When you’ve got a hungry, thirsty gang, your average cooler just won’t cut it. The green Coleman cooler’s spacious interior provides enough room for 223 cans, plus ice. The unit features the same rugged, heavy-duty build that’s made Coleman the most trusted name in portable drink and food storage systems. The model features an eco-friendly build, crafted with Thermozone insulation that’s free from toxic chemicals that can damage ozone levels, including CFCs, HFCs and HCFCs.
Make sure to master your ice-packing process before heading outA final option to consider is dry ice. Since dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide, it passes directly from a solid to a gaseous state, meaning no water to deal with as it melts. However, coleman sundome dry ice can be dangerous to touch , doesn’t last long, and many coolers aren’t even rated to handle it. All told, it might take some finessing to perfect your ice strategy, but we think a combination of crushed and blocks is the best method.
A reasonably compact cooler, the Engel isn’t terrible to carry if it’s not loaded down, though the hard plastic hand grips aren’t our favorite. The largest dry bin of any cooler we tested, the Rovr’s bin is also the only one that hand screws into place. By adding a small hole in one or both sides of the drain plug, many manufacturers have increased drainage options to make cleaning up after your trip even easier. The latches of the Xspec are secured with a rubber section to the lid and a plastic piece for a closure system, making them a bit easier to use. The Orca 40 is a mid-sized cooler with impressive insulation and convenient features. Additional close contenders include the Pelican Elite Wheeled and RTIC 65, which both maintained FDA safe temperatures of less than 40º F for about six days and acceptable beer temperatures for just shy of 7 days.
The Orca 58 and Yeti Tundra 65 are the winners of our demanding insulation testing. While the Orca outlasted the Yeti here by just shy of 30 minutes, the Yeti then hung out below 50º F for an hour and a half longer than the Orca, demonstrating that it has a slower warming rate. When all was said and done, the top-scoring Tundra 65 provided a whopping 7.3 days of sub-50º F refreshments. Though the Dometic CFX3 doesn’t have an energy-saving mode like many other powered coolers, it does have different levels of battery conservation that ensure it won’t prevent you from starting your car in the morning. And even while cooling, it draws just 50.7 watts, which is on the low end of powered coolers we tested. Our biggest complaint about this cooler is that its cords are barely over six feet long, which just doesn’t get you very far from the outlet.
Now let’s compare that to most of the newer cooler designs on models like Yeti, RTIC, Orca, Cabela’s or Frosted Frog that have rubber T-shaped handles you have to stretch to secure the lid. I asked three other adults to secure these handles and out of the four of us, two were successful, one unsuccessful and the last successful only after an excessive amount of struggling. Performance is important, but design matters, too coleman sundome — and sometimes, it’s a deal-breaker. Oh, and if you’ll be spending lots of time camping in a place where bears are a concern, then you’ll probably want to invest in a bear-resistant cooler. The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee keeps a running list of certified options, which includes a number of coolers from this rundown. Several models I’ve tested from Cabela’s, Orca, Rovr, Magellan Outdoors and Yeti all make the cut.
The IGBC specifically states that this does not mean the product in question can’t be opened or destroyed by a bear, nor does it mean the product is leakproof. With that said, even the minimum construction standards required to deter a hungry 10 foot long, 900 lb grizzly lend a lot of credibility to the durability of a product. Models we reviewed that are IGBC certified include the Yeti Tundra 65 and Tundra 45, OtterBox Venture 65, Orca 58 and 40, Pelican Wheeled 80 and Elite 20, Engel 65, Arctic Zone Titan 55, and Rovr RollR 60. These products proved to be very durable, despite the fact our team was unable to find a grizzly bear willing to test each of them rigorously. After 48 hours , I had a nifty graph showing me the temperature inside each cooler on a minute-by-minute basis — and the difference from cooler to cooler was striking. To help put this data in perspective, I broke down the coolers into separate size categories after peeling soft-sided coolers into their own category.
Not only will it keep your food cold for a very long time, but it’s also all but indestructible. Yes, I do realize that the coolers I tested are slightly different sizes. While each of these coolers has subtle differences, they are all high-end solid coolers that will keep your food cold much longer than a standard cooler.
All in all, this big cooler bag is our favorite thanks to excellent insulation and great features like rounded handles and a removable bottle opener. The Yeti Hopper Backflip 24 was the first backpack-style cooler that we’ve tested, and although its overall performance wasn’t stellar, there were things I did like. Whether you are trekking gear to the beachfront or headed out for a hiking day, having free hands is always a bonus. The backpack has lots of straps and hitching points, too — I imagine the target demographic is more hiking-oriented than day-at-the-beach, but in either case, you’ll be able to secure extra stuff. So, if you want great performance with a friendlier price tag than its competitors, you can feel safe picking up this RTIC. I bought this cooler for my fishing boat and to do double duty in case of a hurricane.
GOAT does sell a larger 62-quart HUB 70, but it’s even pricier at $600 and noticeably hefty at over 42 pounds (the HUB 50 is pretty manageable at 25 lbs.). That said, the built-in storage does help offset the drop in capacity, and overall build quality is top-notch. From overlanding and hunting to casual days at the lake or beach, the HUB is a real standout and makes organization a breeze. The Rovr’s dry storage goes above and beyond since it has a large dry bin that extends to the bottom of the interior. It also attaches to the side of the interior with a simple hand screw, which means it won’t move during transit like all the other baskets are wont to do.
It was a 3 day drive and when I arrived home, there was still ice in the bags we put in the coolers with the meat. TheCoolerZone tests and reviews various coolers to find the best products for you. When coleman instant tent readers buy our reviewed picks, we earn affiliate commissions that help to support the site. Insulated coolers keep items from getting too warm and are for storing and transporting food or beverages.