jeep-N-montero
Expedition Leader
And there are better tests on here and videos on youtube of numerous models being tested.
Ozark Trail "High Performance" cooler - any good?
- Thread starter Blind_Io
- Start date
And there are better tests on here and videos on youtube of numerous models being tested.
I picked up a 73qt on Friday for 190 bucks, and sold my Yeti 35 for 150 on Sat. haha. I now have a Yeti 45, Ozark Trails 73qt. and an old 120 qt. coleman. I think the Ozark Trail is reasonable enough, after all, it is just an insulated plastic box.. I am a little leary about the longevity of the rubber latches, but I think if you are careful with it, and dont leave it out in the direct sun for long periods of time, it aught to be just fine.
rdcolorado
Observer
I pulled the trigger on the 52q. Doesn't seem much different than the others
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i made an impulse purchase at our local walmart and got the 26qt cooler. i've been thinking about getting this one to keep in the back of my car to keep waters iced down for trips or youth soccer tournaments. the main drawbacks i've seen so far are that the rubber latch bands practically require two hands to open or close the chest and the the fitment of the gasket and the shelf causes the lid to remain ajar unless the bands are fastened. i've not decided whether to return it or not.
Test is over
The ice is gone and the water temperature has risen above freezing, so to recap I put 40 lbs of ice in the cooler that hadn't been pre-cooled along with room temperature canned beverages, the test began on Friday morning and concluded this morning, so I was able to get 10 plus days out of the 7 day rated cooler.
The ice is gone and the water temperature has risen above freezing, so to recap I put 40 lbs of ice in the cooler that hadn't been pre-cooled along with room temperature canned beverages, the test began on Friday morning and concluded this morning, so I was able to get 10 plus days out of the 7 day rated cooler.
Day 8 (7 full days)
Ok, one full week down. The 26 QT is almost all water with one big chunk of ice. The 52qt still has a lot of ice left including a pretty big shelf. The Coleman is still holding it's own, good bit of ice left but definitely a lot less than the 52qt Ozark Trail. I was not able to get these out in the sun this morning before I left for work, but they were in my garage all day which is reading 75 degrees.
Ok, one full week down. The 26 QT is almost all water with one big chunk of ice. The 52qt still has a lot of ice left including a pretty big shelf. The Coleman is still holding it's own, good bit of ice left but definitely a lot less than the 52qt Ozark Trail. I was not able to get these out in the sun this morning before I left for work, but they were in my garage all day which is reading 75 degrees.
All three sizes are now listed on the Walmart website: http://www.walmart.com/search/?query=ozark trail high-performance cooler
schuy2147
Observer
All out of stock.
Blind_Io
Adventurer
Poe's Law.
Day 9 (8 full days)
Ok, the 26qt was out of ice this morning so I'm calling 7.5 days total (6.5 in mild conditions plus 1 warm day with full sunshine beating on it) for that little cooler. Not bad, I'm really happy with it. From a price standpoint, it's right there with the igloo sportsman 20, but with slightly larger interior and a stainless steel handle. I'm sold and keeping it.
The Coleman Steel Belted is almost all water with a layer of ice on the top in most areas. My guess is it's out by the morning or at least by tomorrow afternoon. It's sitting in my garage next to 2 cars that have pretty hot engines. The temp in the garage is now 78 degrees and probably will be most of the night.
The 52 qt Ozark Trail still has a pretty significant amount of ice. While the bottles will not really stay suspended, there are still large chunks of ice and ice is present everywhere in the cooler as opposed to the Coleman which has areas of just water. See pics below...
Ok, the 26qt was out of ice this morning so I'm calling 7.5 days total (6.5 in mild conditions plus 1 warm day with full sunshine beating on it) for that little cooler. Not bad, I'm really happy with it. From a price standpoint, it's right there with the igloo sportsman 20, but with slightly larger interior and a stainless steel handle. I'm sold and keeping it.
The Coleman Steel Belted is almost all water with a layer of ice on the top in most areas. My guess is it's out by the morning or at least by tomorrow afternoon. It's sitting in my garage next to 2 cars that have pretty hot engines. The temp in the garage is now 78 degrees and probably will be most of the night.
The 52 qt Ozark Trail still has a pretty significant amount of ice. While the bottles will not really stay suspended, there are still large chunks of ice and ice is present everywhere in the cooler as opposed to the Coleman which has areas of just water. See pics below...
I saw them at the Founders Parkway Walmart in Castle Rock last week. Guess they sold out. I live in Franktown and got mine at the Parker Walmart. They have been out since I bought mine ��
I picked up the Orzark 26 quart and used it this past weekend on my camp trip to King's River east of Fresno. Friday morning at 8:30am I filled the cooler (not pre-cooled) with 18 cold cans of beer and 20 lbs of store bought ice cubes...this filled the cooler completely to its capacity. I suspect I was below the ideal ice-to-can ratio, but I needed the 18 pack to fit and 18 cans together with 20 lbs of ice was a perfect fit without a square inch to spare. I then strapped the cooler to my hitch carrier (see picture below) where it remained for the next 4 hours and 30 mins in the direct sun for the drive there. Once at camp, I moved it from the hitch carrier to a shady spot on the ground. It then got normal use so to speak, i.e. it'd get opened up every time I wanted a beer. Since my camp site was about 50 yards or so from my LR3 (where the ARB fridge is), I'd add a few beer cans to it each night after dinner so I'd have drinks near the campfire. I also used it as a meat staging spot for dinner, i.e. bring meats from the fridge down to the Ozark cooler so they were easily assessable before cooking. By Sunday morning the cooler still had a decent amount of ice in it at which point it was strapped back onto the hitch carrier for trip back home....5 hours in the direct sun. Once at home the cooler still had some ice left and the remaining beer was still ice cold. I kept the cooler outside in the shade and there was finally no ice remaining on Tuesday morning, though water was still very cold, as was the beer.
So my experience with what I consider "real world use" of the 26 qt Ozark cooler is I was able to obtain 4 full days out of the cooler with just a 20 lb bag of ice. Temperatures during the 4 days were lows of 45-50 over night and 70-80 during the days. I also made an effort to keep the cooler in shade as much as possible, though there were times sun was hitting it directly for a period. Overall for a cooler of this size with the beer can-to-ice ratio I had and it lasting 4 solid days is very good in my book given the amount of times it was open/closed and having items placed in and removed from it.
I will likely pick up a 52 qt once I find one. I saw the 72 qt in person but it was a bit to big for what I'd be looking for to augment the ARB fridge...so I passed on it.
So my experience with what I consider "real world use" of the 26 qt Ozark cooler is I was able to obtain 4 full days out of the cooler with just a 20 lb bag of ice. Temperatures during the 4 days were lows of 45-50 over night and 70-80 during the days. I also made an effort to keep the cooler in shade as much as possible, though there were times sun was hitting it directly for a period. Overall for a cooler of this size with the beer can-to-ice ratio I had and it lasting 4 solid days is very good in my book given the amount of times it was open/closed and having items placed in and removed from it.
I will likely pick up a 52 qt once I find one. I saw the 72 qt in person but it was a bit to big for what I'd be looking for to augment the ARB fridge...so I passed on it.
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How did you order one? Did you have the customer service folks order it for you?
Day 10 (9 full days)
Coleman Steel Belted is out. Actually really impressed with this cooler. I had never filled it completely with ice as I had normally dumped a 20lbs bag or a couple cold packs in. From now on, if and when I use this cooler, I will use it for drinks and completely fill it with ice. It basically lasted 8.5 days in mild conditions and one day full sunshine. Although, through experience, I know if this cooler spends a lot of time in the sun it seriously degrades it's ability to keep ice more than a couple days. Which is a problem because it's either in the back of my truck or on my jeep rack or on my trailer in the sun while traveling to wherever it is I'm camping. Obviously not as much insulation, but it is also dark colored (green) and steel... it gets smoking hot on the exterior when it's exposed to sun. Way more than one of these light colored ozark trail or other marine style plastic coolers would.
The 52 QT Ozark Trail is still going strong. Lots of water, but still a good bit of ice, including pretty good-sized chunks. It has spent the last 3 days in my garage in the shade, but it's been getting pretty warm in there due to the vehicles hot engines and is hovering between 70-80 degrees during the day. I transferred some of the other beers into this cooler and will continue on... :sombrero:
Pic below of the 52 Qt...
Coleman Steel Belted is out. Actually really impressed with this cooler. I had never filled it completely with ice as I had normally dumped a 20lbs bag or a couple cold packs in. From now on, if and when I use this cooler, I will use it for drinks and completely fill it with ice. It basically lasted 8.5 days in mild conditions and one day full sunshine. Although, through experience, I know if this cooler spends a lot of time in the sun it seriously degrades it's ability to keep ice more than a couple days. Which is a problem because it's either in the back of my truck or on my jeep rack or on my trailer in the sun while traveling to wherever it is I'm camping. Obviously not as much insulation, but it is also dark colored (green) and steel... it gets smoking hot on the exterior when it's exposed to sun. Way more than one of these light colored ozark trail or other marine style plastic coolers would.
The 52 QT Ozark Trail is still going strong. Lots of water, but still a good bit of ice, including pretty good-sized chunks. It has spent the last 3 days in my garage in the shade, but it's been getting pretty warm in there due to the vehicles hot engines and is hovering between 70-80 degrees during the day. I transferred some of the other beers into this cooler and will continue on... :sombrero:
Pic below of the 52 Qt...