Furrion's eRove is the solar-powered cooler for the end of the world

After the Coolest Cooler raised $13 million on Kickstarter and then failed to materialize, you'll have to forgive us for being gun-shy when it comes to pulling the trigger on luxury, pricey, multi-purpose coolers. But, given the enormous interest in them, you also can't blame us for being curious, especially when the word "apocalypse" is involved.

Enter the Furrion eRove, a cooler that starts at $799 and includes myriad input and output solutions (including an optional 100W solar panel). It's claim to fame? It'll keep 50 quarts worth of goods — around 70 soda or beercans worth — cold for five days on its own, or two weeks if you sacrifice some of the space to ice. Plus, it's made by a notable manufacturer of outdoor and marine kit, which reduces the odds of it being vaporware.

All mod cons — Like any high-end, crowd-funded cooler the eRove is packed with tech, from the essential to the strange. There are optional wheels (personally, we'd have made those standard), a handle that includes a prep-deck for making your perfect getting-away-from-it-all cocktail, USB-A and USB-C charging ports, an integrated 10W wireless charging pad, and a list of charging and connecting accessories that make it seem more like a luxury car than a cooler.

If you get really stuck into the list you can push the price up to $1,899, which, even in a country where people are spending $300 on 12-foot plastic skeletons from Home Depot seems wanton. No one needs an icy beverage that badly. Of course, we say that, but were we near an eRove after four days at Burning Man and someone offered us a chilled IPA from its depths, we'd be beyond grateful. It's just hard to imagine justifying that sort of expense on a cooler when we think about the other apocalypse essentials it could buy us, from transportation to charging solutions to clothing.

Still, we love an out-there concept, so Furrion has our attention. Pre-orders for its bougeouis cooling devices open today, and should you be inclined to boost the economy by supporting the Elkhart, Indiana-based company, you can expect delivery in January 2021, but which time having an off-grid cooling solution might seem like a less outlandish idea than it does right now. We hope not, but if this year has taught us anything, it's that all bets are off, and we should never look a chilled gift beverage in the mouth.