Blocks of , on the other hand, take much longer to melt than crushed ice. However, blocks are bulky and take up a lot of space in the cooler since they don’t conform around your food and cans. If we have enough space, our preferred method is to use both block and crushed ice together, and YETI has more great tips here. Most of the hard-sided coolers on our list have drainage systems to help you empty out water once your ice has melted. Typically, this comes in the form of a screw-on or pop-off cap at the base of the cooler—simply take it off and let the water pour out.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals. Bring fresh food and cold beverages just about anywhere with the right cooler. Even just a small drainage channel allows the opening to be below the floor of the chest, making it easier to effortlessly empty it after an outing. 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. 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. These are impressive scores for a lineup with an average performance of maintaining sub-40º temperatures for just over 4.2 days, and sub-50º for just over 4.7 days.
These coolers are simply made by inserting hot plastic into a defined mold, given time to cool, and then removed. The process is simpler and cheaper than rotomolding and allows for greater precision because of the molded shapes. But they’re made with multiple pieces—unlike the single, uninterrupted form with rotomolding—which can lead to a drop in durability and added susceptibility to cracking. ROAM is primarily a rooftop tent manufacturer and well regarded among serious outdoor-goers like overlanders and those who like to get off the grid. But their foray into coolers hasn’t gone unnoticed, combining the ruggedness and utility that ROAM is known for with a myriad of functional features.
In terms of competitors, coleman sundome offers its popular Tundra in a 50-quart wheeled version for $10 more, but it can’t match the all-terrain functionality of the RovR and certainly can’t be attached to a bike. And cheaper coolers like the Coleman Xtreme below technically have wheels, but the RollR is in a class of its own. Yeti is an obnoxious, non enviro friendly high priced brand that doesn’t understand packing lightband their performance is poor . Their coolers are very very heavy with low capacity and if you need it to be bear proof you’re camping like a slob. You see, Yeti, Engel, RTIC, etc are all great coolers, but they’re very expensive – anywhere from $200 to $500+.
The plug is not going to come loose on its own, but it could be easy to bump and accidentally open. I would pull the cooler out from underneath my benches and use it as an extra seat for guests in the van sometimes. But the thin, plastic lid would bow underneath someone’s weight and I knew it wasn’t doing the cooler any favors. It also has a decent gash on the exterior bottom–no idea how it happened and it hasn’t cracked the plastic, but it has definitely weakened the area. The semi-recent update to the design resulted in more attractive styling and subtle ice life improvements. It can be an adequate personal cooler for an afternoon outing but may struggle beyond that.