Ozark Trail "High Performance" cooler - any good?

Robert Bills

Explorer
Does anyone have a SKU for the 52?

In addition to the SKU for the 52-qt., the SKU for the 26-qt. and SKU for 73-qt. would also be helpful.

Apparently Walmart posts the SKU on Walmart.com only if the item is in stock. The manager of my local Walmart is attempting to arrange for a shipment and even he cannot obtain the SKU's for these "out of stock" coolers. I recall that the SKU was posted for the 26-qt. size on the one day they were in stock on Walmart.com, but promptly removed when they sold out.
 

Airmapper

Inactive Member
Real world report, I just got back from a weekend outing.

Filled my 26qt on Friday, around 3PM or so, with a 10lb bag of ice. The cooler was not chilled or anything, I just put my stuff from the fridge in it and went to the grocery store for ice. A cold 6 pack of Ale-8-1, 6 aluminum cans that were room temp, some meat, and a cold bottle of milk. It wasn't full but nearly so as I didn't go to much effort to pack them neatly.

I still had ice floating in there this morning at breakfast around 7:30 Sunday. When I got home and unpacked it around noon, there was no ice, but the water was still very cold.

The cooler was in my vehicle the whole time. I tried to keep it shut as much as I could, but it got normal opening and closing several times around meals. I didn't eat lunch so it stayed shut mid-day.

So, one bag of ice for a short weekend, not too bad. I was hoping for better but oh well. I suspect the 2nd bag might stand a better shot given the cooler would be chilled to some extent by then.


Oh, and to add, temps were abut 80ish during the day, low of 50 at night.
 

toyotech

Expedition Leader
Real world report, I just got back from a weekend outing.

Filled my 26qt on Friday, around 3PM or so, with a 10lb bag of ice. The cooler was not chilled or anything, I just put my stuff from the fridge in it and went to the grocery store for ice. A cold 6 pack of Ale-8-1, 6 aluminum cans that were room temp, some meat, and a cold bottle of milk. It wasn't full but nearly so as I didn't go to much effort to pack them neatly.

I still had ice floating in there this morning at breakfast around 7:30 Sunday. When I got home and unpacked it around noon, there was no ice, but the water was still very cold.

The cooler was in my vehicle the whole time. I tried to keep it shut as much as I could, but it got normal opening and closing several times around meals. I didn't eat lunch so it stayed shut mid-day.

So, one bag of ice for a short weekend, not too bad. I was hoping for better but oh well. I suspect the 2nd bag might stand a better shot given the cooler would be chilled to some extent by then.


Oh, and to add, temps were abut 80ish during the day, low of 50 at night.

Drain melted ice water will help make it last a little longer.
 
Tried for 20 minutes today to pull up the item and they had no luck. Said they needed the sku and pretty much were no help. Told me to go check Sportsmans Warehouse for a Walmart specific product (Ozark Trail):Wow1:. Did pickup a tumbler which seems pretty nice for $9.97
 

Airmapper

Inactive Member
Drain melted ice water will help make it last a little longer.

Someone else said leave it in there it keeps your stuff cold...

I appreciate the input, but who am I to believe???

I think if I'm putting ice in, I'll drain. Unless I have access to ice ready to pour in, I'll leave the water in there. Maybe that is the mixture that makes both statements true.
 

toyotech

Expedition Leader
Someone else said leave it in there it keeps your stuff cold...

I appreciate the input, but who am I to believe???

I think if I'm putting ice in, I'll drain. Unless I have access to ice ready to pour in, I'll leave the water in there. Maybe that is the mixture that makes both statements true.

The unmelted ice has to keep the water and items cool instead of just the items. Also it helps to take up all the air space either with items or plastic bags.

I also throw all the ice in than a cardboard on top before putting food in.
 

Airmapper

Inactive Member
The unmelted ice has to keep the water and items cool instead of just the items. Also it helps to take up all the air space either with items or plastic bags.

I also throw all the ice in than a cardboard on top before putting food in.

Well when I hear it both ways, I have to make up my own mind, and I'd rather work with logic here. I understand what you are saying, but I also have a moderate understanding of physics. Cold water is cold, and it has a lot of mass. Cold air is cold, and has very little mass, and is gone as soon as you open the lid and screw around in there.

Water transfers heat really really well. Air sucks at transferring heat. That is why we have huge radiators on our vehicles to loose heat, yet tiny water passages move it away from the engine.

If I don't have ice on hand to make the situation better, I'm better off keeping my cold mass that can still absorb heat. You pour out the water you pour out the only thing you have left that is below air temperature that isn't food. If you don't have more ice, you are screwed.

If by doing it my way, I loose ice faster but keep my items cold, that is okay. Hot air rises, cold air sinks. Inside a cooler everything on top the ice has the best chance possible of holding off the ice's ability to take it's heat away. If you had a perfect cooler, and put food in it that is not frozen solid, and no ice melts, then that food did not get any colder.

So I agree, ditch the water, but only if you can replace it with more ice. If you don't have any ice, keep what cold water you have, cold water still means cold food. Cold air, is worth about as much as it weighs. And put your ice over or at least around what you want cold, if you want it to be cold sooner rather than later.
 

roger_monge

New member
The handles are removable and any standard 1" nylon webbing or lashing straps will work to secure it down. As for the latches being difficult... I struggled at first as well, but after doing it multiple times there is a technique to it and becomes much easier.
The way I see it, it would be a *better* deal if the handles didn't have to get replaced out of the box. Also, the lashing points I was referring to are the ones (that all others I've seen have) to secure the cooler itself (going through the body/over lid). The latches are not just difficult (not *that* difficult, but harder than most), but the real issue is that the rubber latches seem to not be very durable.. if the floor model is already showing noticeable wear marks from people like me opening/closing it at the store, it seems that durability (of the rubber pieces) is sketchy at best. Overall... really.. it is a rotomolded cooler. It should last for a long time. Replacing what seems like not-so-durable latches and having to improvise to secure the cooler during transport are gripes, but not show stoppers if the cooler does in fact keep things cold for 7 days AND the latches are not too expensive to replace. If the latches are expensive though, given that this type of cooler is supposed to last for a very long time, assuming you're not the kind to just use a ratchet tie down strap to keep it closed/secure, could be a show stopper (but for those that are wondering, a set of cheap tie-down straps goes for about $15.00 at most hardware stores).
 

jeep-N-montero

Expedition Leader
Well when I hear it both ways, I have to make up my own mind, and I'd rather work with logic here. I understand what you are saying, but I also have a moderate understanding of physics. Cold water is cold, and it has a lot of mass. Cold air is cold, and has very little mass, and is gone as soon as you open the lid and screw around in there.

Water transfers heat really really well. Air sucks at transferring heat. That is why we have huge radiators on our vehicles to loose heat, yet tiny water passages move it away from the engine.

If I don't have ice on hand to make the situation better, I'm better off keeping my cold mass that can still absorb heat. You pour out the water you pour out the only thing you have left that is below air temperature that isn't food. If you don't have more ice, you are screwed.

If by doing it my way, I loose ice faster but keep my items cold, that is okay. Hot air rises, cold air sinks. Inside a cooler everything on top the ice has the best chance possible of holding off the ice's ability to take it's heat away. If you had a perfect cooler, and put food in it that is not frozen solid, and no ice melts, then that food did not get any colder.

So I agree, ditch the water, but only if you can replace it with more ice. If you don't have any ice, keep what cold water you have, cold water still means cold food. Cold air, is worth about as much as it weighs. And put your ice over or at least around what you want cold, if you want it to be cold sooner rather than later.

Agreed, to put it plainly water that is already cold will require less ice to keep it cold than the empty pockets of air that is not cold that get created when the water is drained, I think that is pretty easy to understand.
 

perkj

Explorer
Hi All,

Wanted to let everyone know I purchased all of the Gander Mountain Permachill replacement pieces from Gander Mountain to test to see if each would fit the Ozark Trail High Performance coolers. The link below is a link to the full set of replacement items (i.e. handles, feet, latches, drain plug, and basket). I can confirm confirm that ALL of replacement items are a PERFECT and EXACT fit. An added bonus with the latch replacement set is that it comes with both plastic pieces as well (in addition to the rubber), i.e. the plastic pieces that hold the latch to the lid and the lower piece that the rubber latches onto. They are orange on the Orzark and the replacements are black. I wanted to point this out as a few people in this thread were concerned with them breaking and there not being a replacement. So the net here is that there is a full set of replacement pieces for these coolers at very low cost which IMO makes them even more desirable now. I plan to keep the set of replacement parts for I have them should something happen in the future. The additional basket is nice since two baskets can fit in the cooler.

http://www.gandermountain.com/search/permachill replacement
 
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