For soft coolers, we recommend anything in the 20- to 24-can range. That’s enough to hold plenty of ice, drinks, and food for a family of three. Anything smaller, and you end up carrying a lot of bag and not carrying much of anything coleman screen tent else. There just isn’t enough room in those smaller sizes for them to be functional for anything except an individual lunch or a few drinks. Finding the right size cooler mainly depends on what you’ll be using it for.
This oversized 100-quart cooler from Coleman certainly fits the bill. The Coleman 316 series coolers are fully insulated and can keep ice for up to five days in temperatures of up to 90°F. Durable wheels and a sturdy tow handle make hauling heavy loads much more manageable, and the have-a-seat lid can hold up to 250 pounds. This cooler can also hold up to 160 cans, making it a fantastic option for storing drinks during sports tournaments, company picnics, or any large outdoor event. The most important metric for most of us is how well an ice chest keeps food cold and fresh.
This metric is also the source of many extraordinary claims from manufacturers. From models with “5-Day” in the name to stickers boasting up to 16 days of ice retention, it seems that just about every product out there will knock your socks off. While all coleman instant tent these things will help extend the life of your ice and, therefore, the freshness of your food, it’s unlikely that every consumer will follow these stipulations for each use. So we tested these coolers the way that we, and most consumers, would use them.
Every time we’ve used it over the past several years, it seems to pick up numerous extra scratches and dirt, though it still works the same. We also aren’t in love with the comfort of its narrow, plastic handles in the shadow of some of the broader, more cushioned options utilized by its competitors. While we appreciate the simplicity of the pop-open drain, its small size can’t offer the same rapid flow rate as the much wider drains found in the competition. Still, you could purchase three or four of these coolers for the same price as some of the competition, and it works to keep your goods cold for days. If you are looking for maximum cooling power, premium rotomolded coolers from brands like YETI, RTIC, and ORCA are the clear leaders in keeping ice cold for long stretches. If you need ice for extended periods (we’re thinking of you, rafters and multi-day campers), the cost is worth it.
Any area not taken up by drinks or food should be filled to the top with bags of ice to keep everything cold as long as possible. So unless you require all the space offered in an oversized 100-qt Coleman cooler, you might want to choose something more modestly sized, like a Coleman 50-qt cooler with wheels. 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.