The earliest refrigerators had no electricity and no environmentally damaging freon involved. They were, essentially, highly efficient chests in which one would place ice in order to keep their perishables cold. Hence: icebox, an archaic term that still gets a bit of play today. As a concept, the idea was sound. An efficient box. Ice inside. Stuff stays cold. But, imagine: the earliest ice boxes thrown far into the future, into the age of big tech. Same concept. New technologies. What kind of icebox could you build then? It turns out, you don't have to wonder. Dometic has done it with grace and style. Their icebox (and no: they don't call it that) is a thing of beauty. Materials have been thoughtfully injection molded into a form those early icebox designers couldn't have even imagined. The model I have is the 41 litre medium version, in a butter yellow color they call "Glow." The photos I've included show it from both angles in the back of my Lexus 450h. I wanted you to see it this way because, in some ways, that 41 litre is intended to be an on-the-road food prep and serving station. The lid either flips up or comes off (you choose) and the inside is stylishly compartmentalized in a way you can alter and control. The lid itself is designed in such a way as to be a table or a seat. An inner divider doubles as a cutting board. I mean, I don't think 41 liter Dometic Recon Cooler was designed for tailgaiting, but it would rock it, no doubt. What IS it designed for? Anything you want that involves keeping things cold for a long time. Not endlessly, of course. But substantially. And as long as you keep replenishing the ice that has melted, it will do it endlessly. My first test involved tucking a frozen bottle of water in there to see how long it would stay cold in the fiercely hot interior of my Phoenix-in-July garage. After the ice melted, the bottle leaked, which was a gift, as I got to check out the function of the built in drain. (It worked.)
I am completely delighted with this fancy high tech icebox. Every detail has been carefully thought of and thought through and you feel it with every use, from the well made handles that make it easy to carry, but tuck away when not in use, to the very stackable design, and even the warm yellow color. All the things. It's everything it should be. And more.
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