loved the super scientific approach to this comparison, was spot on! think youve helped my decision to an upright. this is one of the best real world reviews on fridges. love the dual zone, have the same setup. almost worth thinking about putting a tap on the upright.
Love your support of Australian made products Cam. We got to keep the money here. As you say the quality and after sales service is there to back it up... Cheers Mark...
Great comprehensive vid Cam. We have a similar setup with the upright 75L fridge inside the Hybrid with a engel in the back of the wagon. I think usability wise, staking food containers (square shape or things that stack even) the engel chest style fridge/freezer is awesome. if you have a mixture of cylinder things (cans, stubbies, sauces and condiments) plus rectangle things such as left overs meat ect the upright fridge comes into its own! personally, ive run chest fridges my whole life and when I got the upright fridge it was a game changer for usability! Great video though you have really nailed it!
Yeah totally agree. I’ll never sell the Engel, they are a brilliant fridge. But like you said- for drinks/condiments/leftovers of random shapes and sizes the uprights are fantastic. I guess that’s why we all have upright fridges at home in the kitchen! Cheers guys 👍🏼
Thanks Cam, both fridges are great. I like the idea of using both as I would or could use the Engel for freezing for long term stays and upright for every day use. Cheers 🍻 love this type of content when your not travelling
Hi Cam, informative video, well done.We really like those little grey plastic tubs with the holes in them. It's the perfect setup really, an 85L upright for day to day, and a 40 - 50L chest for longer trips as an extra drinks fridge or freezer. Cheers, Tommy. BUSHMAN
Hey Cam, Love the videos. Would recommend pulling apart the spring loaded bar, separating and removing the spring. Then getting some larger plastic end stoppers from burnings, the bars fit perfectly into the fridge. You basically get two sets of bars from the original extendable one.
Excellent video Cam. I swapped out my Engel 45l for a bushman's 85l, and absolutely love it. Have it going 24/7 now, so cold drinks anytime. So so easy to access, and the misso is very happy with it also, and you know what that means!!!!
Cam we have a Waeco 95 in our Aussie Swag. We use rectangular lock & lock containers which allow us to use the space in its entirety. Same as the rectangular suacepans
Great video Cam I can agree with the upright best thing I did especially for a wagon I couldn’t go back to a chest fridge, the space saving the weight saving no need for a pull out slide it’s the best way to go.
Lov your style buddy, straight up genuine, I was against the uprights but now I’m seeing the advantages and would change my Engels, was in your woods Friday & saw the beast, looking good 👍👍👍👍
Great video Cam, very interesting to hear your thoughts on these fridges vs. the traditional chest fridges. I think I'm going to make the move from my 60l ARB fridge to a Bushman upright fridge, but still tossing up whether to go the 65l or the 85l. It will be mounted in the back of a wagon so the physical size is a serious consideration, but the lack of a fridge slide is a huge bonus. Plus I've never had a freezer while camping and I'm excited to bring a few ice creams along for those hot nights haha.
Regarding the 12/24 v problem with the Bushman: As far as I know, the entire Dometic range supports 240v as well and up to and including the 85l model, the freezer compartment is removable. If, like me (and Cam) you have a similar setup, (upright fridge,chest freezer) this has the bonus of increasing fridge space markedly. Those reasons were enough for me and after 3 years, no complaints so far.
Have you tried using some goon bags to fill out the empty spaces to stop things moving about. Easy enough to inflate or deflate to desired size as you use the contents of the fridge and pack away to nothing when not needed.
Interesting video. I reckon the upright wouldn't hold much more than the Engel because you simply can't stack the upright chockas full. For example a bottle sitting on a shelf, none of the space around the top half can be effectively used. Also if you open the door on the upright, all the cold (heavier denser) air spills out and it has to work much harder to cool down again. While your test showed double the power use, if you open the door every half hr it's likely to go 3x the power use. Always looking to save weight though!
Great video Cam. A lot of great info. I’m keen as to switch to a upright as a main fridge and take the old chest fridge freezer for extended trips where needed.
They’re definitely handy. Will suck a bit of juice running it along side a chest freezer too, but if you’ve got the battery capacity then it’ll be unreal!
Great vid mate , i agree they are both great fridges ... For me personally i love my 40 litre engel , but its just for me , the upright would be great for 2 or more people ... tc :)
Awwsome video as always, we are still not completely sold on an upright, but we aren't looking at a new one yet... our dometic cfx95 has served us well in the back of the 200.... maybe next build 🍻🍻
A good thing about chest fridge/freezer’s are when you open them you loose a lot less cold air vs the up right I don’t think twice the power consumption is justified by being twice the size Great review though cheers mate👍
Great vid mate and I think the power consumption “test” was done well simply because it’s just the way average joe would use them. The ingesting thing is that my upright 95l Engel uses the exact same as my 40l chest Engel but the upright doesn’t have a freezer like the bushman does which I’d suggest eats a bit of extra power.
I’ve got a Bushman 85ltr they hold nothing. I had a Kickass 75ltr dual zone and I’d put a 30 pack of cans in it and still have room for food plus a big freezer. The bushman freezer is lucky to fit a couple of steaks . And the other downside of the bushman is it only runs on 12volt
Fantastic review, we've been considering an upright, I'd love to see someone produce an upright without a freezer- I'm converting a Trailblaza 70lt to one so I'll see how that goes!
Yeah,I'm going upright in the next canopy build. Does my f'n head in when my drinks fall to thr bottom, the butter and vege is on top at 5pm and shouldn't be lol.
I have the MT45 with a clearview dropslide and even when I was lifting that in the car mounting it up the first time I was surprised with the weight, especially on one side of the vehicle so have to be vigilant how I pack the ute but it works well for my application. Weight saving would be a bonus for me but it doesn’t the job!
Gee, first thing I noticed about the Bushman is the tiny freezer space. There are quite a few different uprights around and we tend to look for ones with a decent bit of freezer room. We have used both types of fridge for literally decades and the one thing to note about uprights is, they are not built as strong as the chest style. Access is awesome but I would wonder how well they stand up to rough roads. Most are designed for on road use in caravans and motorhomes (which is where we use them). The absolute worst upright we have ever has was an Engel - surprisingly. The motor was fine but the cabinet was cheap and nasty and the door kept on falling off - and that was just in a caravan on normal gravel roads. Now we use the chest style in the 4x4 and a combination of chest and upright (Waeco) in the motorhome.
I’ll let ya know how it stands up to the rough stuff long term. So far it’s been fantastic. But for convenience it’s a no brainer. There’s a reason why we all have upright fridges in our homes!
I have a 40 litre Engel, but to be honest, I use my 55 litre ice box more frequently, especially seeing most of my trips in reality are about 2 nights on average. I like being able to take it out of my canopy and plonk it right next to where I want. For longer trips, you can't beat a fridge with solar though.
I almost never put drinks in the fridge. It’s all for stuff that keeps us alive. Always run a cooler with 330ml frozen water bottles and just use the freezer to refreeze bottled water
Nice comparison. Don't howl me down but some of the upright $1500 fridges I've looked at seem very similar to $300 upright bar fridges from Harvey Norman that can run off a 12v inverter. Surely not the case?
Great comparison video really make some clear and good points, was just wondering to add on where did you get the storage bag for the front of the fridge?
what would your thoughts be if the evakool drawer fridge was part of the equation? im thinking about getting one in the back of my wagon that way i can have a flat rear drawer set up in the rear of my wagon and still have decent boot space
Cheers Nathan, yeah I may do in the future. They are a great fridge mate, im totally sold on them. Use a little more power than a chest fridge, but theyre so convenient.
Hey mate good vid! Going from my 40l combi Engel to a bushman what’s it’s like volume wise like I know it’s double the size but how much more stuff if packed in proper baskets? Not double surely
Cheers Dean. Nah wouldn't be getting double the amount of stuff into the upright. But certainly a decent amount more. Just did 10 days living out of it and had enough spare room in there to stick a small keg in 🤣
Cam I've mentioned this before. I have had the Bushman 85L for about 18 months and it has been awsome. I also bought another one for a project build I did (which I sold). So I've spent $3k with Bushman. Kings have now released a fridge which looks almost identical and has the same brand of compressor (SECOP BD35F) and all specs appear to be the same. I suspect it comes out of the same factory. Dimensions are identical. The only differences I can see is that the Kings has a surround around the freezer which would help prevent things that are close to it from freezing and it is $949 versus $1495. Is it just badge engineering? Is it a rip off, or do they both source from same manufacturer and just apply badges? Or is Bushman selling to Kings? I would love to hear from Bushman about this. A 35% price difference is substantial if it is the same product. Brass Monkey also have some very good value upright fridges with LG compressors, the 85L is $829. I love my Bushman but can't help feeling they're overpriced.
I generally try to reserve comment on this stuff, I don’t like to rip a company. But there’s a few around that profit from stealing ideas, copying products and then undercutting the businesses they’ve stolen IP from. It’s pretty unaustralian. In a nutshell, this sort of business model is to find popular gear and either send it back to China for reverse engineering OR find the manufacturer over there and screw them down in price by buying in volume. Even if it is the same fridge from the same factory, i guarantee you those greedy bastards will continue to cut corners and cheap out on components until their fridges are falling apart. And there’s no after sales support or warranty. I have no affiliation with bushman, I paid for my fridge. But I’m glad I went with them, they’re fantastic to deal with and I’d rather support an Australian business that’s made their own mark by being innovative. At least Brass Monkey have come up with a few of their own ideas/designs! Price is right but their reviews are terrible.
@@WildTouring I just watched a comparison on the "Too far south offroad 4wd club" UA-cam channel. According to them the Kings has 5yr warranty versus Bushman 3yr and has Anderson plug fitted and defrost tray. Conclusion - same fridge. Interesting.
Lightly sandpapered the surface of the fridge door, used a sellers vertical adhesive, glued the carpet backing to the fridge. The organiser has Velcro backing so it sticks to that.
Hi i am thinking of buying a Bushman fridge i have spoken to about 6 people that own them they have all said the icebox ices up often and you have to defrost the freezer, where other fridge brands dont have that problem is there any other faults
I haven’t had that issue, and I’ve had it running continuously for months at a time. May have to do with humidity in certain parts of the country. I can’t fault it, I reckon it’s a brilliant fridge.
Great video and review, I was sold on the upright till you pointed out they dont have 240 power... so handy when i return from trips i can just plug a cord into the camping trailer to keep the fridge running, or as you said, fill it and 240 power the night before i go out to save batteries.....or hook a trickle charger to the batts when home.... apart from that it would be perfect for my set up.
@@nnoddy8161 Bushman make a solid fridge, they’ve been around for 40 years. Australian owned (father and son operation). The compressor and coil are serviceable/repairable (not built into the fridge walls like most brands, which renders them disposable if they leak). They have a great reputation, for good reason. Engel are also good, for the same reasons. They’re a reputable fridge manufacturer with great aftermarket support/ spare part availability. Which is why I own both.
Nah no reason. I only really looked at the bushman, know heaps of people running them that were happy and the dimensions were bang on for what I needed.
Beers have been cold and zooper doopers frozen on 40degree days here (had a few of them lately in Perth). Definitely cycles a lot more but havnt been monitoring temps.
The insulation on the bushman is nowhere near as good as an Engel. I’ve added too layers of air cell insulation on the door of the bushman and the canopy doors and now it’s Arnhem Land, Kimberly, Pilbara and Ningaloo proof on 40 c days. Just have to keep the sun of the fridge door and it works perfectly
You don’t have to use a surround at all, the fridges are supplied with some angle to mount them. But these fridges were originally designed for motor homes/caravans/camper vans were they would have been built into cabinetry. For that reason the sides and back of the fridge are exposed insulation (soft panels). Keeps the weight down but I wouldn’t want the contents of my canopy smashing into it. The cages offer heaps of protection to the panels and motor/compressor/condenser. As welll as making it easy to mount 👍🏼
Eddie I’ve used the Selleys Kwik Grip Gel Vertical Contact Adhesive from Bunnings 👍🏼 Gave the fridge door a little rough up with sand paper, then wipe down with spirits. Glue smeared across back of carpet and door and left to go tacky for a few mins. And then stuck it on 👍🏼
Nah they didn’t fail. I had two evakool drawer fridges. One was suppose to be primarily a freezer but it couldn’t hold anywhere near freezing temps so I sold that one fairly early on. The other one I used for a few years as a fridge and it went okay- definitely struggled up north in higher ambient temps though. I did have the first ones to come out though, I believe they’ve improved them since. But ultimately the reason I got rid of it in the end was the size, it has a huge footprint for a 40l fridge.
@@WildTouring Thanks mate, really appreciate the honest feedback. Always fancied them... for in the rear of a wagon... But there you go... Can't beat our tried and true Weaco and Engel units...
Yeah the drawer fridge might have a big foot print but they are also half the height. Not much useable space above the upright. What do you put up there now? They are heavy for what they are but they weigh less than a drop down fridge slide so that sold me!
Great well rounded info Cam 👍👌I've been looking at an upright for a while now but can't quite justify the outlay just yet. So many pros and cons for each but the upright is definitely a winner. You should get yourself a small digital thermometer - $10 from Jaycar. I've found them handy to get an idea of the temps in my Engel and my home fridge and also have one in the car for cabin temp. I like all your styles of vid mate 👍 Do you think the mounting brackets the bushman comes with would do the job . . . Or better off with something like you have?
Cheers Ben. The mounting kit would do the job. But I’d be much happier using a fridge cage. These fridges were probably originally designed to be built into cabinetry in motor homes or similar, so the sides and the back are just soft insulated panel. They wouldn’t fare well with things banging into them. Cage also protects the compressor/coil/fan ect.
Have seen that. So disappointing too see them steal another Australian companies design. But I guess that’s the risk of getting things manufactured in china! Kings gear has its place in the market. It’s affordable gear that will get you out there. But it never lasts long if it’s used regularly. it might look the same, it may even be sourced from the same factory! But over time they will substitute as many components as they can to make it cheaper.
![Lp. Сердце Вселенной #60 РОЖДЕНИЕ ЛОЛОЛОШКИ [Финал] • Майнкрафт](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YoR0pAV9FVQ/mqdefault.jpg)
loved the super scientific approach to this comparison, was spot on! think youve helped my decision to an upright. this is one of the best real world reviews on fridges. love the dual zone, have the same setup. almost worth thinking about putting a tap on the upright.
Thanks. Decision made. I will be getting the Upright for my Grenadier and the mounting kit
Top video, I have upgraded to the upright fridge a month ago and loving it. I saved apx 60kg from the back of my 4WD
That’s a good saving!
Thanks Cam I have a 60 l engel inthe back of my canopy brought it new in 1995 never misses a beat
Been humming and harring about buying a bushrager upright fridge.. literally just purchased one while watching your video.
Cheers mate
Love your support of Australian made products Cam. We got to keep the money here. As you say the quality and after sales service is there to back it up...
Cheers Mark...
Love your reviews mate, honest and straight to the point, and talk in blokes terms… a block of beer in the bottom shelf. That sold me !! 🤣
Great comprehensive vid Cam. We have a similar setup with the upright 75L fridge inside the Hybrid with a engel in the back of the wagon. I think usability wise, staking food containers (square shape or things that stack even) the engel chest style fridge/freezer is awesome. if you have a mixture of cylinder things (cans, stubbies, sauces and condiments) plus rectangle things such as left overs meat ect the upright fridge comes into its own! personally, ive run chest fridges my whole life and when I got the upright fridge it was a game changer for usability! Great video though you have really nailed it!
Yeah totally agree. I’ll never sell the Engel, they are a brilliant fridge. But like you said- for drinks/condiments/leftovers of random shapes and sizes the uprights are fantastic. I guess that’s why we all have upright fridges at home in the kitchen! Cheers guys 👍🏼
Thanks Cam, both fridges are great. I like the idea of using both as I would or could use the Engel for freezing for long term stays and upright for every day use. Cheers 🍻 love this type of content when your not travelling
Yeah that’s my plan too mate, the engel will make a brilliant dedicated freezer for extended trips and fishing trips! Cheers mate 👍🏼
Hi Cam, informative video, well done.We really like those little grey plastic tubs with the holes in them. It's the perfect setup really, an 85L upright for day to day, and a 40 - 50L chest for longer trips as an extra drinks fridge or freezer. Cheers, Tommy. BUSHMAN
Cheers Tommy 👍🏼
You guys are doing great things at Bushman’s!
Hey Cam, Love the videos. Would recommend pulling apart the spring loaded bar, separating and removing the spring. Then getting some larger plastic end stoppers from burnings, the bars fit perfectly into the fridge. You basically get two sets of bars from the original extendable one.
Excellent video Cam. I swapped out my Engel 45l for a bushman's 85l, and absolutely love it. Have it going 24/7 now, so cold drinks anytime. So so easy to access, and the misso is very happy with it also, and you know what that means!!!!
Yup love to hear your thoughts
Bloody good unbiased review yet again Cam! Keep it up.
Thanks for the organiser company too. I liked it...
Cheers Chris! No probs mate 👍🏼
Cam we have a Waeco 95 in our Aussie Swag. We use rectangular lock & lock containers which allow us to use the space in its entirety. Same as the rectangular suacepans
Good quick clip with all the info you need. Reminds me of the video I found you on with on the fridge drawer.
Great to see what the difference was keep this kind of content it will be a good assistance for some people.
Great video Cam I can agree with the upright best thing I did especially for a wagon I couldn’t go back to a chest fridge, the space saving the weight saving no need for a pull out slide it’s the best way to go.
Absolutely, looks right at home in the back of the big Y62 💪
@@WildTouring sure does mate got one for the camper trailer to!
Cam, you have brought up some very good points and comparisons,well done. 👍😀
Cheers mate 👍🏼
Exactly the video I was looking for. I have the 40 Engel. Looking to go for an upright so I do have to buy a drop slide for the mrs 👍🏻
Glad it helped mate!
Loved my evakool draw fridge but love my bushman 85L even more glad I upgraded
Yeah me too mate 👍🏼
More review content, between great destinations, and a travel plan update too. Another great one!
Lov your style buddy, straight up genuine, I was against the uprights but now I’m seeing the advantages and would change my Engels, was in your woods Friday & saw the beast, looking good 👍👍👍👍
Cheers Louis, they’re a good thing mate!
G'day Cam, crackin vid as per usual. Honest review, this is why I'm using what I'm using, looking forward to the new van search vids. Cheers
Cheers Phil, we’re full swing into the van stuff at the moment and have heaps to talk about!
Great video Cam, very interesting to hear your thoughts on these fridges vs. the traditional chest fridges.
I think I'm going to make the move from my 60l ARB fridge to a Bushman upright fridge, but still tossing up whether to go the 65l or the 85l. It will be mounted in the back of a wagon so the physical size is a serious consideration, but the lack of a fridge slide is a huge bonus. Plus I've never had a freezer while camping and I'm excited to bring a few ice creams along for those hot nights haha.
Nice work mate I got the bushman 130 now I've just gotta get off my ass n finish the build in the canopy so I can fit it
Regarding the 12/24 v problem with the Bushman: As far as I know, the entire Dometic range supports 240v as well and up to and including the 85l model, the freezer compartment is removable. If, like me (and Cam) you have a similar setup, (upright fridge,chest freezer) this has the bonus of increasing fridge space markedly. Those reasons were enough for me and after 3 years, no complaints so far.
That’s good! Lack of 240v is a bit of a short fall.
Have you tried using some goon bags to fill out the empty spaces to stop things moving about. Easy enough to inflate or deflate to desired size as you use the contents of the fridge and pack away to nothing when not needed.
Thank you for your honest opinion very informative which has given us the right way to go as we have been trying to decide which way to go 🤗🤗🤗
No worries Jo!
Interesting video. I reckon the upright wouldn't hold much more than the Engel because you simply can't stack the upright chockas full. For example a bottle sitting on a shelf, none of the space around the top half can be effectively used. Also if you open the door on the upright, all the cold (heavier denser) air spills out and it has to work much harder to cool down again. While your test showed double the power use, if you open the door every half hr it's likely to go 3x the power use. Always looking to save weight though!
Agreed.
Keep it comming cam great videos
Thanks Adam! 👍🏼
Great video Cam. A lot of great info. I’m keen as to switch to a upright as a main fridge and take the old chest fridge freezer for extended trips where needed.
They’re definitely handy. Will suck a bit of juice running it along side a chest freezer too, but if you’ve got the battery capacity then it’ll be unreal!
Be interesting to do the same current draw. With both fridges full of pre cooled things.
Excellent review mate.
Looking to potentially put one in the hybrid camper Thanks 👍
Great vid mate , i agree they are both great fridges ... For me personally i love my 40 litre engel , but its just for me , the upright would be great for 2 or more people ... tc :)
Thanks heaps perfect just setting up my canopy now any idea on good false flooring company’s. Love the videos
HI mate, love your videos. what is that pocket system on the fridge? tried to google WACA but couldnt find anything?? thank you
Awwsome video as always, we are still not completely sold on an upright, but we aren't looking at a new one yet... our dometic cfx95 has served us well in the back of the 200.... maybe next build 🍻🍻
Still makes sense Cam even months later
Good one Cam,well done.Thanks mate....
Most people are putting small j,car fan in fridge,what your view about this.good video on trays in fridge.
A good thing about chest fridge/freezer’s are when you open them you loose a lot less cold air vs the up right
I don’t think twice the power consumption is justified by being twice the size
Great review though cheers mate👍
Great vid mate and I think the power consumption “test” was done well simply because it’s just the way average joe would use them.
The ingesting thing is that my upright 95l Engel uses the exact same as my 40l chest Engel but the upright doesn’t have a freezer like the bushman does which I’d suggest eats a bit of extra power.
Gotta be happy with that! Yeah I think the freezer sucks a bit of juice.
I’ve got a Bushman 85ltr they hold nothing. I had a Kickass 75ltr dual zone and I’d put a 30 pack of cans in it and still have room for food plus a big freezer. The bushman freezer is lucky to fit a couple of steaks . And the other downside of the bushman is it only runs on 12volt
Great review and as the old el paso add says "why not both" there aren't too many campers that commit to a dedicated beer fridge 🍺🍻🍻
Gotta get you’re priorities right 😂
Another great video Cam with lots of great ideas and information
Well done Bud love your work!!!👍💯
Great video good info on the fridge
Great review bud, iv now made up my mind
Keep this stuff coming! Good content!
Fantastic review, we've been considering an upright, I'd love to see someone produce an upright without a freezer- I'm converting a Trailblaza 70lt to one so I'll see how that goes!
Cheers Mike. I’m sure some of the dometic uprights have a freezer section that is removable!
@@WildTouring thinking of converting my old Trailblaza chest fridge into one....that should be interesting 🤔 😀
Thanks you
Nice mate! Great video
Yeah,I'm going upright in the next canopy build. Does my f'n head in when my drinks fall to thr bottom, the butter and vege is on top at 5pm and shouldn't be lol.
Hahaha yeah that cooks me too!!
Really good video mate. Very informative and you've given me a couple of ideas. Cheers Cam 👍🍻
No worries Tim 👍🏼
Great vid Cam! You sold me on an Upright 👍
Cheers mate 👍🏼
I have the MT45 with a clearview dropslide and even when I was lifting that in the car mounting it up the first time I was surprised with the weight, especially on one side of the vehicle so have to be vigilant how I pack the ute but it works well for my application. Weight saving would be a bonus for me but it doesn’t the job!
Yeah that’s a good point, fair bit of weight on one side. But as like you said, as long as you know then you can offset it 👍🏼
Any details on the fridge bag?
Great review mate thanks!
Gee, first thing I noticed about the Bushman is the tiny freezer space. There are quite a few different uprights around and we tend to look for ones with a decent bit of freezer room. We have used both types of fridge for literally decades and the one thing to note about uprights is, they are not built as strong as the chest style. Access is awesome but I would wonder how well they stand up to rough roads. Most are designed for on road use in caravans and motorhomes (which is where we use them). The absolute worst upright we have ever has was an Engel - surprisingly. The motor was fine but the cabinet was cheap and nasty and the door kept on falling off - and that was just in a caravan on normal gravel roads. Now we use the chest style in the 4x4 and a combination of chest and upright (Waeco) in the motorhome.
Jase from all4adventure has an upright in his canopy and we all know how gentle on gear he is 😎
I’ll let ya know how it stands up to the rough stuff long term. So far it’s been fantastic.
But for convenience it’s a no brainer. There’s a reason why we all have upright fridges in our homes!
Can vouch for the upright on rough tracks mines been going for 12 months non stop in the patrol and I have come across no issues
I have a 40 litre Engel, but to be honest, I use my 55 litre ice box more frequently, especially seeing most of my trips in reality are about 2 nights on average. I like being able to take it out of my canopy and plonk it right next to where I want. For longer trips, you can't beat a fridge with solar though.
I almost never put drinks in the fridge. It’s all for stuff that keeps us alive. Always run a cooler with 330ml frozen water bottles and just use the freezer to refreeze bottled water
Wouldnt the contents just smash the inside of the fridge? I would think those wire racks would get destroyed?? unless just sticking to the bitumen..
No different to any other fridge, depends how it’s packed and what’s in it.
Hey Cam, how did you get your freezer door the stay up when you open it? I can’t see any magnets 🤨
Got some quick pros/cons on the drawer fridges you used to run? How do they compare?
hey where is that cutlery divider on the fridge from
Nice comparison. Don't howl me down but some of the upright $1500 fridges I've looked at seem very similar to $300 upright bar fridges from Harvey Norman that can run off a 12v inverter. Surely not the case?
These fridges are the exact same fridge as the Kings 85l, Bushman's are more than twice the price. More money than sense this bloke
Great comparison video really make some clear and good points, was just wondering to add on where did you get the storage bag for the front of the fridge?
what would your thoughts be if the evakool drawer fridge was part of the equation?
im thinking about getting one in the back of my wagon that way i can have a flat rear drawer set up in the rear of my wagon and still have decent boot space
Interesting and useful info to have. Well done and thanks.
Hey Cam, love the vids mate! Any chance your planning on a deepdive/review of the bushman fridge anytime soon? Cheers mate, keep up the good work 👌🏼
Cheers Nathan, yeah I may do in the future.
They are a great fridge mate, im totally sold on them.
Use a little more power than a chest fridge, but theyre so convenient.
Great video buddy , we are looking into fridges as we start to go touring again . Been a while 👍👍
Cheers mate, great to hear you’re getting back into it!
Thank you very helpful!
Good video, I still think I’d rather the chest style. 👍
Yeah fair enough mate! Cheers 👍🏼
Great video
A very helpful video thanks
Hey mate good vid! Going from my 40l combi Engel to a bushman what’s it’s like volume wise like I know it’s double the size but how much more stuff if packed in proper baskets? Not double surely
Cheers Dean. Nah wouldn't be getting double the amount of stuff into the upright. But certainly a decent amount more. Just did 10 days living out of it and had enough spare room in there to stick a small keg in 🤣
Cam I've mentioned this before. I have had the Bushman 85L for about 18 months and it has been awsome. I also bought another one for a project build I did (which I sold). So I've spent $3k with Bushman. Kings have now released a fridge which looks almost identical and has the same brand of compressor (SECOP BD35F) and all specs appear to be the same. I suspect it comes out of the same factory. Dimensions are identical. The only differences I can see is that the Kings has a surround around the freezer which would help prevent things that are close to it from freezing and it is $949 versus $1495. Is it just badge engineering? Is it a rip off, or do they both source from same manufacturer and just apply badges? Or is Bushman selling to Kings? I would love to hear from Bushman about this. A 35% price difference is substantial if it is the same product. Brass Monkey also have some very good value upright fridges with LG compressors, the 85L is $829. I love my Bushman but can't help feeling they're overpriced.
I generally try to reserve comment on this stuff, I don’t like to rip a company. But there’s a few around that profit from stealing ideas, copying products and then undercutting the businesses they’ve stolen IP from. It’s pretty unaustralian.
In a nutshell, this sort of business model is to find popular gear and either send it back to China for reverse engineering OR find the manufacturer over there and screw them down in price by buying in volume.
Even if it is the same fridge from the same factory, i guarantee you those greedy bastards will continue to cut corners and cheap out on components until their fridges are falling apart. And there’s no after sales support or warranty.
I have no affiliation with bushman, I paid for my fridge. But I’m glad I went with them, they’re fantastic to deal with and I’d rather support an Australian business that’s made their own mark by being innovative.
At least Brass Monkey have come up with a few of their own ideas/designs! Price is right but their reviews are terrible.
@@WildTouring I just watched a comparison on the "Too far south offroad 4wd club" UA-cam channel. According to them the Kings has 5yr warranty versus Bushman 3yr and has Anderson plug fitted and defrost tray. Conclusion - same fridge. Interesting.
What is that holder on the door and how did you mount it?
I'm after the storage h ger on front of your fridge where can I find it please.
09:15
How did you attach the organiser to the front of the fridge?
Lightly sandpapered the surface of the fridge door, used a sellers vertical adhesive, glued the carpet backing to the fridge. The organiser has Velcro backing so it sticks to that.
Where did you get the fridge storage that has your cutlery etc in it?
Hey man love the comparison, just curious to what the storage bag on the bushman's door is as I am getting a 130L bushman and would love similar.
It’s made by @pmcanvasproducts
It’s Velcro backed and sticks to marine carpet that I glued to the front of the fridge 👍🏼
@@WildTouring legend! Might see what they have to go on a 130L.
@@danielsmylie5190 it’s all custom gear, they’ll sort you out 👍🏼
Hey Cam hope your well I’m chasing canvas door organiser like front on your fridge I’m in Vic any options mate
Cheers 👍
G'day Jay, its from a Perth Canvas maker - @pmcanvasproducts
Can shoot him a DM on insta for enquiries/orders.
What is the title of the song in the end?
What is the storage pouch on the upright? Cheers
its from Pm Canvas Products, you can chat to them on insta and order there.
Mate , what’s the brand of the storage thing on the front of your fridge ?
What is that storage caddy on the front of the bushman?
Its from PM Canvas Products. Can see examples of what they do an order off their Instagram page.
nice review mate 👍
Cheers mate!
Hey mate, where did you get your organiser from??
Hi i am thinking of buying a Bushman fridge i have spoken to about 6 people that own them they have all said the icebox ices up often and you have to defrost the freezer, where other fridge brands dont have that problem is there any other faults
I haven’t had that issue, and I’ve had it running continuously for months at a time. May have to do with humidity in certain parts of the country. I can’t fault it, I reckon it’s a brilliant fridge.
@@WildTouring Thank you
@@WildTouring Thank you
I prefer Engle upright fridge/freezer , 240v is no problem
Great video and review, I was sold on the upright till you pointed out they dont have 240 power... so handy when i return from trips i can just plug a cord into the camping trailer to keep the fridge running, or as you said, fill it and 240 power the night before i go out to save batteries.....or hook a trickle charger to the batts when home.... apart from that it would be perfect for my set up.
No worries mate. Yeah for us If we wanted to power it off 240v we would just hook the battery up to a charger.
@@WildTouring good point...I generally do that as well to keep them topped up...
Will the Bushman still be running 25+ years from now, like my Engel 39ltr?
Ask me in 23 years 🤷♂️
@@WildTouring good response!!! Are there any reports on the Bushman's reliability? Don't really know them as a brand compared with Engel, Waeco etc.
@@nnoddy8161 Bushman make a solid fridge, they’ve been around for 40 years. Australian owned (father and son operation). The compressor and coil are serviceable/repairable (not built into the fridge walls like most brands, which renders them disposable if they leak). They have a great reputation, for good reason.
Engel are also good, for the same reasons. They’re a reputable fridge manufacturer with great aftermarket support/ spare part availability. Which is why I own both.
Any reason you didn't choose the Engel upright
Nah no reason. I only really looked at the bushman, know heaps of people running them that were happy and the dimensions were bang on for what I needed.
How does the upright go in higher temps? Have heard they don't do so well .
Beers have been cold and zooper doopers frozen on 40degree days here (had a few of them lately in Perth). Definitely cycles a lot more but havnt been monitoring temps.
The insulation on the bushman is nowhere near as good as an Engel. I’ve added too layers of air cell insulation on the door of the bushman and the canopy doors and now it’s Arnhem Land, Kimberly, Pilbara and Ningaloo proof on 40 c days. Just have to keep the sun of the fridge door and it works perfectly
11 kg for the surround, is it necessary? What else could be used?
You don’t have to use a surround at all, the fridges are supplied with some angle to mount them. But these fridges were originally designed for motor homes/caravans/camper vans were they would have been built into cabinetry. For that reason the sides and back of the fridge are exposed insulation (soft panels). Keeps the weight down but I wouldn’t want the contents of my canopy smashing into it.
The cages offer heaps of protection to the panels and motor/compressor/condenser. As welll as making it easy to mount 👍🏼
Hi Cam. what did you use to stick the carpet to front of fridge? thanks
Eddie I’ve used the Selleys Kwik Grip Gel Vertical Contact Adhesive from Bunnings 👍🏼
Gave the fridge door a little rough up with sand paper, then wipe down with spirits. Glue smeared across back of carpet and door and left to go tacky for a few mins. And then stuck it on 👍🏼
@@WildTouring awesome might have to do where rear seat was
What happened to both your Draw Fridges?
Why did you stop using them?
Did they fail?
Cheers mate.
Nah they didn’t fail. I had two evakool drawer fridges. One was suppose to be primarily a freezer but it couldn’t hold anywhere near freezing temps so I sold that one fairly early on. The other one I used for a few years as a fridge and it went okay- definitely struggled up north in higher ambient temps though.
I did have the first ones to come out though, I believe they’ve improved them since.
But ultimately the reason I got rid of it in the end was the size, it has a huge footprint for a 40l fridge.
@@WildTouring Thanks mate, really appreciate the honest feedback.
Always fancied them... for in the rear of a wagon...
But there you go... Can't beat our tried and true Weaco and Engel units...
Yeah the drawer fridge might have a big foot print but they are also half the height. Not much useable space above the upright. What do you put up there now? They are heavy for what they are but they weigh less than a drop down fridge slide so that sold me!
Great well rounded info Cam 👍👌I've been looking at an upright for a while now but can't quite justify the outlay just yet. So many pros and cons for each but the upright is definitely a winner. You should get yourself a small digital thermometer - $10 from Jaycar. I've found them handy to get an idea of the temps in my Engel and my home fridge and also have one in the car for cabin temp. I like all your styles of vid mate 👍
Do you think the mounting brackets the bushman comes with would do the job . . . Or better off with something like you have?
Cheers Ben. The mounting kit would do the job. But I’d be much happier using a fridge cage. These fridges were probably originally designed to be built into cabinetry in motor homes or similar, so the sides and the back are just soft insulated panel. They wouldn’t fare well with things banging into them. Cage also protects the compressor/coil/fan ect.
Thanks for making a comparison. And I am no longer the "first" king 😤
😂 gotta be quick!!
@@WildTouring haha
The kings upright is exactly the same fridge at a much cheaper price. 😮
Have seen that. So disappointing too see them steal another Australian companies design. But I guess that’s the risk of getting things manufactured in china!
Kings gear has its place in the market. It’s affordable gear that will get you out there. But it never lasts long if it’s used regularly.
it might look the same, it may even be sourced from the same factory! But over time they will substitute as many components as they can to make it cheaper.