We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›
My normally patient wife has been getting more frustrated recently with the constantly growing piles of “work sh-tuff” taking up space in our house. I’m currently sitting with my legs folded-up under my desk chair. There’s a box of dash cams and tire inflators hiding out under my desk. You can imagine how happy she was when a box the size of a large dog kennel showed up with an 81-quart BougeRV Rocky Refrigerator. Had it been a kennel, I would have been sleeping in it. But, unlike the tools, detailing products, and various car-related electronic gadgetry, she learned to love the Rocky when it saved our bacon; literally.
The Bottom Line
The Rocky series of refrigerators is BougeRV’s premium line for camping, off-roading, overlanding, and the sickening trend of Luxury Tailgating. The stainless-steel-clad boxes can be refrigerators, freezers, or a combination of the two using an included divider. I’m testing the largest option at 81 quarts, which means it can hold 108 12-ounce beverages. But, people who pony up the cash on this Bluetooth-equipped heavy-duty chill chest aren’t wasting it cooling their cans. The Rocky ain’t cheap; or is it? The retail price is $799.99 on bougerv.com. Except that it isn’t actually 800 bucks, you can get it on Amazon for $439.99, and even if you do buy it from BougeRV, once you bundle it with accessories, it ends up being cheaper than that. It’s complicated. I go into it further below, just know it starts under 450 bucks.
The Rocky is sometimes referred to as a cooler, but that’s a misnomer. It is meant to be used with a power source. It can use either 120V AC or 12V DC. The Rocky pulls a maximum of 80 Watts, but even as a freezer it only bounced back and forth between 15 and 65 Watts during my testing. I used it outdoors, and it worked great. But, it paid for itself by using it as a backup/auxiliary fridge, which is something a regular cooler just won’t do.
The Rocky is big, heavy, and looks like you’re transporting plutonium. At 28 x 18 x 25 inches, it takes up most of my CUV’s trunk, which makes it less than ideal for camping—for me. If you have a truck bed or toy hauler worth of space, it’s probably the right size. BougeRV will sell you a small battery that fits in the fridge and a solar panel that will keep it running almost independently, but really you want to pair this with a power station. You can use BougeRV’s JuiceGo or just about any brand given the draw is relatively low. It works great, feels premium, and if you require refrigeration on-demand while you’re home, it’s not hard to justify the price.
| BougeRV Rocky 81 Quart Refrigerator | |
|---|---|
| Ease of Use | 8/10 |
| Quality | 8/10 |
| Durability | 6/10 |
| Value | 8/10 |
| Overall | 7.5/10 |
CodeName: Rocky
When BougeRV offered to send me a portable refrigerator, I didn’t realize they would send me one I could almost crawl inside. Don’t try it, kids. There isn’t an inside release. The 81-quart fridge is the largest Rocky model in a range of 41, 55, and 69 quarts. This one weighs a little over 53 pounds and that’s without the additional battery which weighs another 3 pounds. And, that’s empty.
The interior volume of this Rocky is 81 quarts, which is 108 cans of Coke. That would be another 90 pounds. If you use it as intended and it’s filled with meat, it’ll weigh slightly more. This isn’t something you’re going to hump-in to your campsite. The smallest 41-quart Rocky still weighs about 40 pounds, according to BougeRV, so that isn’t much lighter. For the sake of comparison, a stainless steel Yeti V-Series comparably-sized to the 81 quart weighs about 35 pounds.
That Yeti V Series also costs $800. So now may be a good time to talk about the actual cost of the BougeRV. Yes, the retail price of the Rocky on the manufacturer’s site is $799.99. BougeRV sent over the cooler with the detachable battery, which hides in a compartment in the fridge. So it doesn’t add anything to the external dimensions. It normally sells for $199.99. If you buy the fridge and battery together on BougeRV’s site, you get the two pieces for $649.99. That’s not a typo. Purchased separately, the fridge is $800 and the battery is $200. But, you buy the two together and it’s $650.
That’s not all. I also tested a small 240Wh JuiceGo power bank, normally $210 and a 50Watt solar panel, normally $100. If you bought it all separately, it would be over $1,300. However, if you buy it all at once, you get it for $851.47. Look, I just do the math, I can’t explain it. Now, to complicate things more, the refrigerator on Amazon is $439.99, but the battery is $229.99. So the fridge and battery together on Amazon is $669.98. I can’t find a discount there for buying them together.
Is a portable refrigerator better than a camping cooler?
Since the Yeti V Series seems like a natural comparison to the Rocky. Even as well-made as they are, they need ice to keep things cold. The Rocky will keep things cold as long as it’s plugged in and you can use all the space inside for storage, plus, the Rocky is a legitimate freezer. For me, the difference is being able to control the temperature.
I turn the Rocky on and set the temp using the controls on the top of the box or with the Bluetooth app. From room temperature, it’ll be at 35° in less than ten minutes; it takes almost twice as long to get below 0°. The whole time chilling, I never see over a 75 Watt draw. Those times would be a lot longer if I threw in a bunch of warm drinks, but in that case, I might use some ice to speed up the process. Again, I think most people will use this for food and that will already be cool.
I tested a big giant cooler already, it’s the Ninja Frost Vault and it worked well. It’s great for drinks and keeping things like lunch meat and fruit cold. And that’s kind of the thing, I can keep them “cold,” not I can keep them at 35° if I want or I can keep them at -10° if that’s what I decide.
I know a lot of you are looking at this for camping and trying to figure out why you even need a freezer. You may not, and that’s fine. But, have you tried Outshine Mango Tajin popsicles? The temperature control makes it useful for me at home too. I’ve gotten ten times the use out of the BougeRV compared to the Ninja cooler that I’ve had twice as long. I’ve used it for holding all the extra food we had for big family meals around the holidays. I’ve used it for brining meat. Luckily, I haven’t had to test it during a power outage, but I’m confident it would’ve pulled through there too.
The Verdict: Bouge RV Rocky Portable Refrigerator
The moment the Rocky justified its existence—and price—was a situation that sucked, but could have been worse without it. My wife and I were in the garage staring at a broken refrigerator. Moments before, we had been talking about how fortunate we were to have it around this time of year. But, our garage refrigerator had stopped refrigerating. We found this out while loading bags full of groceries we had just brought home. As we weighed our options, including having an enormous dinner, I had a cartoon lightbulb moment. I have a giant camping refrigerator, there’s no law, that I’m aware of, that says I can’t use it while not camping. I plugged in Rocky and long story short—too late! It saved the day.
But as they say on TV, that’s not all,. I normally have to take shelves out of my garage fridge to fit the giant stockpot I use for brining meat before smoking. I was delighted to find out that not only does it fit, but it will hold the temperature exactly where I want it. For Thanksgiving, I picked up my bird from my local butcher on Monday and stuck it in the cooler and it sat until it went in the brine and sat there until cooking. I never had to worry about checking the temperature of a cooler or adding ice and draining water.
I do have a couple of complaints with the Rocky. First, it’s great the handles on the sides are hinged and hide flush so they don’t get hung up on anything. The springs are so tight, my son can barely pull out the handles. A problem inherent with all stainless coolers and fridges like this, you are going to dent them. It won’t hurt it functionally, and some say it adds character, it annoys me. Lastly, and this is for the manufacturers of all powered devices, build in a storage cubby to hold all the freakin’ cables. Also, to the best of my knowledge, BougeRV products are tested for bear ratings.
Final Thoughts: If you’re just looking for a cooler to take camping that’ll keep your Fanta, Hot Dogs, and Hershey Bars cold, the BougeRV Rocky will do that, but may be overkill. If you want a real refrigerator/freezer that works great for car-camping and overlanding, and you want to bring real food that needs real refrigeration, then this is a winner. The Rocky earns its stripes in value when you factor in the utility it provides at home. Most people hate having to store a giant cooler when not in use; I have one sitting on my back patio. The Rocky can be put to good use, which makes the $450(kinda) price tag far more palatable.
