the National Luna units is their integrated digital thermometer and battery monitor, this setup allows you to easily monitor and adjust the temperature and also keep and eye on your power source. The unit also comes equipped with a 3 stage low battery protection system that will automatically shut off the fridge should the battery’s voltage hit your set safety threshold.
You can swap the hinges front the back or left to right
The biggest piece of criticism I hear in regards to the National Luna units though is price. Here at DirtRoadTrip we have an unofficial motto that guides all of our gear purchases, and that’s “buy once, cry once.” I’m a firm believer in buying quality equipment, and I would rather spend my hard earned dollars up front for a top notch product that will give me a lifetime of service. That being said, this unit retails for $1,650 before shipping and that buys a lot of fridge, or coolers and ice if that’s your thing.
The other issue that I’ve struggled with is the high sides of the National Luna; if you’re shorter you’ll probably have a hard time like me reaching into the bottom of the fridge. Also it makes vehicle mounting somewhat difficult in some rigs due to the taller profile of the unit. I don’t have the exact numbers but it’s at least one beer can taller than a comparable unit from ARB or Engel.
The final knock is going to be availability. Currently they are only available through Equipt Expedition Outfitters, I normally wouldn’t consider this a con, but models sell out quickly. So if they don’t have one in stock be prepared to wait because you won’t be finding these on Amazon prime, but if you have patience, I’m confident you’ll be happy with the product.
Now here’s all of the details you really want to know. Over the past 2 years I’ve had this thing filled to the brim with beer, meat, ice cream, and who knows what else, and during that time it’s been 100% rock solid reliable. I’ve also left it hooked up to my truck for up to 5 days at a time without killing my group 34M battery. It’ll hold 36 beers, a little food (emphasis on little), and you’ll be king of the tailgate party with one of these.
I know the cooler guys are going to start throwing a fit about the cost, but what you’re really paying for with a fridge is the convenience of not having to deal with ice (or soggy food). It is a pricey item, but based on my experience so far, I don’t doubt that I’ll still be using this fridge by the time on my 5th truck.
Pros:
- Combination of separate fridge (40 liters)/freezer (10 liters) compartments.
- Easy to use digital thermostat and battery monitor.
- Selectable 3 stage low battery protection.
Cons:
- High cost compared to similar sized units from the competition.
- Significantly taller than comparable units.
- Lack of availability in the US.
I just received my National Luna 50L Twin fridge and have it set up in my foyer empty to test. With it empty, running off 120V AC I set it to 4°C. I put a temp sensor in the bottom of each side. So far after running overnight the temp national Luna Temp reading only says 7 or 6 and my sensors indicate 7 and -7 for the compartments. It has never once dropped down to the program setting (4) on the display of the fridge or on my sensors. For comparison I also have an ARB 37qt in my 4 runner on a 2nd battery and it seems to cool down much faster and the display was only slightly off but more importantly it would go down to the temperature I wanted with no issues.
I live in southern AZ and now worried this fridge doesn’t live up to its hype and won’t keep things cool in high ambient temps.
I have one. The biggest issue not mentioned is that the freezer isn’t a ‘true’ freezer. The freezer compartment temperature is only 10 degrees less than what you set the fridge to, with no ability to set the fridge and freezer temps separately. A proper freezer should be -18 to preserve food properly and safely. This would mean running the fridge at -8. Bit of a con really given the price. The 60 litre version has separate fridge/freezer temp controls and therefore has a proper freezer.
Lorin,
I haven’t had any performance issues with my freezer, but I also don’t use it for “extreme long term food storage.” I normally run my fridge at 3 degrees Celsius and, and -7 degrees Celsius is more than enough for my uses. I’ve kept frozen meat, ice cream, and even frozen meals in the fridge for weeks at a time without issue. If you have a need for more temperature control I would recommend the larger unit, but for 99% of the people out there, the standard units will work fine.
So is this battery powered or is it a combo type system that runs off the vehicle when its running and battery when its not? I’ve never heard of these, but very very intrigued.
The fridge runs off of your vehicle battery, I run a dedicated auxiliary for mine.