When Father’s Day Calls for Off-the-Grid Frozen Desserts

By David Crowley

A day spent hiking in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains followed by a Father’s Day lunch wouldn’t be complete without one long-held Crowley-family tradition: root-beer freezes. While a difficult feat in and of itself when attempted off-the-grid, the unsurpassed heat of California too proved no match for the ingenuity of the products we packed with us.

ICECO JP60Pro iCooler

First we turned to the iCooler by ICECO, which works as a 3 in 1 Mobile Refrigerator/Fridge/Freezer/Cooler to keep everything we needed nice and cold, and even comes equipped with detachable wheels and removable table for increased multifunctionality. The midday temperature inevitably rose over 100 F°, but the cooler operated just as we’d hoped; for by the time the hike was finished, we were met with tubs of ice cream and a sleek display reading 10 F° inside. What’s more, it’s this very precise temperature control from 0 – 55 F° that allows for the flexibility in the use of the product –– whether using it to refrigerate food or to keep on hand root-beer freeze supplies for Father’s Day as in our case.

Jackery Explorer 1000 Portable Power Station

We supplied the power to the iCooler via our Jackery Explorer 1000, both using one of the 2x SolarSaga 100W Solar Panels –– which alone could power it indefinitely –– and the Portable Power Station Explorer 1000 acting as a power bank once charged. Together, these Jackery products successfully managed to power everything we needed, from cell phones and the iCooler, to the blender to make root-beer freezes.

Not only did the Jackery keep our freezer cool in the car while hiking, it operated in a quiet, convenient, and even environmentally conscious way. Altogether, the Jackery Explorer 1000 proved to be a marked improvement from the billows of smoke emanating from the poorly managed nuisance of a generator (high altitude had the air/fuel mixture way off) at the campsite upwind. In stark contrast, we operated everything we needed silently and with zero emissions.

Flawlessly, ICECO JP60R and Jackery Explorer 1000 ensured the success of another Father’s Day off-the-grid –– root-beer freezes in all. Moreover, had we not opted to keep a constant supply of energy to the unit, the iCooler can supposedly last 90+ hours still keeping ice cold even when power is off. Likewise, thanks to the innovative design and execution of these products, our root-beer freeze tradition can live on even when the power isn’t.

Products Used:

• Jackery Explorer 1000
• ICECO JP60Pro