Premium & High End Ice Chests & Coolers Reviews

BTCSXJ

New member
For all of those with premium coolers. Why/how did you justify the purchase of these coolers over say... buying more ice? I'm not sure I've spent $400 on ice in my lifetime, let alone over the life of a cooler. Furthermore, 95% of the 'overlanding' trips and trip reports I read about on this site involve frequent stops in town for gas or other supplies. Why not just get more ice too?

Durability can't be a real reason either considering someone can buy 8 or more Coleman coolers for the price of one of these premium units. Are you going to break 8 Coleman coolers before you break your Yeti? Take care of you gear!

At what point is a tool 'good enough for it's intended purpose'? Sometimes it seems like this Overlanding community is more focused on spending money and buying gear than any actual adventure. This is a prime example in my opinion.
 

malibubts

Adventurer
For all of those with premium coolers. Why/how did you justify the purchase of these coolers over say... buying more ice? I'm not sure I've spent $400 on ice in my lifetime, let alone over the life of a cooler. Furthermore, 95% of the 'overlanding' trips and trip reports I read about on this site involve frequent stops in town for gas or other supplies. Why not just get more ice too?

Durability can't be a real reason either considering someone can buy 8 or more Coleman coolers for the price of one of these premium units. Are you going to break 8 Coleman coolers before you break your Yeti? Take care of you gear!

At what point is a tool 'good enough for it's intended purpose'? Sometimes it seems like this Overlanding community is more focused on spending money and buying gear than any actual adventure. This is a prime example in my opinion.
Each person has to make their own decision on what's worth it to them. Personally I went with the RTIC for like $130. Buying and having to worry about ice is a pain. Much easier to just load up the cooler and go for a few days and not have to worry about ice levels. Not to mention it's much better at not leaking than any of the cheap coolers I have.

Sent from my SM-N900P using Tapatalk
 

vartz04

Adventurer
For all of those with premium coolers. Why/how did you justify the purchase of these coolers over say... buying more ice? I'm not sure I've spent $400 on ice in my lifetime, let alone over the life of a cooler. Furthermore, 95% of the 'overlanding' trips and trip reports I read about on this site involve frequent stops in town for gas or other supplies. Why not just get more ice too?

Durability can't be a real reason either considering someone can buy 8 or more Coleman coolers for the price of one of these premium units. Are you going to break 8 Coleman coolers before you break your Yeti? Take care of you gear!

At what point is a tool 'good enough for it's intended purpose'? Sometimes it seems like this Overlanding community is more focused on spending money and buying gear than any actual adventure. This is a prime example in my opinion.

The RTIC 45 is $189. Coleman extreme 52 quart is $55ish depending on where you get it. With some work you can consistently get 3 days out of ice with the Coleman. With the same effort you'll get about 5 with the rtic. At $5 for a 20lb bag of ice and figuring 30 days a year camping you'd spend $50 on ice in the Coleman and $30 on the RTIC. The Coleman will last maybe 3 years with some reasonable abuse. So in that 3 years you've spent $150 vs $90 in ice and need a new cooler. These roto coolers might need new latches or something in that 3 years ($10).

In 6 years you've spent $410 on the Coleman(2 of them)/ice and it needs to be replaced again

The RTIC you've spent $480 and it's still trucking. It's close in price both ways but not having to worry about babying something and buying ice mid trip is with the $10/year extra for me
 

stevenmd

Expedition Leader
I have had an ARB fridge and now have a Yeti 65 cooler. I only sold my ARB bc I was going through some tough times. I recently bought a Yeti 65 at a decent price (used only once) from a friend. Such a great purchase! Not having to deal with running out of ice on a long trip and still having ice cold beer is awesome! I have had some of the "upper end" Coleman (and other "regular" brands) coolers and they don't even come close to the quality and performance of my Yeti.

<rant one> Why buy 10 Coleman coolers that you have to throw away? This reminds me of the camp chair thread where someone suggested buying $8.99 Walmart chairs and just replacing them every year. I thought a major part of overlanding was being environmentally responsible???? If you can't afford it, by all means buy what you can and just get out there. But at some point it becomes cheaper and environmentally responsible to buy something or replace it with something of excellent build quality. <rant off>
 

stevenmd

Expedition Leader
Oh, and one more thing... if you want to get maximum use out of your ice, buy it the day before you need it and put it in your own freezer. Those commercial freezers in the stores only run about 30 degrees, just enough to keep it frozen but not enough to deep freeze the ice. Deep freezing it in your own freezer first will drastically extend the life of your ice.
 

jeep-N-montero

Expedition Leader
The RTIC 45 is $189. Coleman extreme 52 quart is $55ish depending on where you get it. With some work you can consistently get 3 days out of ice with the Coleman. With the same effort you'll get about 5 with the rtic. At $5 for a 20lb bag of ice and figuring 30 days a year camping you'd spend $50 on ice in the Coleman and $30 on the RTIC. The Coleman will last maybe 3 years with some reasonable abuse. So in that 3 years you've spent $150 vs $90 in ice and need a new cooler. These roto coolers might need new latches or something in that 3 years ($10).

In 6 years you've spent $410 on the Coleman(2 of them)/ice and it needs to be replaced again

The RTIC you've spent $480 and it's still trucking. It's close in price both ways but not having to worry about babying something and buying ice mid trip is with the $10/year extra for me

I suppose it depends on how intelligent you are with your gear, we have had our Coleman Extreme Marine Ultimate cooler for 6 years and still functions as it should, same original stainless hinges and all. We have a toddler and trusting a cooler to keep his milk cold is important, 2 reusable frozen gallon jugs will last 4-5 days(never pay for ice). Gets used about 40 days a year between camping and fishing, I have even backed into it on a hunting trip and survived just fine, not bad for the $70 we paid for it 6 years ago. The Igloo Marine 94qt we use on the boat gets used as a bench seat and is stepped on repeatedly, paid $10 for it 3 years ago at a yard sale. This year I did pick up the Ozark Trail soft sided cooler for $50 as a lunch cooler for the boat and other day trips, seems to be doing well so far. And BTW, I would be willing to bet money that 90% of those who purchase high end coolers will never even be more than 10 miles from a gas station, even fewer would be found out of cell signal range....
 

Kyle Kelso

Adventurer
For all of those with premium coolers. Why/how did you justify the purchase of these coolers over say... buying more ice? I'm not sure I've spent $400 on ice in my lifetime, let alone over the life of a cooler. Furthermore, 95% of the 'overlanding' trips and trip reports I read about on this site involve frequent stops in town for gas or other supplies. Why not just get more ice too?

Durability can't be a real reason either considering someone can buy 8 or more Coleman coolers for the price of one of these premium units. Are you going to break 8 Coleman coolers before you break your Yeti? Take care of you gear!

At what point is a tool 'good enough for it's intended purpose'? Sometimes it seems like this Overlanding community is more focused on spending money and buying gear than any actual adventure. This is a prime example in my opinion.
Buying more ice isn't always a viable option during a trip. Often, yes but certainly not always. I looked at it as saving money vs buying a fridge.

Jeep-n-montero that's a pretty bold, dare I say ignorant assumption. You may have had good success with your equipment and planning and that's awesome but that doesn't mean you know everyone's circumstances. I've got a 6 day trip fast approaching, we aren't travelling too far and I have a large tank so we won't be making any fuel stops until we leave for home. I could take a 3 hour round trip to go get ice at the nearest town half way through our trip, but I'd sure rather not! Our cheaper coolers have always been to suppliment our trailer fridge for longer durations or just for weekends and they worked fine for that, but no longer having a trailer with a fridge I know I need better performance than they offer.
Oh, and we will be without cell coverage for the majority of the trip for whatever relevance that has...

Your opinions and experience are very valid and useful information for the OP and others to consider when debating whether to buy one. No need to be harsh and judgemental :)
 

teotwaki

Excelsior!
-----snip-----And BTW, I would be willing to bet money that 90% of those who purchase high end coolers will never even be more than 10 miles from a gas station, even fewer would be found out of cell signal range....

That covers a lot of Expo members but even Saline Hot Springs in DV has cell coverage now. No escaping radio signals when you are line of site with a cell tower at altitude :elkgrin:
 
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Ducky's Dad

Explorer
I lived for decades with Coleman and Igloo and Rubbermaid coolers, but decided to spring for a pair of Orcas because in the AZ summer, I got tired of having to buy lots of ice every day. It was not just the cost of the ice, but the time I burned driving to town to get the ice and having to go into a store just for ice. The Orcas only need ice every other day. I now have a full time fridge/freezer in the truck, but I still carry the Orca for drinks that get consumed quickly.
 

perterra

Adventurer
For all of those with premium coolers. Why/how did you justify the purchase of these coolers over say... buying more ice? I'm not sure I've spent $400 on ice in my lifetime, let alone over the life of a cooler. Furthermore, 95% of the 'overlanding' trips and trip reports I read about on this site involve frequent stops in town for gas or other supplies. Why not just get more ice too?

Durability can't be a real reason either considering someone can buy 8 or more Coleman coolers for the price of one of these premium units. Are you going to break 8 Coleman coolers before you break your Yeti? Take care of you gear!

At what point is a tool 'good enough for it's intended purpose'? Sometimes it seems like this Overlanding community is more focused on spending money and buying gear than any actual adventure. This is a prime example in my opinion.

I long ago gave up justifying anything I bought. Because if you really have to justify the purchase, you probably dont need to make the purchase. I mean how do you justify anything? How do you justify an American made knife over Chinese, a Toyota over a Dodge, Ray Bans over stop and rob blue blockers? They all work!

Adventuring is cool and all, but most of us have a 9 to 5 job and money to spend. The hunt is sometimes as much fun as the kill.

My "want" of a better cooler came about 10 years ago when I had to take a week long trip in 100º temps to meet compadres with three coolers full of ice and local regional beers. My old Coleman extreme from the 90's (old enough it has a fridge gasket and a actual latch on the lid) held ice great, Got 3 full days at 100º, the Igloos both blew through ice every day, plus one of the igloos drain started leaking on the way and dumped about 5 gallons of water in the back of my Xterra. With the Igloos you could get by 24 hours and you had cold water. Now ice was cheap, and only a 30 minute drive into town, but finding someone sober enough to drive was a problem. I damn sure wasnt sober enough to drive. So I looked at more Coleman extremes, only they ditched the latch and seal. I wasnt interested in the new design, I'm sure it's still a good cooler, but didnt interest me. Tried a Canyon Cooler, good cooler but not equal to the Coleman I had (they have since changed design) and ended up with an RTIC and a couple of Polar Bear soft coolers as well as RTIC soft cooler. I still use the Coleman for most stuff, but longer trips where I need to lock the cooler down in the bed of the truck, the RTIC works great. Day trips, the Polar Bears or RTIC soft cooler.

I have a little Stanley Adventure cooler in the back floor board of the truck every day. Not a 7 day cooler, it holds ice for a day, but if it turns over it doesnt leak. You turn a Coleman over the lid will pop open and dump the contents.

Now, my Carta Blanca has caught up with me and I gotta go pee
 

perterra

Adventurer
I suppose it depends on how intelligent you are with your gear, we have had our Coleman Extreme Marine Ultimate cooler for 6 years and still functions as it should, same original stainless hinges and all. We have a toddler and trusting a cooler to keep his milk cold is important, 2 reusable frozen gallon jugs will last 4-5 days(never pay for ice). Gets used about 40 days a year between camping and fishing, I have even backed into it on a hunting trip and survived just fine, not bad for the $70 we paid for it 6 years ago. The Igloo Marine 94qt we use on the boat gets used as a bench seat and is stepped on repeatedly, paid $10 for it 3 years ago at a yard sale. This year I did pick up the Ozark Trail soft sided cooler for $50 as a lunch cooler for the boat and other day trips, seems to be doing well so far. And BTW, I would be willing to bet money that 90% of those who purchase high end coolers will never even be more than 10 miles from a gas station, even fewer would be found out of cell signal range....

Frozen gallon jugs of ice make a piss poor beer cooler. That I know for a fact. And I may be no more than a mile from gas station, but I may not be sober enough to make the drive. Use what you want and dont worry what others use.

And by the way, I looked out a hotel window in Galveston Texas one Friday night to see some guy pissing in a cooler on some bodys hitch rack. I like locking coolers now
 
I bought what I wanted because I wanted it, if that bothers anyone well that's their problem not mine. And until they pay my bills they can bite me!
 

Kyle Kelso

Adventurer
Would you mind grabbing some measurements for me? I'm interested in these but they are out of stock everywhere near me and I have very specific space for a cooler so I need to be sure of the size
Hey Cletus

It is 30" x 18 3/4" at the lid, 29" x 16 3/4" at the base and 19 1/2" tall. This is for the 80L.
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