Cooler thread

Bansh88

Bansh88

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After this summer and some inadequacies of my standard coolers, wife and I are looking at "premium" coolers.  

Any first hand reviews of 50quart+ coolers?  

I've seen some of the YouTube videos but wondering if anyone has real reviews of what works and what doesn't. 

Situation:  Looking at 2-4 days to keep ice on drinks and keeping cold.  Being open often. 

 
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I did a lot of shopping around and in the end bought this at Walmart.  I figured I could buy a LOT of bags of ice for the cost delta.  

It works a bunch better than the old crappy iglo I had, but not roto moulded cooler good.  

If your hell-bent on a roto moulded cooler catergator makes one more reasonably priced than some of the other ones.  There is also another place in Florida that does as well.  There is also a place in AZ that makes them that I would consider, just to keep the jobs local-ish. 

the folks out of Arizona: https://canyoncoolers.com/

CaterGator: https://www.webstaurantstore.com/51191/outdoor-heavy-duty-merchandising-coolers.html?vendor=CaterGator

Also I found a number of them on offerup but was to slow to cash in.  One was a great deal on single use coolers. 

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Lifetime brand coolers at Walmart. Made in USA. Roto-molded, comes in 28, 50, and 70 qt.

I've been using the 28 at work for about 3 years now. Tough as nails, doesn't leak, and holds ice for days without issues. And much more affordable then other name brands. 

 
i have a yeti i think it is up in the attic, used it a couple times and was so worried about someone stealing it i use a cheap igloo now lol.

the yetti does hold ice for days, i was amazed at how well it worked. my cheap igloo holds ice maybe 12 hours, before its ice water

 
Realbadlarry said:
Application?  Boat, camping? 
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Camping.  Just for drinks and ice. 

Daughter did FFA Fair a month ago in Ramona.  Standard (newer) Igloo didn't hold ice with drinks for more than 24hrs.

Our summer Glamis overnight trips, which I don't expect much, BARELY hold ice for 12 hours.

 
Looney Duner said:
Lifetime brand coolers at Walmart. Made in USA. Roto-molded, comes in 28, 50, and 70 qt.

I've been using the 28 at work for about 3 years now. Tough as nails, doesn't leak, and holds ice for days without issues. And much more affordable then other name brands. 
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I also vote for the Lifetime 54 qt cooler. Best ice retention you can get for $99. Holds ice longer than a Yeti. One trick to longer ice is use a block of ice in the center, then ice cubes on top of the drinks.

 
I have a big Yeti that I use for food on long trips and it works great. But when I’ve used it for drinks it doesn’t work much better than a basic cooler. The key is how many times you open it. If you are going to be opening it often, kids holding it open while they choose a drink, etc, just buy a decent quality basic cooler. The expensive ones won’t do much for you if you opened frequently. 

 
My brother in law has the walmart version of the yeti. Its a pos. Maybe 6 hrs in the shade in yuma this summer. I have a 20 year old igloo maxcool. Ice lasts 2 days on the same trip/conditions

i want to upgrade coolers too. Im looking hard at the RTIC. I have a few of their cups and they are great

 
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The electric coolers are pretty amazing....but way more money,  but if you are camping they are amazing.  Yetti, RCTC and the rest are all about the same. In and out hurts every coolers ability to keep stuff cold.  I had the old gotts with the ice in top and the kept stuff cold for days. 

 
Like mentioned above, one block then cubes. Also, something that seems to help is putting a piece of that rv chrome looking bubble insulation on the top of the ice just under the lid. Don't know the official name of the stuff but I use it in the windows.

 
I have used the RTIC 110's for about 4 seasons now.  Sold my Yeti's.  The RTIC and Yeti retained ice great, but the price difference puts the RTIC far ahead. The RTIC is not cheap at $350.00, but compared to anything else price and ice retention are great.  I do 1 gallon water jugs in the freezer when I'm ready to load the cooler, put them in the center, then load them up with beer and ice around the JUgs.  RTIC 110 QT Hard Cooler - See Available Colors (rticoutdoors.com)  :ez:

 
I’d go with canyon coolers, based out of Flagstaff. Unconditional lifetime warranty- 

 
Looney Duner said:
Lifetime brand coolers at Walmart. Made in USA. Roto-molded, comes in 28, 50, and 70 qt.

I've been using the 28 at work for about 3 years now. Tough as nails, doesn't leak, and holds ice for days without issues. And much more affordable then other name brands. 
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I can vouch for this.  Was headed to Utah on a 7 night trip and RV fridge dies just before leaving.  We Bought a lifetime 77 qt at Walmart, it worked good over the trip.  We were able to find blocked ice.  It helped keep cool for days on end.   

PXL_20220906_031705785.jpg

 
RTIC Coolers are about half the price of YETI with the same performance. The new 52 QT. Ultra-Light is legit.

I use the RTIC 52 Ultra-Light for my food and the regular RTIC 45 for Drinks. I store my trailer @ Dunes Edge so it takes a while for my fridge to cool down enough for food (usually the next morning) and I use the re-usable RTIC Ice Packs for my food cooler.....I've never had my food go bad in my RTIC.  

 
I too vote for the lifetime from Walmart. I bought a couple 77’s and they hold ice way longer than my Coleman’s and igloos. The first round of the lifetime coolers had bad seals and latches. They upgraded to the rubber seal and the updated latches you see in the last pick. Now they hold ice great and don’t leak.

 
Been using a RTIC for 2 years.  It has been used a few times for river trips that were 115 degree days.   It holds ice pretty good, but just as important is it keeps things really cold.

Long glamis trips it does really well.  
 

 
I disagree with the comments about the Rtics and yetis being the same. I have both. With out going into a long winded detail, had them side by side for work full of waters, same use, and the yeti continuously held store bought ice much longer. 
yes, plenty of things you can do, prefreeze, blocks, etc, but this was for the guy at work, just 711 ice and Costco waters. 
They aren’t the same, yeti did much much better.

You get what you pay for. 

 
I use a pelican.   Made in USA and lifetime warranty.  

 
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