To achieve the extremely attractive price point that they did, Ozark Trail likely had to sacrifice a few things in the quality department. The result is a cooler that doesn’t have quite the level of fit and finish as, say, a Yeti or an Engel. To start with, you will find an oversized drain that makes short work of any melted ice that is inside. The threaded drain can easily be removed and will be held in place thanks to the mounted chain it is on. The first step you can take when packing is chilling the camping cooler itself, if your fridge is large enough or you have access to a commercial freezer. To ensure your food is kept at its freshest, keep the cooler box itself as cold as possible.
The Ozark Trail 36 Can Welded Cooler weighs approximately 16.96 pounds, making it easy to transport from one place to another. It also features heavy-duty handles that make it easier to carry the cooler, even when it’s fully loaded. The Ozark Trail 36 Can Welded Cooler has received mostly positive reviews from customers who have used it for outdoor adventures. Many customers praise its durability, insulation, and spacious capacity.
For me the quality just isn’t there so I wouldn’t invest in an Ozark Trail but would instead buy another brand like Yeti, RTIC or Engel. The only area where Ozark Trail is better than Yeti is in the price. There is a great video where a customer who owns both a Yeti Hopper and an Ozark Trail does as ice test on them and compares the performance side by side. Even compared to RTIC, which is the cheapest of the well known brands, Ozark Trail are still a fair bit cheaper. I really like these coolers as they offer great value but they don’t break the bank.
However, the lower-priced options aren’t as great in terms of longevity, with an ice life of just a few hours. These are better suited for picnics or taking your lunch to work, rather than a whole day’s expedition. One of the main selling points of Ozark Trail coolers is the price point. For example, their largest cooler (73 Quart / 69 Liters) is over three hundred dollars cheaper than the YETI 75 (75 Quart / 71 Liters). However, quality-wise, YETI does have a few advantages (we’ll cover that a little later in the frequently asked questions). In the beginning, it was hard to believe that a Walmart brand can beat all expectations until we tested it ourselves.
The construction rivals that of the Yeti cooler and yet it’s a fraction of the price. We’ve put ours through the ringer the last several months and it’s stood up to daily use from van life. This cooler claims that it keeps ice for more than 4.5 days in mild temps. We’ve found that in cooler temperatures, it keeps things cool for about 4 days but there isn’t any ice left after 4 days. On hot summer days when you can’t get any shade or coverage for the cooler or the van you can count on about 48 hours where there’s still a little ice. (The less you open it, the longer it’ll last so keep the opening and closing to a minimum).
The cooler at hand is definitely small, measuring 8.5 x 7 x 9 inches & weighing around 12 ounces straight out of the box. Accordingly, the variety will help you find a better match since they offer 5 different coolers with different potentials. First cooler is the 26 quart which is mainly targeted towards adventurous folks who enjoy a relaxing night at the woods, beach hang-outs and the occasional small catch ozark trail cooler angling. Accordingly, this is relatively a compact cooler, measuring 23 x 15.5 x 14 inches while in the package, totalling in an impressive 14 pounds. Hence, you can expect this cooler to get slightly heavier once fully loaded; therefore, it is definitely not meant for hikers. So, instead of directly jumping into this gigantic review of the brand, let us take a moment to detail our main points here.
There are enough size options and configurations to make most people happy. For those who need something simple and cheap, the 12-can and 24-can models are great. And for those who want a bit more ice life and toughness, the premium backpack ozark trail chair and tote are going to be worth checking out. The ice life, well not bad, was not near what Ozark Trail stated in their specifications. We have a hunch this is because their testing was performed under more optimal conditions.
More specifically the lid of the cooler seems to warp unnaturally. This can cooler even has a bottle opener in the bottom for your friends drinking from a bottle. We recommend these products based on an intensive research process that’s designed to cut through the noise and find the top products in this space. Guided by experts, we spend hours looking into the factors that matter, to bring you these selections. The top entry is zipper-sealed so there’s no risk of anything falling out.
The hard-sided coolers are designed to try to compete with the top-tier of the premium cooler world. This is a much larger and diverse selection of products than the Ozark Trail hard-sided coolers. Also, you will find a larger variety of layouts and cooler types. For instance, you will have the small, simple coolers that are designed to hold people’s lunch for the day as well as higher-end premium coolers for those who are after longer ice life. In terms of coolers, there are a few options for both soft and hard-sided coolers.
However, we have to say that Ozark Trail is slightly disadvantaged since it only features a variety of 3. Ozark Trail is a significantly popular brand that managed to build a solid reputation on the basis of quality and affordability. While this brand might not compare to something as legendary as a Orion, Pelican, RTIC…, it is still impressive how it successfully took over the budget cooler realm. All product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only.