These days fishing, camping or just a family picnic can be a lot easier, with the new portable fridge/freezer range.

When assessing what model to buy, I gave myself a checklist: external size, internal size, weight, warranty and price.

I knew I wanted a back of the car size fridge that can fit the necessities of a camping trip with a young family. I also knew that I needed to fit a few drinks, milk, and other smaller cold products need to fit.

I also wanted a model to make it a freezer if required.

I also wanted the lightest I could buy so that when loaded it was liftable for even my son or wife. The size I thought would suffice was the 45-litre version. It came at only 20kg; in some cases that’s 8 to 10 kilos lighter than others on the market.

And like everything these days, price plays a major part so with this all in my mind I hit the net for some research and everything I researched came up with one name TechniIce.

Now I didn’t even know they had early in 2013 released portable fridges into their range. They are known country wide for their ice boxes, dry ice bags and camping gear.

I own some of there other products so I had no trouble in buying a 45 litre fridge freezer from their website.

The range consists of 30 litres, 45 litres and 60 litres. (see website for details on these models).

Order was placed and 3 days later I had my fridge. my first surprise was I noticed I received an insulated fridge cover which was an awesome bonus. This really looks after the outside of the fridge and also keeps the cold in!

The insulation of the cover seemed very thick that on top of the built in insulation of the fridge, knowing it comes from the range of ice boxes I was reassured it would deliver performance.

So an insulated bag around an insulated product was a great idea and was bound to keep the sun out!

It also comes with a 24-volt adapter and 12 volt cord so you can plug it into the car when travelling.

Now I for one know nothing about motors, compressors or anything about the make up of the fridge, its all way over my head, but externally it’s made from heavy duty plastic, but its actually called Heavy Duty Polyprop case construction.

The compressor motor is an Italian design that has a high efficiency power consumption for minimum battery drain. This I’ll take their word for it as I wouldn’t know. But the 2-year warranty is piece of mind!

The internal side of things is clean and simple, it comes with an internal light so you open it, the light comes on, which is a great feature.

There is a separate fridge and stainless steel freezer compartment so you can lift that out and load or unload it. The internal lining section of the fridge is stainless steel so it keeps things cool for longer.

The lid on the fridge can be hinged either side, so if your vehicle is better suited to the fridge being one way from the other no worries, swap it over it’s very easy.

Controlling the fridge is so easy also. The digital LED control panel is very easy to set and re set the temp to the conditions. The temp is always lit and easy to see, the freezer can actually go to – 25°, which is amazing for a portable fridge.

The buttons are soft start buttons. You can choose between three different battery stages to look after your car battery, and they reassured me that if the battery was running low it knows to save enough to start your car.

OK I loaded the fridge up the night before we hit the road. The 240-volt was plugged in and I filled it up with our requirements and the following day I easily picked it up with the handles and placed it in the car and plugged in the 12-volt plug for travel so I could continue cooling the items.

I left it running while the car was running and when I stopped short term, I left it running as it pulls low amps from the car. Overnight I disconnected it fully and in the morning it was as if it wasn’t even off; this is the insulation coming into play.

Its easy access and easy manoeuvrability for me was a winner and it’s now a permanent part of my travels, I rarely leave home without it.

Stock up on drinks and food and throw them in the fridge in your car just makes sense. You don’t have to pay way too much for service station drinks and food.

In fact a long trip with many stops and a car full of kids will probably outweigh the $439 the fridge cost, so it’s a win-win. Fresh food on tap in the car and when you get to your destination, whether that’s a tent, cabin or apartment it’s easy to set this fella up and use it during your stay.

So the TechniIce fridge freezer ticked all the boxes for me, I purchased and I am loving the decision.

I am sure it will be with my travels and me for many years to come.