VEVOR Car Fridges and Camp Gear

What VEVOR makes for hunters and campers

VEVOR's own blog describes a catalog that runs from household and workshop tools to kitchen and restaurant equipment, automotive gear and forestry tools. Most of that is outside this site. What the grid above lists falls into these camp and hunting types:

• Car fridges: 12-volt powered fridges, most of them compressor models
• Hard coolers: ice coolers, with and without wheels
• Ground blinds: pop-up hub blinds
• Blind chairs: swivel chairs and a marsh seat
• Tents: a canvas bell tent, a hot tent and a pop-up sports tent
• Screen tents and canopies: pop-up gazebos with mesh walls, and a canopy with sidewalls
• Tables: camp kitchen stations, folding utility tables, roll-up side tables and grill tables

Camp chairs and beach gear round it out. The grid filters by type and changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the groups and what separates them, not how many of each are listed this week.

Nearly every spec in the VEVOR grid came from an Amazon listing; the grid marks those values. VEVOR's model names are mostly descriptions: size, type, a feature. "Car Refrigerator Dual Zone" tells you more than most brand names do. Use that, and then read the listing for the rest.

VEVOR car fridge lineup

Compressor cooling, mostly

A car fridge is a small refrigerator that runs on your vehicle's 12-volt power. VEVOR's guide explains the two ways they cool. A compressor fridge uses a motor to move refrigerant through coils. A thermoelectric one uses a solid-state Peltier module, has no moving parts and runs quiet. VEVOR's guide says thermoelectric suits drinks and short trips, and compressor suits frozen food and longer trips.

Nearly all the VEVOR fridges in the grid name compressor cooling in their listings. Most also list a lowest setting well below freezing, which means they can work as a freezer. The compressor fridge page and the thermoelectric cooler page explain the difference across brands.

Sizes from armrest to chest

The lineup runs from small units, including one shaped to sit in a car's center armrest, up to large chest fridges you'll want two people to lift. In between are the sizes most hunters will look at: big enough for a weekend of food, small enough to fit behind a truck seat.

One listing in the grid names a specific car model in its title. That's a fit statement, not a performance one. If you don't own that car, it may still fit yours, but measure the space first.

Some models carry "EPP" in their names, and the grid lists a warmer lowest setting for those than for the rest of the lineup. If you want frozen venison, check that field before you check the price.

Single zone or dual zone

A dual-zone fridge has two compartments, each with its own temperature. Several VEVOR fridges in the grid list dual zones. That means one side frozen and one side cold, in one box. A single zone is one compartment at one setting.

For a deer camp, dual zone is the fridge-and-freezer setup in one unit. Single zone is simpler, and it's what you want if you'll only ever keep things cold, not frozen.

Power: 12V, 24V and the wall

Most VEVOR fridges in the grid list 12/24V DC, so they run on a car's 12-volt outlet and a truck's 24-volt system. Many also list an AC adapter for a wall outlet. A few list 12V only, and a few don't list an AC adapter. That matters if you want to pre-cool the fridge at home the night before.

VEVOR's guide says many 12V fridges have a low-voltage cut-off that turns the fridge off before the battery gets too low. Its install guide tells you to switch that protection on if your model has it. A car fridge that runs all night is fine. A truck that won't start at 5 a.m. is not.

Danny's take: "A car fridge is a cooler that never asks for ice." He still buys ice. Old habits.

Setting up a VEVOR car fridge

VEVOR's own install guide lays out the steps, and they're plain enough to follow in the driveway:

• Find a flat place: trunk, back seat or cargo area
• Leave air around it: a few inches around the vents, per the guide
• Keep it out of direct sun: heat makes it work harder
• Strap it down: tight enough that it can't slide while you drive
• Plug into 12V, or follow your model's instructions for other power
• Let it reach temperature before you load food and drinks

Here's my one opinion on this page: put an appliance thermometer in any fridge you trust with venison. The FDA says a refrigerator belongs at or below 40°F and a freezer at 0°F, and it calls an appliance thermometer the best way to know. The number on the display is what the fridge is aiming for. The thermometer tells you what it hit.

In shop class, I never let a student trust the dial on the band saw fence. Same idea.

VEVOR hard coolers

VEVOR's hard coolers run from lunch-box size to large wheeled chests. The listings name the capacity in quarts and most add a can count, which is the easiest way to picture the size. Some of the larger ones list wheels, and some list a drain plug.

One model, the Ultra-Light, lists an ice retention figure in days. That's the maker's own claim, measured in its own conditions. Ice retention depends on how often you open the lid, how full it is and how warm the truck bed gets.

For a deer camp, the question is the walk. If the cooler goes from the truck to a cabin porch, wheels matter less than size. If it goes down a rutted two-track, the wheeled ones earn their keep. The cooler page, the cooler with wheels page and the large cooler page compare across brands.

VEVOR ground blinds and blind chairs

Pop-up ground blinds

VEVOR's blinds in the grid are pop-up hub blinds, sized from compact blinds for a pair of hunters up to large ones for a group, by their listings. The listings describe see-through walls, meaning mesh you can see out of but game shouldn't see into, and silent windows. Some name a 270-degree view.

Center height is the spec I'd look at first. A bowhunter has to draw inside the blind, and the listings for some models give center heights tall enough for that. Check the height on the exact model, then check it against your own draw.

Stake every blind, every time, and add the wind ropes. A pop-up blind is a sail with a door in it. The ground blind page covers sizes, heights and window layouts across brands.

Swivel chairs and the marsh seat

VEVOR's blind chairs are swivel models, and their listings name a 360-degree swivel and a silent claim, which is the maker's word for it. Some add adjustable height and a backrest. The marsh seat is a different animal: an adjustable-height seat on an aluminum frame, per its listing.

A blind chair has one job: let you turn toward a deer without the deer hearing you do it. Match the chair's seat height to the blind's window height before opening day. The hunting blind chair page and the swivel hunting chair page cover the rest.

VEVOR tents, screen tents and canopies

Canvas and hot tents

The grid lists a canvas bell tent with a stove jack, a hot tent and a pop-up sports tent. The bell tent's listing names poly-cotton fabric. A stove jack is a fire-safe ring in the wall or roof for a stove pipe to pass through.

Safety line, plain: the CDC warns that carbon monoxide builds up indoors from burning fuel in stoves, lanterns and heaters, and says never to use a portable gas camp stove indoors. A wood stove in a hot tent needs a stove made for it, a pipe through the jack, and a CO detector inside.

The canvas tent page and the hot tent page compare those types across brands.

Screen tents and pop-up canopies

VEVOR's pop-up gazebos come in several footprints, from a small square up to a large one, and their listings name mesh screen walls. Several list 300D oxford fabric. The pop-up canopy with sidewalls is the other style: open shade with walls you add on the windy side.

At a camp, a screen tent is the dining room in bug season. In November it's a place to keep the wind off the stove. The screen tent page and the 10x10 canopy page go deeper.

VEVOR camp kitchen tables and camp tables

This is the biggest furniture group in the VEVOR grid, and it splits four ways:

• Camp kitchen stations: aluminum tops with cupboards or shelves, one with a sink, one with adjustable height
• Fold-in-half utility tables: long tables that fold to a flat case
• Roll-up side tables: aluminum slat tops that roll up for the bag
• Grill tables: steel or aluminum tops, one with wing panels

The listings for the smaller tables name a load capacity, and the roll-up tables list lighter loads than the fold-in-half ones. A roll-up table holds a lantern and coffee. It doesn't hold a dressed quarter. The camp kitchen page and the camping table page sort them across brands.

VEVOR camp chairs and beach gear

VEVOR's camp chairs include oversized padded quad chairs, a zero gravity recliner, a two-in-one reclining chair with a footrest, heated chairs, and long folding benches. The listings for the oversized chairs and the zero gravity chair name some of the higher weight capacities in the camp-chair grid. The camping chair page, the zero gravity chair page and the heavy-duty camping chair page compare them.

The beach side is chaise lounges, a high-back beach chair, stadium seats and beach shelters: a cabana, pop-up beach tents and a stretch canopy anchored with sandbags. The beach chair page and the beach shade page cover those.

How to choose within the VEVOR lineup

With a lineup this wide, the brand doesn't narrow anything down. The type does. Three habits help:

• Start on the type page, not the brand. Know what the type needs before you look at VEVOR's version of it.
• Read the listing's own spec list. VEVOR's specs here come from listings, and some fields are empty. An empty field isn't a no; it's a question for the listing.
• Match the name to the listing. Two products can share a name and differ in a spec; the grid shows fold-in-half tables with the same name and different load figures.

VEVOR facts

What VEVOR's own blog states:

• Founded: 2007
• Based: Shanghai, China
• Catalog: tools and equipment for homes, workshops, kitchens, vehicles and outdoor use

Where each product line is made, and the warranty for a specific product, aren't stated in the sources I could check, so they're left out.

A big catalog makes for a long walk down the aisle. Pick the type first, and the walk gets short.