Wow that was quite informative and definitely a few surprises. Thanks very much. A tip for people using coolers take bottles of water freeze them solid and put them in instead of ice. It will keep order drinks and food cool for longer and you can also drink the bottles of water . You will find using bottles of water will increase the length of time of your cooler anywhere between 25 to 50%. My top cooler tip.
Totally agree as i ve tested this extensively in very hot weather. I would like to add to that a couple of tips. Frozen bottles always on top. When melted can be placed in the bottom and new frozen ones on top. If you have to have ice for any reason, then, place water-tight food or drink conainers at the bottom and the ice (in a bag with holes) on top, at a height that would prevent the water from the melted ice to come to contact with the ice cubes. This way 1. the cool water will maintain the containers (food or drinks) cooler since they are submerged in liquid, 2. the remaining ice cubes will last longer since the do not contact the water and 3. the overall temp of the box will be lowerr since less air is in the box. It also helps to have a full box with pre frozen things where possible.
Those that are whining and complaining about cooler color, cooler capacity, cooler ice volume, shade, sun, thermometer used, blah blah blah .... do your own test, and post your video on youtube so we can all pick apart your "imperfect" methods. Please do it. Good grief..... Anyway .... i own the Igloo BMX i think its called. It's that grey one with the blue rubber tie downs. It works perfect for my needs. I was surprised it lasted only 5 days in your test. Thanks for the effort. Looking forward to a future test.
Ya eventually I decided there were too many variables to try and control in one test so I just went about it how I thought made sense for how I really use coolers. And regardless of the comparison it gives a decent picture of how each individual cooler performs on its own.
I have 2 Rtic coolers, a 65 and 45. The 65 I’ve had for just over 3 years and it has been outside the entire time. In the height of summer, I get a good 7 days to keep drinks cold. Very happy with it. It is the perfect way to get more room in the fridge.
I've owned my 55QT Orion Cooler for 3 years now and I couldn't be happier. It does struggle a little in super hot conditions, I tested in triple digits and the ice lasted 5 days in the heat but overall it's bulletproof. Definitely recommend Orion! Great job on the video!
Bought the Coleman Marine Xtreme for a trip to Florida ~4 years ago. It has been a fantastic cooler for ~$50 bucks. Holds ice for days in the summer heat
Thanks for this comparison. I have a couple of Lifetime coolers that I bought at wally world about 5 years ago for 99 each. For a hundred bucks I've never been disappointed. All the meats go in completely frozen and we've still had semi frozen meat after a week of high 80's. One thing I found that helps id pack the meat as you plan to eat it - first day on top last day on bottom. We use the second one for drinks, condiments, etc. Flapping the lid constant we only get about 3-4 days out of it before doing an Ice run but I usually need more beer and bait by then anyway!
Great tips! I just did the same thing at a family reunion. One cooler for food and meat we only opened once a day or so at dinner time and one cooler for drinks that was flopping open all day long. The first one never needed more ice but the latter did.
Until I saw your ice challenge I was torn between buying the Coho 55 and the Lifetime 55, which were at a similar price point. In your video, I was impressed with how the blow molded Lifetime kept up with the some of the top rotomolded coolers such as Yeti and RTIC, while outperforming the Coho 55. Needless to say I chose the Lifetime. Thanks!
Good choice! And I'm glad it was helpful. I definitely like the price of both of those too, but that Lifetime does have an edge on the Coho, I do believe.
the Coho is the only one that fits under my Tonneau cover. The Lifetime, Orion, RTIC, etc. all exceed the 16.00 inch maximum of my Ridgeline. The Yeti Tundra 45 will also fit, but at twice the price….
I have bought a 55qt lifetime 4 years ago and still use this damn thing everyday at work…it’s a great ice chest and stronger than shit, sitting in the bed of my pickup rain or shine
I bought the COHO from Costco, ($110) at close to 1/2 the price of the lifetime, I could not justify the addition price for 1 additional day of keeping the ice cold. Now I do realize that you get an additional 10 qts of storage, so that's good, but for $220 you could buy two Coho's and have 110 qts, and each would be easier to carry, but you would need the additional space for them. I'm going to try using frozen water bottles and also igloo ice blocks instead of ice to see if I get an extended time beyond 6 days. As a rule, I don't go anywhere that I need cooled that long before I can buy ice to top up, so I guess you can get crazy with these longer time frames. Also, if one opens the lid 5 times a day, compared with keeping the lid closed, what does this do to the cool longevity?
Love my Canyon cooler. The fact that its an even shaped cooler with no weird angles or handles makes it easy to pack or store is a +. Their amazing warranty was the defining factor for me.
For me it’s the RTIC 65. It keeps ice for 7 days and of all the rotomolded coolers this is the cheapest at $197. Plus it comes in the tan color which matches my ATV.
I have a Polaris Northstar 105qt cooler that I used for the past weekend in South Texas for a softball tournament. Filled it Saturday at around 5am and today it still has ice. It was opened all weekend long over and over all weekend. THAT is an impressive cooler!!!!
Orion Coolers gave us a coupon code! 😎 Enter code: DYMFJ9TET571 at checkout for an extra 5% off at jacksonkayak.com/outdoors/orion-coolers/coolers/. (This is NOT an affiliate link, just a little bonus for you!)
Thanks for doing this. That was alot of money just to help others see what is the best. Probably go with Rtic for price, if I can't find a deal on a Cabella's. Bass Pro outlet had some with scatches and dents priced worth buying. If I spent $400 on something to keep stuff cold it better have a way to cool itself.
Truck driver in the oilfield here in Texas. Cooler stays in the passenger seat, so the spout to empty it be nice in the right side (opening from the front). Had a smaller bmx cooler that would hold ice for a day, maybe two, but always had to take it out of the truck to empty. Also found with this heat, it is starting to separate from the insulation. So time for a new cooler. Most of the other drivers run the academy (Magellan), ice lasts quite a while, and the bigger ones can be open from either side. They are expensive though. Be cool to see it tested. After this, may just go with Orca though. The Igloo bmx did its job for years, from ranch hand, vacations/outings, surveying, to hot factories. Had bought it when they first started to come out. Was out performing some more expensive coolers. Unfortunately, don't like the seperation it is having (never dropped it).
I paid 39 bucks for my Coleman Extreme, and 65 bucks for my 55 quart Lifetime cooler, both on sale at the end of the year a few years back (Lifetime is 129 today), and they both keep ice for a week when only opened once a day. The Coleman was the best deal ever.
Glad to see my Igloo 52 BMX did well. I got that cooler because it fits perfectly in the bed of my Honda Ridgeline with the tonneau cover on it. For $100, 6 days of ice ain't bad.
One thing that I have found with my Yeti 48 is that if I follow the manufacturers suggested instructions on best practices, I have zero water inside for 4-5 days. Precool and use their ice packs in conjunction with regular ice. They also say that dry ice can be used in their hard coolers as well.
KONG! I personally dont need ice that long and its great to see the results.GJ.For me since they are so close with the ice,get one you can afford -prechill it - use ice pks.They do help.Kong has nice latches -no rope swinging handles - and made in the USA.Sorry i love my cooler.Igloo is a thing in my past.
Story idea: Does an ice maker, used in combination with an efficient cooler, use less electricity than an equal size 12v refrigerator? 12v refrigerators very costly and require expensive power systems to support the continuous draw. It's possible that a cooler ice maker combo may be more efficient by cost comparison. As well as having ice on hand for drinks is a bonus. It would be an interesting experiment. Keep up the good work. Cheers!
I used a Coleman the other day and was very disappointed to say the last lol. It was advertised as a 3 day ice retention. I filled it at 7am and by 11 it was all water. I do live in AZ and it was about 118. Now I'll try one of these to 3. Thank you for your test.
You bet! And at 118 degrees in the Arizona heat, any cooler will struggle. But as long as you cool it down in the house the night before, add ice and cold food in it, one of these top coolers should do much better.
I have the 65qrt liftime chest. Took it out to the beach few years back. Scorching heat! No shade. Was sitting in direct sunlight & in hot sand. Opening & closing all day. Last 24hrs. It had no ice the next day but my drinks were still cool to drink. Pretty impressive! If i had it in shade & up off the sand, im sure it would've gone for atleast another half day/12hrs.
I have a cabelas and store beer in it all week every week. No space in fridge. I fill with ice and frozen Gatorade bottles. Love this cooler. It stays outside year long. Had to replace rubber tie downs
I hope you can do a test where they are all in the sunlight all day. When you're out on a boat with little to no shade or you're out in the field where there is no shade, it can have a huge impact on a coolers performance. Especialy on a blacktop.
@@Oxibase Not on a work barge... Not on a road construction crew... Not when you are in Florida when it got hot enough in 2023 to melt the souls of my boots.
My son worked on the Lifetime cooler line here in the USA. They pay well with great benefits. Because they are much cheaper than Yeti, and are local to me, I picked one up. Great cooler. Great review. A lot of work, but great results.
I have a yeti tundra and it retains ice and cold temps pretty good. Went camping 2 weeks ago and still had nice cold drinks in it when I emptied it out. I really think it depends on where they are as in sun/shade. I was a good mix of both. And it’s basically gonna come down to what someone likes. I’m not saying yeti is the best or any other brand is the best. Get what you like and run with it. Great comparison.
i built my own cooler for burning man. i used 2 layers of 2 inch R-tech foam board from home depot cut and glued them. Then i coated the homemade cooler with flex seal and installed a homemade drain. my homemade cooler was twice the size of the coolers you have, and i would use five 5 pound blocks of block ice and last over 8 days. Price was a lot cheaper than the store bought ones
That 48qt Coleman holds ice and food and drinks for me for about 48 hours. Looking forward to my Rtic Ultral light 52 that I just bought, which is why I watched this video. Seems like I made a sound purchase. Thanks!
I have the Coleman and Igloo that were eliminated early, but I also have an Rtic 65. It works well, but it is heavy and wide, which makes it difficult to carry when loaded.
I just assumed YETI would outperform everyone. When they 1st came out they were far and above the best coolers. Thankfully their performance got their competition to start improving their coolers.
For sure! They're still probably the market leader because they're so big, but the competition is fierce now and there are so many cooler companies working to outperform the others in one way or another.
I would really like to see this same test done on wheeled coolers. Us older folks need wheels to lighten the loads we carry. That Orion 65 weighs 36 pounds empty. When loaded it would be too heavy for me to carry.
Indeed, I love a good wheeled cooler too. While I didn't call them out specifically, there are several wheeled coolers in this video. I also did another video specifically about the Best Coolers with Wheels. And I'm working on a round 2 ice challenge with more wheeled options.
@@theoutdoorempire I was at Cabela's today looking at coolers because they did so well in your tests. Their coolers have two holes near the bottom and a sticker saying they are for the optional dolly. The dolly picture looked interesting but the sales person could not find any information on it.
@@rksando1 Ya I remember seeing that too. I think I figured out last year that they actually quit making the dolly. Too bad, but I think there are some third party wheel solutions on Amazon.
For normal camping trips i prefer my 110 wheeled igloo. Once its loaded up with food drinks and ice its already heavy as it is and this cooler by itself is the weight of a small rotomold. It last 5 days easy opening it many times a day so its good enough for average people.
Right on! True that I think a simple cooler suits the needs of most. But the people researching coolers and watching videos like this one probably geek out on gear a bit more than many. 🤓
Feel pretty good about that Orca i just bought on a whim cause I heard they were good compared to Yeti. Plus I've always had an aversion to a lot of fellas with Yeti coolers and didn't want to be seen as on of those Yeti sticker guys 😂. Also the fact that I love an underdog.
I bought the otter box venture 65 years ago based on the channel coolers on sale. I got it for 100 bucks in ebay and am glad to see it’s still the best out there.
Lost my old timer Coleman that wat awesome for bwca trips😔 Nice to see your numbers on the blog. I have "borrowed" the Lifetime for an entire year of sub freezing to 100° off the grid use for 3, and it was good. Camping, the latches delt with raccoons fine. May buy one now for the odd camping trip seeing how they stack up.
Awesome video!! In extreme 110’ + heat here in so cal I’ve found the roto molded coolers suffer and eventually warp and lose the sealing power, the pelican elite/ otterbox venture injected molds have held up a tad bit better but just goes to show you every cooler has its purpose!
Have a venture 65 in my truck bed 3 years or so in SoCal it’s perfectly fine. Light blue on the handles are a bit faded. I had a pelican in truck bed and eventually the top did get a bit of a bulge but did keep working. Latches eventually go damaged. OtterBox latches best there are. Don’t make them anymore though.
Bought a Cabela unit in 2018, for a trip up the Alaska highway. We broke down, and it was 5 days of 30+C temps before we got it back. My rum was still cold. It has done a lot of camping since then.
Love my Orion, it's preformed flawlessly. I have had it since they were very first manufactured. Fun fact the parent company produces whitewater kayaks, of which I had matching cooler and kayak
For just over $100, the lifetime coolers do a great job! But they are heavy as a truck! My favorite budget cooler is the ozark trail with the automatic light that doubles as a detachable flashlight. Its $100 and keeps ice just as good as a yeti! And it doesnt weigh a meteic ton. Has a multple tie down points and a bottle opener! By far my favorite cooler to throw in the SXS
My lifetime cooler goes through a bag of ice every day. Am I the only person that opens a cooler more than once a day? I need more than one bottle of water to last all day in the heat!
Great video! It would be interesting to see this same test done in a climate controlled environment. Eliminating any variables such as how much direct sunlight each cooler gets. Cooler colour could also be a factor as they would absorb solar radiation differently.
I have several Orion coolers, I go hunting quite a bit, and I have kept ice for well over 10 days, enough to keep all my food/drinks safe for the entirety of my hunt. They are pricey, but you have to pay to play.
This was really well done. it was as real world and quantitative as one would expect. I do like the different sizes and what it showed as well. I think a ""bang for the buck" comment from you would be great.. I mean (example only) a $40 cooler that goes 6 days beats a $350 cooler that goes 7 at least in my book I bet your spreadsheet makes this very obvious. ... Don't take this as a criticism, just a thought .. What you did was a lot of work in set up, analysis and tear down and I assume cost... i was impressed. Thank you.
I really appreciate your remarks, thanks for sharing! Yes, I neglected cost in this one and will definitely take that to heart for future videos. I do cover that better on our website if you check out the article in the link in the description. Cheers!
Interesting well made video. I bought a larger Coleman 316 series cooler with wheels on clearance for $18. Pretty nice cooler especially with the wheels and seems to keep ice for quite a while. I guess I don’t understand paying big bucks for a cooler. This Coleman cooler will keep ice for 4-6 day depending on the temperature when I’m hunting out in Wyoming. Im Sure it’s not as durable but it still more than fits my needs. I’m not sure if many really need a cooler to keep ice for 7+ days but I’m sure there are a few.
I think you're right all around and what a great buy you got on that Coleman! There are probably really only 2-3 times a year I really need to use a cooler for a week straight and I'm sure I'm pretty average. Last week I had the Orion out on a family reunion and it held its ice all week again. It's nice not to have to add ice midweek, but you could buy a lot of ice for the cost of one of these fancy coolers.
I know your intent was to conduct this test in "Real World" conditions but your also need to ensure each cooler has equal exposure to direct sunlight instead of some in the sunlight and others in the shade. Heating up the outside in direct sunlight has profound effect on ice retention.
Indeed, I did pay very close attention to that. It's not all shown in the video, but each cooler had about 95% shade throughout the day with the remainder as filtered sunlight at some point in the day. They sat under trees right next to each other with a fence and house to the south, a fence to the west, and a house to the east. About as even as one can find without going indoors.
It was about as fair as one can expect. I have the Lifetime as I didn’t want to drive to another city to get the yeti so I got TGIF one. Says American made
@@theoutdoorempire The test does favor the ones that get shade in the later part of the day when the ground s hot and so is the air. So the result will vary, the only way to truly test it would be to run the test multiple times with positional changes on each run, and average the results. Also length of time the lid is opened will effect them, and time of day opened will change the results. So again a average of multiple tests is needed. It still good information, but if outside you should run it multiple times with the shift in location for runs. Yes, I know it sucks to spend a month to et data for a 30 minute video. Also a more spread sheet approach make s comparing the data you collected easier to see, and please add the price point at testing. I think most of us like the idea of best for long term, best length for the price, those of us on budget really like that one. If I only need ice for 4 days, and this one will do it for 35 dollars, its a good buy. If this one also will make my 4 days but costs 400+dollars why buy it?
Its not a perfect test. Better would be to have them all in a line perpendicular to the suns path but who has that kinda space with nothing to block the light. Also could do an indoor test or under patio shaded test but either way this only confirms other tests. Like we knew the cabelas would do well already and or ive seen a lot showing its effectiveness and personally tested. Its very good but ofc the best the the yeti v series and qoolbox. Im not sure which of those the king of the coolers 😂😮
Very informative BUT, are you able to do a review comparing cheaper cooler with dry ice vs the winners in this video for weekend camping? Trying to decide whether to upgrade or not. Thank you.
Good video I think the tiebreaker could’ve been broken by price could’ve given some points and broke in the tiebreaker like that. Also, I think leaking cooler should’ve been disqualified. I feel like the reason there was ice in the cooler that long was due to the fact that it was unable to retain the water.
Thanks for the feedback! The Cabela's is $35 less than the Orion but besides ice retention there's a bunch of other stuff I like better about the Orion so it's my preferred. I just published another video about the best rotomolded coolers you could check out that goes into all that. As far as leakers go, OtterBox just discontinued hard coolers so they're out of the running anyway. The Cabela's, Engel, and an Igloo were also leaking a bit for the first day but that was user error, not a defect.
I know it would’ve been a pain to do this, but I wonder if your yetis would have performed better if you had prechilled them with ice. I have a yeti roadie 60. It has fantastic construction and the wheels and handle are awesome. I prechill it the day before, have some frozen food at the bottom, refrigerator food on top, frozen water bottles interspersed, and a layer of ice on top. In this way, we find that our refrigerator food ends up freezing. It’s become predictable, so we don’t put anything in the yeti that we don’t want to end up partially frozen. I use a Coleman extreme as well. Prechilling does nothing for it, and it doesn’t perform as well, though I don’t use it the same way I use the yeti. Anyhow, that’s my anecdote! Pretty cool! :)
And a great anecdote it is! I like your system for the yeti, I can see how that would buy you more days of ice with any cooler. For this test I could have pre-chilled but I figure that would have had a similar effect on all the coolers so I just chalked up the first day of the actual test as a chill day. 😂 Logistically it becomes pretty challenging to orchestrate things like that with this many coolers!
The Otterbox coolers are awesome. When they came out they were beating everything in similar tests. Their latches are awesome. Where some of the hard rubber pulls are difficult for some people. The Otterbox latches were tight and easy to use. I thought they stopped making them. I know you can't get them all. But a USA made Lifetime cooler would have cool to see. The one I have does really well in the Texas heat.
Ya the Otterbox is a solid unit. Too bad they seemed to have just disappeared. There is a USA made Lifetime in the video though! It went for 7 days, same as YETI.
Thank you so much for doing this!! I've been looking at the Lifetime 77 QT due to camping in bear country & I'm so surprised how the 55 held up with the "big name brands" like Yeti, Orca, and Pelcan! Plus for the fact you said it was almost 100, I live in Eastern WA where we also experience 100+ heat in the summer.
Love my Lifetime 55. Use it all the time for camping. Had it side by side with my buddy's yeti and at the end of the trip, it still had more ice inside. I'm happy I paid less for better performance.
Thank you so much for this test! We’re planning a road trip next summer and I had a yeti on my want list but I see the Coleman Marine would be fine for our needs. You just saved me a ton of money 😅
That's great news, glad to help you save some money! The Coleman Xtreme series has now been replaced by the Coleman 316 series which has done just about as well in my more recent test. You can find a newer video about it.
Ya I'm inclined to believe white is best as well. I've seen some other YT videos about that and I think it's less of a factor than one might think, but still plays a part. And if you wanna have a seat on the cooler, it definitely factors in! 🔥
Great fun ! Only brands missing were KONG and TITAN. Larger coolers are always going to out perform smaller ones 'cause of more ice. Not fair to compare small, medium and large in the same test.
@@theoutdoorempire No doubt! I find myself going for the blue and white marine igloo and the 150 quart marine igloo more often than not due to weight. The 270 gets used offshore. Carrying the damned Rotos around is a chore.
I'll be honest with the group: I had a rotomolded cooler, an Igloo from the early aughts, and an ice mule classic. The two that saw the most use: the Ice Mule classic and the Plain Jane Igloo. Ended up giving the rotomolded one to a friend.
Love the video. However, you said you added the extra ice to the larger coolers so they were full. That probably played a factor in the ice retention/amount of ice present in the results.
Indeed. I knew I was dealing with apples and oranges with different sizes, but my intention was also to try and quantify how big of a difference size makes in ice retention. For example, the Cordova 48 qt cooler went for 6 days, about a day shorter than most of the ~60 quart rotomolded coolers. Adding more ice to the larger ones was an effort to fill every cooler with ice roughly the same proportionally (about 80% full regardless of size). Not perfect, but made sense to me at the time.
Great test. I think it would be cool if there was a way to factor in price, maybe a cost per day calculation to see if the extra money is worth it. Also a bonus point for Made in the USA would have been nice, although I think most are made here.
Ya those are both interesting factors, but for this ice retention test I only wanted to look at that, ice retention. I'm working on another video where I take I to account things like price and where made so keep an eye out for that.
@@theoutdoorempire Excited to see it, but I know I'm not the only one who wanted to know which one was the best retention at a "reasonable" price point. I was hoping to see that after spending 20 minutes on this video.
To me it’s how long the cooler holds up to the test of time warranty and parts availability. Spending $500 on a cooler is not practical for a lot of people but if it lasts and performs well for 20 -30 years it’s worth it. Most people 2-3 days and $150 is fine.
I suppose it's all relative, but temps were in the 90s to low 100s when I did that test. It does cool off to the 60s or so at night here in Idaho though.
They all had a similar amount of sun at different times. But more importantly, I wanted the test to reflect how I actually use a cooler when camping or out and about. In a garage wouldn't reflect reality.
I was reading A LOT of reviews about the Lifetime having a problem with warping lids. It was reviews on their own website. I almost bought it then I saw that. Now I'm back to the cabela's. What was the problem with leaking and how did you resolve it?
Interesting, I didn't know that about the Lifetime but I haven't had it that long yet. I actually read some reviews claiming the same warping issue on the Cabela's but that hasn't been my experience either. The leaking on that one was because I didn't have the drain plug fully tightened. Mostly user error but you do have to crank it pretty good to get a complete seal. I plan on doing another video review covering more than just ice retention so keep an eye out for that!
@@theoutdoorempire Thanks so much for your reply. I think I'm going to end up with a cheaper one with the insulated lid. I can't throw out that kind of money for something that will warp. I also saw some pictures of the straps on the Cabela's not holding up (and warping) but the customer service there seems to be pretty good.
@@aleb5195 Ya I hear ya, they aren't cheap. Honestly for the money, that Coleman Xtreme Marine is amazing, at least for ice retention. It was right up there with the YETI and others. It's not bear resistant or nearly as rugged, but it's pretty decent. If you can't find the Marine version the Coleman Xtreme is a great, relatively inexpensive cooler as well.
I bought lifetime before the 2020 madness the 77 qt was like 90$ I have the 77 and the small one. I had the 77 in my pickup bed full sun and abuse/use of a 4 person construction crew for a year then another year full summer in my truck it’s been fine no issues and hold cold extremely well. It took me a while to get used to a cooler actually staying cold having been in full sun at 90+ degrees for days. Idk about now. But they have been great for me
I think the warping was from the older versions with a gasket seal on the cooler itself and not the lid. I have the "newer" version with lid gasket and upgraded lid and its great. I paid $129 (Cdn dollars) pre COVID at Walmart. I have had no warping of lid, easily 7 day ice retention and you simply cannot beat the price. Given what you need the cooler for another more expensive option may be the best for you (if you need an extra day or two ice retention), but for my needs you can't beat the price and performance of the LIFETIME!
I have a Rugged Road 65 cooler that weighs 13 pounds. Very good quality and durability. Not sure how well it would have done on ice test but for me quality and weight are very important.
Shade always helps but the winners got no more of it than any others. Every cooler got the same amount of sunlight each day and it wasn't much. Remember, these were out there for 10 days and this video was only 20 minutes long. And the Earth rotates so the sunlight moves. 😉
After watching this i looked up Orion coolers and found out they are made my Jackson Kayaks, who are located in Sparta TN, about 20 minutes from me in Cookeville, TN. Neat lol.
Ya it's a cool company and still privately run by some of the founders and family as far as I understand. Great outfit, you should swing by and see if they have a local shop you can check out.
This guy bought $50,000 worth of coolers for our benefit. Thanks! Edit: Did I hear float the Boise river? Awesome you're an Idahoan! I'm out in Caldwell :)
@@theoutdoorempire Right on! Also, I picked up a 77 qt Lifetime cooler because of your test! Works perfect for my 2-3 days boondocking (I actually still have 3 blocks of ice after multiple weekends of camping). Thanks for putting in the work for this test!
You should do this test again with the top 5 or 10 coolers, (all the same size) but get them all in (white) instead of colored coolers. Then see who comes out on top.
That would be interesting, though I've seen some other tests like that which suggest color has relatively little impact if the insulation is good. Perhaps hours of difference but not really days. But I'm not opposed if I can swing it!
I don’t think the otter box would have held I’ve as long if it didn’t leak. Not saying it’s a bad cooler it just wasn’t a fair test because of the leak.
I own an otterbox 45qt, it is a beast, beat all my buddies coolers over the long weekend camping. But like you said, it's super annoying because it's almost like they don't want part of the cooler market anymore
Probably that Coleman Xtreme Marine. You gotta get the Marine one (white) though. It's pretty darn cheap and held ice as long as YETI and other big brands. But if you want a bear proof cooler that's pretty cheap, probably that Xspec.
Nice video. I've been needing to replace a 30+ year old Coleman marine cooler due to the lid warping over the years, and after watching your video grabbed the same Lifetime cooler in your test on sale today during Amazon prime day. Got a nice discount compared to the price at other places.
@@theoutdoorempire Yeah, it was a nice discount. I was looking at getting another Marine cooler, but the price difference was small enough that it didn't make sense not to get a better cooler.
Not sure what those old Igloo coolers did differently - maybe the type of foam they used for insulation, a closed cell vs open cell kind of thing - but compared to other coolers of their vintage, at least in the boating world (this is long before Yeti existed) they were THE brand. They were always expensive, but worth every penny. I still have my Dad's old 162 quart Igloo Marine Ultra, and it's over 20 years old. Lived outside for almost all of it, year round and in the sun, and even though the latches broke a decade ago, the side is cracked, wide open the lid is caving in a little bit, it still keeps ice no problem (though it's about time to replace it, which is what brought me to this video) The Coleman Marine vs the high performance difference could be as simple as the color and type of the plastic. Marine coolers are typically white / light grey because it doesn't absorb as much heat in the sun, and I'm sure the good marine plastics have some extra anti-UV coating mixed in as they almost NEVER seem to cloud, yellow or even really fade with age - minimally nothing a quick scrubbing with some soap won't clean right up. And when you consider the different styles of boat they could be used on - bow riders, center consoles, bigger boats like a sport fish, trawlers, house boats, etc. and especially sailboats (where deck space is truly at a premium) you don't always have shade - they need to be able to stand up to the sun, potentially 24/7/365
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Wow that was quite informative and definitely a few surprises. Thanks very much. A tip for people using coolers take bottles of water freeze them solid and put them in instead of ice. It will keep order drinks and food cool for longer and you can also drink the bottles of water . You will find using bottles of water will increase the length of time of your cooler anywhere between 25 to 50%. My top cooler tip.
Love that tip! Thanks for sharing.
Totally agree as i ve tested this extensively in very hot weather. I would like to add to that a couple of tips. Frozen bottles always on top. When melted can be placed in the bottom and new frozen ones on top.
If you have to have ice for any reason, then, place water-tight food or drink conainers at the bottom and the ice (in a bag with holes) on top, at a height that would prevent the water from the melted ice to come to contact with the ice cubes.
This way
1. the cool water will maintain the containers (food or drinks) cooler since they are submerged in liquid,
2. the remaining ice cubes will last longer since the do not contact the water and
3. the overall temp of the box will be lowerr since less air is in the box.
It also helps to have a full box with pre frozen things where possible.
Those that are whining and complaining about cooler color, cooler capacity, cooler ice volume, shade, sun, thermometer used, blah blah blah .... do your own test, and post your video on youtube so we can all pick apart your "imperfect" methods. Please do it. Good grief..... Anyway .... i own the Igloo BMX i think its called. It's that grey one with the blue rubber tie downs. It works perfect for my needs. I was surprised it lasted only 5 days in your test. Thanks for the effort. Looking forward to a future test.
Ya eventually I decided there were too many variables to try and control in one test so I just went about it how I thought made sense for how I really use coolers. And regardless of the comparison it gives a decent picture of how each individual cooler performs on its own.
Totally impressed with the level of cost and effort this guy put into this test. Amazing. Just the editing alone is very much appreciated. Thanks!
Thanks so much for that! It was a lot of work but glad to do it.
The best chest is the one with beer.
🍻
Real funny tuff guy
Not if it’s warm beer 😂
@@ATLJonathan Warm beer is better than no beer.
@@josephconsuegra6420 let’s see a video of you drinking a 12 pack of warm beer then bet you won’t do it.
I have 2 Rtic coolers, a 65 and 45. The 65 I’ve had for just over 3 years and it has been outside the entire time. In the height of summer, I get a good 7 days to keep drinks cold. Very happy with it. It is the perfect way to get more room in the fridge.
Thanks for the info! That's awesome.
I've owned my 55QT Orion Cooler for 3 years now and I couldn't be happier. It does struggle a little in super hot conditions, I tested in triple digits and the ice lasted 5 days in the heat but overall it's bulletproof. Definitely recommend Orion! Great job on the video!
Thanks for sharing!
Bought the Coleman Marine Xtreme for a trip to Florida ~4 years ago. It has been a fantastic cooler for ~$50 bucks. Holds ice for days in the summer heat
Thanks!
You're most welcome. And thank you very much for your support!
A good idea for comparison videos like this is a price to performance chart. Its nice to see which competitors are overcharging and underperforming
I love this. Will definitely incorporate that into the next one.
I agree as price. Be nice to see which cost's more.
@@lendowe4948 For now you can see pricing info on the written review on our website. outdoorempire.com/best-coolers-ice-retention/
Thanks for this comparison. I have a couple of Lifetime coolers that I bought at wally world about 5 years ago for 99 each. For a hundred bucks I've never been disappointed. All the meats go in completely frozen and we've still had semi frozen meat after a week of high 80's. One thing I found that helps id pack the meat as you plan to eat it - first day on top last day on bottom. We use the second one for drinks, condiments, etc. Flapping the lid constant we only get about 3-4 days out of it before doing an Ice run but I usually need more beer and bait by then anyway!
Great tips! I just did the same thing at a family reunion. One cooler for food and meat we only opened once a day or so at dinner time and one cooler for drinks that was flopping open all day long. The first one never needed more ice but the latter did.
I was thinking about buying a couple lifetimes after watching this. Didn't know they existed until I started doing some research!
The cost to buy all these coolers, least we can do is like and subscribe
Appreciate it, thank you!
You can return them...
Happy to see the Coleman Extreme Marine so high up on the list. I have a couple of them that I use when I go boat camping. One for food, one for beer.
Ya, it's great. Too bad it's discontinued now.
Until I saw your ice challenge I was torn between buying the Coho 55 and the Lifetime 55, which were at a similar price point. In your video, I was impressed with how the blow molded Lifetime kept up with the some of the top rotomolded coolers such as Yeti and RTIC, while outperforming the Coho 55. Needless to say I chose the Lifetime. Thanks!
Good choice! And I'm glad it was helpful. I definitely like the price of both of those too, but that Lifetime does have an edge on the Coho, I do believe.
the Coho is the only one that fits under my Tonneau cover. The Lifetime, Orion, RTIC, etc. all exceed the 16.00 inch maximum of my Ridgeline. The Yeti Tundra 45 will also fit, but at twice the price….
I have bought a 55qt lifetime 4 years ago and still use this damn thing everyday at work…it’s a great ice chest and stronger than shit, sitting in the bed of my pickup rain or shine
I bought the COHO from Costco, ($110) at close to 1/2 the price of the lifetime, I could not justify the addition price for 1 additional day of keeping the ice cold. Now I do realize that you get an additional 10 qts of storage, so that's good, but for $220 you could buy two Coho's and have 110 qts, and each would be easier to carry, but you would need the additional space for them.
I'm going to try using frozen water bottles and also igloo ice blocks instead of ice to see if I get an extended time beyond 6 days.
As a rule, I don't go anywhere that I need cooled that long before I can buy ice to top up, so I guess you can get crazy with these longer time frames.
Also, if one opens the lid 5 times a day, compared with keeping the lid closed, what does this do to the cool longevity?
@@raywalker4656 are lifetimes +$200??? I paid $125 for mine on sale at Wally World
Love my Canyon cooler. The fact that its an even shaped cooler with no weird angles or handles makes it easy to pack or store is a +. Their amazing warranty was the defining factor for me.
I totally agree. I love how compact it is, much easier to pack in the car or truck than most others. And ya can't beat a lifetime warranty.
For me it’s the RTIC 65. It keeps ice for 7 days and of all the rotomolded coolers this is the cheapest at $197. Plus it comes in the tan color which matches my ATV.
The RTIC is a great buy for sure!
I have the lifetime 65. Sams club for $170. Also a great buy.
I have a Polaris Northstar 105qt cooler that I used for the past weekend in South Texas for a softball tournament. Filled it Saturday at around 5am and today it still has ice. It was opened all weekend long over and over all weekend. THAT is an impressive cooler!!!!
That does sound impressive! Big coolers like that definitely last longer when full of ice and other stuff.
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Thanks for doing this. That was alot of money just to help others see what is the best. Probably go with Rtic for price, if I can't find a deal on a Cabella's. Bass Pro outlet had some with scatches and dents priced worth buying. If I spent $400 on something to keep stuff cold it better have a way to cool itself.
It would be good if you would compare the setpower X50 at about $499 and how this compares.
Truck driver in the oilfield here in Texas. Cooler stays in the passenger seat, so the spout to empty it be nice in the right side (opening from the front).
Had a smaller bmx cooler that would hold ice for a day, maybe two, but always had to take it out of the truck to empty. Also found with this heat, it is starting to separate from the insulation. So time for a new cooler. Most of the other drivers run the academy (Magellan), ice lasts quite a while, and the bigger ones can be open from either side. They are expensive though. Be cool to see it tested.
After this, may just go with Orca though. The Igloo bmx did its job for years, from ranch hand, vacations/outings, surveying, to hot factories. Had bought it when they first started to come out. Was out performing some more expensive coolers. Unfortunately, don't like the seperation it is having (never dropped it).
Sounds like it's been a good run with that BMX!
I paid 39 bucks for my Coleman Extreme, and 65 bucks for my 55 quart Lifetime cooler, both on sale at the end of the year a few years back (Lifetime is 129 today), and they both keep ice for a week when only opened once a day. The Coleman was the best deal ever.
The Colemans definitely seem to be solid at ice retention and you can't really beat the price!
Glad to see my Igloo 52 BMX did well. I got that cooler because it fits perfectly in the bed of my Honda Ridgeline with the tonneau cover on it. For $100, 6 days of ice ain't bad.
Indeed, great buy when you find it on sale.
Great video, only critique would be I would have loved to have seen a chart at the end with all the points and the price of each cooler.
Great feedback, thank you! I will keep that in mind for next time.
Price of coolers have went up dramatically. But they better than the 50$ cooler you use to get
Got let go from a management position at a supply house about 8 years ago. Snagged some orca coolers on my way out. Best coolers ive ever owned
Those are great, for sure!
One thing that I have found with my Yeti 48 is that if I follow the manufacturers suggested instructions on best practices, I have zero water inside for 4-5 days. Precool and use their ice packs in conjunction with regular ice. They also say that dry ice can be used in their hard coolers as well.
Nice! I like the combination approach to the ice. Sounds like you've got it dialed in.
KONG! I personally dont need ice that long and its great to see the results.GJ.For me since they are so close with the ice,get one you can afford -prechill it - use ice pks.They do help.Kong has nice latches -no rope swinging handles - and made in the USA.Sorry i love my cooler.Igloo is a thing in my past.
Story idea: Does an ice maker, used in combination with an efficient cooler, use less electricity than an equal size 12v refrigerator? 12v refrigerators very costly and require expensive power systems to support the continuous draw. It's possible that a cooler ice maker combo may be more efficient by cost comparison. As well as having ice on hand for drinks is a bonus. It would be an interesting experiment. Keep up the good work. Cheers!
This is very close to an idea I have been mulling over for a video, with the twist of the ice maker. I love it! Thanks for sharing.
I used a Coleman the other day and was very disappointed to say the last lol. It was advertised as a 3 day ice retention. I filled it at 7am and by 11 it was all water. I do live in AZ and it was about 118. Now I'll try one of these to 3. Thank you for your test.
You bet! And at 118 degrees in the Arizona heat, any cooler will struggle. But as long as you cool it down in the house the night before, add ice and cold food in it, one of these top coolers should do much better.
The ROVR 60q is the best cooler I’ve ever owned for holding temp in high heat. Works amazing for resting pork shoulders over night.
That's very interesting. I haven't done a heat holding test, but I like that idea. Thanks for commenting!
I have the 65qrt liftime chest. Took it out to the beach few years back. Scorching heat! No shade. Was sitting in direct sunlight & in hot sand. Opening & closing all day.
Last 24hrs. It had no ice the next day but my drinks were still cool to drink.
Pretty impressive! If i had it in shade & up off the sand, im sure it would've gone for atleast another half day/12hrs.
Sounds pretty good to me! Those hot beach days in full sun are hard on a cooler, so that's awesome.
I have a cabelas and store beer in it all week every week. No space in fridge. I fill with ice and frozen Gatorade bottles. Love this cooler. It stays outside year long. Had to replace rubber tie downs
Well that's a testimonial right there! 👍
I hope you can do a test where they are all in the sunlight all day.
When you're out on a boat with little to no shade or you're out in the field where there is no shade, it can have a huge impact on a coolers performance.
Especialy on a blacktop.
That would be interesting, I'll see what I can do.
There is plenty of shade on the boat. Just put the ice chest in one of the bedrooms or the kitchen.
Did you ever do this ?
@@Oxibase Not on a work barge...
Not on a road construction crew...
Not when you are in Florida when it got hot enough in 2023 to melt the souls of my boots.
@@bigrollin Plenty of jobs in Florida where there is NO shade and it gets hot enough to cook on the sidwalk and start melting tread on your boots.
I have Orca coolers and I love them. Glad to see they held up till the final 4.
Top dogs for sure!
My son worked on the Lifetime cooler line here in the USA. They pay well with great benefits. Because they are much cheaper than Yeti, and are local to me, I picked one up. Great cooler.
Great review. A lot of work, but great results.
Wow that's awesome to hear about Lifetime. Thanks for sharing!
Made in the USA is all I needed to hear.
There's even more details about the best coolers for ice retention on our website at outdoorempire.com/best-coolers-ice-retention/ !
I have a yeti tundra and it retains ice and cold temps pretty good. Went camping 2 weeks ago and still had nice cold drinks in it when I emptied it out. I really think it depends on where they are as in sun/shade. I was a good mix of both. And it’s basically gonna come down to what someone likes. I’m not saying yeti is the best or any other brand is the best. Get what you like and run with it. Great comparison.
You're right on about that. At the end of the day most all of these are decent and it comes down to personal preference.
👀📝 Im learning so much about coolers. Thanks for taking the time to review so many!
You are so welcome! Glad it's helpful.
i built my own cooler for burning man. i used 2 layers of 2 inch R-tech foam board from home depot cut and glued them.
Then i coated the homemade cooler with flex seal and installed a homemade drain. my homemade cooler was twice the size of the coolers you have, and i would use five 5 pound blocks of block ice and last over 8 days. Price was a lot cheaper than the store bought ones
Sounds awesome! I love that idea very much.
That 48qt Coleman holds ice and food and drinks for me for about 48 hours. Looking forward to my Rtic Ultral light 52 that I just bought, which is why I watched this video. Seems like I made a sound purchase. Thanks!
Good stuff!
I have the Coleman and Igloo that were eliminated early, but I also have an Rtic 65. It works well, but it is heavy and wide, which makes it difficult to carry when loaded.
Yeah, the RTIC is heavy. And that's not to say the Coleman and Igloo are bad. They suit a lot, if not most, needs. Just depends on what you want.
Great video.
I just bought an Igloo BMX. I will use it for 1 or 2 day on beach. Seems it will be all right with the igloo
The Igloo BMX is perfect for that. Nice choice!
I just assumed YETI would outperform everyone. When they 1st came out they were far and above the best coolers.
Thankfully their performance got their competition to start improving their coolers.
For sure! They're still probably the market leader because they're so big, but the competition is fierce now and there are so many cooler companies working to outperform the others in one way or another.
They were always overrated
@@whatscreenname Mine sat in the 105 degree sun for a whole 3 day weekend and kept everything cold.
@@mattcolver1 did it still have ice?
They were marketed as "the best" but actually were always overpriced. Yeti's $50 plastic bucket was peak.
Thank you for doing this. Buying cooler is an investment factor in buying ICE 🧊 AND Time to pump stations. While on weekend trips 😊.
Well said! Longer ice retention will indeed save money on ice and gas in the long run. Thanks for watching!
I would really like to see this same test done on wheeled coolers. Us older folks need wheels to lighten the loads we carry. That Orion 65 weighs 36 pounds empty. When loaded it would be too heavy for me to carry.
Indeed, I love a good wheeled cooler too. While I didn't call them out specifically, there are several wheeled coolers in this video. I also did another video specifically about the Best Coolers with Wheels. And I'm working on a round 2 ice challenge with more wheeled options.
@@theoutdoorempire I was at Cabela's today looking at coolers because they did so well in your tests. Their coolers have two holes near the bottom and a sticker saying they are for the optional dolly. The dolly picture looked interesting but the sales person could not find any information on it.
@@rksando1 Ya I remember seeing that too. I think I figured out last year that they actually quit making the dolly. Too bad, but I think there are some third party wheel solutions on Amazon.
For normal camping trips i prefer my 110 wheeled igloo.
Once its loaded up with food drinks and ice its already heavy as it is and this cooler by itself is the weight of a small rotomold. It last 5 days easy opening it many times a day so its good enough for average people.
Right on! True that I think a simple cooler suits the needs of most. But the people researching coolers and watching videos like this one probably geek out on gear a bit more than many. 🤓
Feel pretty good about that Orca i just bought on a whim cause I heard they were good compared to Yeti. Plus I've always had an aversion to a lot of fellas with Yeti coolers and didn't want to be seen as on of those Yeti sticker guys 😂. Also the fact that I love an underdog.
Haha, I hear you there! The Orca is a solid cooler for sure.
Orca are also made in the US. Yeti are made in China
I bought the otter box venture 65 years ago based on the channel coolers on sale. I got it for 100 bucks in ebay and am glad to see it’s still the best out there.
Yep, it was a great cooler and that's a great channel!
Lost my old timer Coleman that wat awesome for bwca trips😔 Nice to see your numbers on the blog. I have "borrowed" the Lifetime for an entire year of sub freezing to 100° off the grid use for 3, and it was good. Camping, the latches delt with raccoons fine. May buy one now for the odd camping trip seeing how they stack up.
Great experience!
Thanks - man some surprising results indeed!
Awesome video!! In extreme 110’ + heat here in so cal I’ve found the roto molded coolers suffer and eventually warp and lose the sealing power, the pelican elite/ otterbox venture injected molds have held up a tad bit better but just goes to show you every cooler has its purpose!
Great observation! I've heard that more and more lately about the warping. Thanks for watching!
Otterbox in my opinion is the best all around cooler.
Have a venture 65 in my truck bed 3 years or so in SoCal it’s perfectly fine. Light blue on the handles are a bit faded. I had a pelican in truck bed and eventually the top did get a bit of a bulge but did keep working. Latches eventually go damaged. OtterBox latches best there are. Don’t make them anymore though.
I’d keep it in the shade
Bought a Cabela unit in 2018, for a trip up the Alaska highway. We broke down, and it was 5 days of 30+C temps before we got it back. My rum was still cold. It has done a lot of camping since then.
As long as the rum is cold! 🍻
This video is legit, thanks for sharing. Very thorough and creative. Cabela’s FTW 👏🏽👏🏽
😎
Have you ever tested Thermik? We had one before we went to a portable fridge and absolutely loved it
No I have not, thanks for sharing. Yet another brand to add to my wish list!
Love my Orion, it's preformed flawlessly. I have had it since they were very first manufactured. Fun fact the parent company produces whitewater kayaks, of which I had matching cooler and kayak
Amen.
Fun fact it’s made by Jackson kayak which is one of the best kayaks. Their products facility is about 30 min from me in Sparta tn
For just over $100, the lifetime coolers do a great job! But they are heavy as a truck! My favorite budget cooler is the ozark trail with the automatic light that doubles as a detachable flashlight. Its $100 and keeps ice just as good as a yeti! And it doesnt weigh a meteic ton. Has a multple tie down points and a bottle opener! By far my favorite cooler to throw in the SXS
Nice! Sound like solid options.
My lifetime cooler goes through a bag of ice every day. Am I the only person that opens a cooler more than once a day? I need more than one bottle of water to last all day in the heat!
@@masonjohns208 is it the roto molded lifetime cooler? Or an injection molded ?
The lifetime is roto same with the Ozark trail
Great video! It would be interesting to see this same test done in a climate controlled environment. Eliminating any variables such as how much direct sunlight each cooler gets. Cooler colour could also be a factor as they would absorb solar radiation differently.
Ya I'm curious about that as well. Got some tests in mind.
I have several Orion coolers, I go hunting quite a bit, and I have kept ice for well over 10 days, enough to keep all my food/drinks safe for the entirety of my hunt. They are pricey, but you have to pay to play.
Nice endorsement. Thanks for sharing!
This was really well done. it was as real world and quantitative as one would expect. I do like the different sizes and what it showed as well. I think a ""bang for the buck" comment from you would be great.. I mean (example only) a $40 cooler that goes 6 days beats a $350 cooler that goes 7 at least in my book I bet your spreadsheet makes this very obvious. ... Don't take this as a criticism, just a thought .. What you did was a lot of work in set up, analysis and tear down and I assume cost... i was impressed. Thank you.
I really appreciate your remarks, thanks for sharing! Yes, I neglected cost in this one and will definitely take that to heart for future videos. I do cover that better on our website if you check out the article in the link in the description. Cheers!
Interesting well made video. I bought a larger Coleman 316 series cooler with wheels on clearance for $18. Pretty nice cooler especially with the wheels and seems to keep ice for quite a while. I guess I don’t understand paying big bucks for a cooler. This Coleman cooler will keep ice for 4-6 day depending on the temperature when I’m hunting out in Wyoming. Im
Sure it’s not as durable but it still more than fits my needs. I’m not sure if many really need a cooler to keep ice for 7+ days but I’m sure there are a few.
I think you're right all around and what a great buy you got on that Coleman! There are probably really only 2-3 times a year I really need to use a cooler for a week straight and I'm sure I'm pretty average. Last week I had the Orion out on a family reunion and it held its ice all week again. It's nice not to have to add ice midweek, but you could buy a lot of ice for the cost of one of these fancy coolers.
I appreciate the effort. I found this channel looking for a wheeled 150-160qt cooler.
That's great and thanks for watching! I haven't tested any really big coolers like that yet, but I like the idea.
Bless you for your dedication to finding the best cooler out there. You've made my decision so much easier. Thank you!
Well thank you for watching, much obliged!
I know your intent was to conduct this test in "Real World" conditions but your also need to ensure each cooler has equal exposure to direct sunlight instead of some in the sunlight and others in the shade. Heating up the outside in direct sunlight has profound effect on ice retention.
Indeed, I did pay very close attention to that. It's not all shown in the video, but each cooler had about 95% shade throughout the day with the remainder as filtered sunlight at some point in the day. They sat under trees right next to each other with a fence and house to the south, a fence to the west, and a house to the east. About as even as one can find without going indoors.
It was about as fair as one can expect. I have the Lifetime as I didn’t want to drive to another city to get the yeti so I got TGIF one. Says American made
@@theoutdoorempire The test does favor the ones that get shade in the later part of the day when the ground s hot and so is the air. So the result will vary, the only way to truly test it would be to run the test multiple times with positional changes on each run, and average the results. Also length of time the lid is opened will effect them, and time of day opened will change the results. So again a average of multiple tests is needed.
It still good information, but if outside you should run it multiple times with the shift in location for runs. Yes, I know it sucks to spend a month to et data for a 30 minute video. Also a more spread sheet approach make s comparing the data you collected easier to see, and please add the price point at testing.
I think most of us like the idea of best for long term, best length for the price, those of us on budget really like that one. If I only need ice for 4 days, and this one will do it for 35 dollars, its a good buy. If this one also will make my 4 days but costs 400+dollars why buy it?
Its not a perfect test. Better would be to have them all in a line perpendicular to the suns path but who has that kinda space with nothing to block the light. Also could do an indoor test or under patio shaded test but either way this only confirms other tests. Like we knew the cabelas would do well already and or ive seen a lot showing its effectiveness and personally tested. Its very good but ofc the best the the yeti v series and qoolbox. Im not sure which of those the king of the coolers 😂😮
Isn't it interesting the cooler that won, is also the cooler he conveniently has a coupon code for???
Very informative BUT, are you able to do a review comparing cheaper cooler with dry ice vs the winners in this video for weekend camping? Trying to decide whether to upgrade or not. Thank you.
That's a good idea, maybe I'll give that a go this summer.
@ I shall await for it.
Good video I think the tiebreaker could’ve been broken by price could’ve given some points and broke in the tiebreaker like that. Also, I think leaking cooler should’ve been disqualified. I feel like the reason there was ice in the cooler that long was due to the fact that it was unable to retain the water.
Thanks for the feedback! The Cabela's is $35 less than the Orion but besides ice retention there's a bunch of other stuff I like better about the Orion so it's my preferred. I just published another video about the best rotomolded coolers you could check out that goes into all that. As far as leakers go, OtterBox just discontinued hard coolers so they're out of the running anyway. The Cabela's, Engel, and an Igloo were also leaking a bit for the first day but that was user error, not a defect.
I know it would’ve been a pain to do this, but I wonder if your yetis would have performed better if you had prechilled them with ice.
I have a yeti roadie 60. It has fantastic construction and the wheels and handle are awesome. I prechill it the day before, have some frozen food at the bottom, refrigerator food on top, frozen water bottles interspersed, and a layer of ice on top. In this way, we find that our refrigerator food ends up freezing. It’s become predictable, so we don’t put anything in the yeti that we don’t want to end up partially frozen. I use a Coleman extreme as well. Prechilling does nothing for it, and it doesn’t perform as well, though I don’t use it the same way I use the yeti. Anyhow, that’s my anecdote! Pretty cool! :)
And a great anecdote it is! I like your system for the yeti, I can see how that would buy you more days of ice with any cooler. For this test I could have pre-chilled but I figure that would have had a similar effect on all the coolers so I just chalked up the first day of the actual test as a chill day. 😂 Logistically it becomes pretty challenging to orchestrate things like that with this many coolers!
The Otterbox coolers are awesome. When they came out they were beating everything in similar tests. Their latches are awesome. Where some of the hard rubber pulls are difficult for some people. The Otterbox latches were tight and easy to use. I thought they stopped making them. I know you can't get them all. But a USA made Lifetime cooler would have cool to see. The one I have does really well in the Texas heat.
Ya the Otterbox is a solid unit. Too bad they seemed to have just disappeared. There is a USA made Lifetime in the video though! It went for 7 days, same as YETI.
@@theoutdoorempire sorry I 100% missed the Lifetime. I will watch it again thanks.
Thanks. I was looking at getting a Cabela's, like my parents, but I did take away that volume is important. So I'll be looking for a big one.
Volume helps no matter the brand but the Cabela's is pretty darn good for ice.
@@theoutdoorempire That's good, I picked up an 80 qt Cabela's ice chest today.
Thank you so much for doing this!! I've been looking at the Lifetime 77 QT due to camping in bear country & I'm so surprised how the 55 held up with the "big name brands" like Yeti, Orca, and Pelcan! Plus for the fact you said it was almost 100, I live in Eastern WA where we also experience 100+ heat in the summer.
Glad it was helpful! I'm in Idaho so not too far from you and similar weather. Thanks for watching.
Love my Lifetime 55. Use it all the time for camping. Had it side by side with my buddy's yeti and at the end of the trip, it still had more ice inside. I'm happy I paid less for better performance.
We may be biased, but we recommend any Lifetime Cooler. 😉
I can't imagine why. 😉😂
Thank you so much for this test! We’re planning a road trip next summer and I had a yeti on my want list but I see the Coleman Marine would be fine for our needs. You just saved me a ton of money 😅
That's great news, glad to help you save some money! The Coleman Xtreme series has now been replaced by the Coleman 316 series which has done just about as well in my more recent test. You can find a newer video about it.
Another one to add would be the "Maluna" cooler.
👍
Yup Maluna rocks. Have the 22 and 50
I have a dark blue cooler it gets smokin hot in the sun so I would factor in the color when purchasing your favorite brand
Ya I'm inclined to believe white is best as well. I've seen some other YT videos about that and I think it's less of a factor than one might think, but still plays a part. And if you wanna have a seat on the cooler, it definitely factors in! 🔥
Great fun ! Only brands missing were KONG and TITAN. Larger coolers are always going to out perform smaller ones 'cause of more ice. Not fair to compare small, medium and large in the same test.
There are definitely more brands I'd like to test next time, and if I could get the same size in all of them it'd certainly be a closer comparison.
Wow -- thanks so much for your reply ! Please keep the videos coming.
@@JamesGreenbaum Will do my darndest!
I've got a 25, 50, and 75 from Kong. Their shelf/cutting boards + being made in the US did it for me.
@@skiptrace4034 Nice! Were the cutting boards included or is that an add-on accessory?
WOW!!! THANKS FOR THIS VERY HELPFUL PRODUCT REVIEW/COMPARISON!!!
Glad you liked it!
That Orion or Cabelas is on my wish list, now!
They're good ones for sure.
Look at Maluna too
I’ve got to give the win to the Cabelas. It got off to a bad start with the leak but still lasted as long as the Orion.
Indeed, it's impressive on ice.
Quite an expensive test!! Nice work. My shed is starting to look like that and I haven’t run any tests. Lol
Ya it wasn't cheap, but at least I'm prepared for a major power outage I guess, haha!
@@theoutdoorempire No doubt! I find myself going for the blue and white marine igloo and the 150 quart marine igloo more often than not due to weight. The 270 gets used offshore. Carrying the damned Rotos around is a chore.
I'll be honest with the group: I had a rotomolded cooler, an Igloo from the early aughts, and an ice mule classic. The two that saw the most use: the Ice Mule classic and the Plain Jane Igloo. Ended up giving the rotomolded one to a friend.
Appreciate your honesty and I totally get it! Fact is there are some downsides to those big heavy rotomolded coolers.
Love the video. However, you said you added the extra ice to the larger coolers so they were full. That probably played a factor in the ice retention/amount of ice present in the results.
Indeed. I knew I was dealing with apples and oranges with different sizes, but my intention was also to try and quantify how big of a difference size makes in ice retention. For example, the Cordova 48 qt cooler went for 6 days, about a day shorter than most of the ~60 quart rotomolded coolers. Adding more ice to the larger ones was an effort to fill every cooler with ice roughly the same proportionally (about 80% full regardless of size). Not perfect, but made sense to me at the time.
Thank you for your video from Greece….
TECHNI ICE Signature Series
is The BEST cooler!!!! ❄️❄️❄️
I got none and I'm gonna test it soon. Cheers from the USA!
Great test. I think it would be cool if there was a way to factor in price, maybe a cost per day calculation to see if the extra money is worth it. Also a bonus point for Made in the USA would have been nice, although I think most are made here.
Ya those are both interesting factors, but for this ice retention test I only wanted to look at that, ice retention. I'm working on another video where I take I to account things like price and where made so keep an eye out for that.
@@theoutdoorempire Excited to see it, but I know I'm not the only one who wanted to know which one was the best retention at a "reasonable" price point. I was hoping to see that after spending 20 minutes on this video.
@@zachsowersfilmandphoto6659 I hear ya. I'll keep that in mind for future videos. Thanks for the feedback!
To me it’s how long the cooler holds up to the test of time warranty and parts availability.
Spending $500 on a cooler is not practical for a lot of people but if it lasts and performs well for 20 -30 years it’s worth it. Most people 2-3 days and $150 is fine.
Hahaha. About 10% of those coolers are made in the USA.
Thank you so very much that challenge really helped me make my decision 👍
Glad I could help
I want to see those coolers tested in the heat
I suppose it's all relative, but temps were in the 90s to low 100s when I did that test. It does cool off to the 60s or so at night here in Idaho though.
Some were in the shade sun so that effects it ..need to do this in garage controlled environment
They all had a similar amount of sun at different times. But more importantly, I wanted the test to reflect how I actually use a cooler when camping or out and about. In a garage wouldn't reflect reality.
I was reading A LOT of reviews about the Lifetime having a problem with warping lids. It was reviews on their own website. I almost bought it then I saw that. Now I'm back to the cabela's. What was the problem with leaking and how did you resolve it?
Interesting, I didn't know that about the Lifetime but I haven't had it that long yet. I actually read some reviews claiming the same warping issue on the Cabela's but that hasn't been my experience either. The leaking on that one was because I didn't have the drain plug fully tightened. Mostly user error but you do have to crank it pretty good to get a complete seal.
I plan on doing another video review covering more than just ice retention so keep an eye out for that!
@@theoutdoorempire Thanks so much for your reply. I think I'm going to end up with a cheaper one with the insulated lid. I can't throw out that kind of money for something that will warp. I also saw some pictures of the straps on the Cabela's not holding up (and warping) but the customer service there seems to be pretty good.
@@aleb5195 Ya I hear ya, they aren't cheap. Honestly for the money, that Coleman Xtreme Marine is amazing, at least for ice retention. It was right up there with the YETI and others. It's not bear resistant or nearly as rugged, but it's pretty decent. If you can't find the Marine version the Coleman Xtreme is a great, relatively inexpensive cooler as well.
I bought lifetime before the 2020 madness the 77 qt was like 90$ I have the 77 and the small one. I had the 77 in my pickup bed full sun and abuse/use of a 4 person construction crew for a year then another year full summer in my truck it’s been fine no issues and hold cold extremely well. It took me a while to get used to a cooler actually staying cold having been in full sun at 90+ degrees for days. Idk about now. But they have been great for me
I think the warping was from the older versions with a gasket seal on the cooler itself and not the lid. I have the "newer" version with lid gasket and upgraded lid and its great. I paid $129 (Cdn dollars) pre COVID at Walmart. I have had no warping of lid, easily 7 day ice retention and you simply cannot beat the price. Given what you need the cooler for another more expensive option may be the best for you (if you need an extra day or two ice retention), but for my needs you can't beat the price and performance of the LIFETIME!
I have a Rugged Road 65 cooler that weighs 13 pounds. Very good quality and durability. Not sure how well it would have done on ice test but for me quality and weight are very important.
I've heard good things about Rugged Road. Hope to try one out one day.
Love to see Oyster performance cooler!
I just discovered this cooler myself and I'll try and get a hold of one. Seems they are in short supply but we'll see.
Which one should I buy, Plano Frost 32QT or Stanley 30 qt, Stanley is 1kg heavier.
Daggum, those are two I haven't used yet. Sorry man, I don't have an answer for you yet.
good to know that if you keep your cooler under shade ie the tree those last ones are under they stay colder longer 😆
Shade always helps but the winners got no more of it than any others. Every cooler got the same amount of sunlight each day and it wasn't much. Remember, these were out there for 10 days and this video was only 20 minutes long. And the Earth rotates so the sunlight moves. 😉
I have the cabelas and the lifetime. I finally made some good decisions in my life. 😂
🤣🤣 As you can see I just made a lot of bad decisions before I figured out which ones were good.
This is the best dad video of all time!!
“day1 What’s dad doing?”” testing 40 coolers!” Day 10 What’s dad doing ?” Testing coolers!”
Haha! 😂 Isn't that the truth. Lucky for me at least one of my kids got into it and was out there every morning taking measurements with me lol.
After watching this i looked up Orion coolers and found out they are made my Jackson Kayaks, who are located in Sparta TN, about 20 minutes from me in Cookeville, TN. Neat lol.
Ya it's a cool company and still privately run by some of the founders and family as far as I understand. Great outfit, you should swing by and see if they have a local shop you can check out.
This guy bought $50,000 worth of coolers for our benefit. Thanks!
Edit: Did I hear float the Boise river? Awesome you're an Idahoan! I'm out in Caldwell :)
Ya buddy! I grew up in Caldwell but live in Boise now.
@@theoutdoorempire Right on! Also, I picked up a 77 qt Lifetime cooler because of your test! Works perfect for my 2-3 days boondocking (I actually still have 3 blocks of ice after multiple weekends of camping). Thanks for putting in the work for this test!
@@_Spacecraft That's awesome!
You should do this test again with the top 5 or 10 coolers, (all the same size) but get them all in (white) instead of colored coolers. Then see who comes out on top.
That would be interesting, though I've seen some other tests like that which suggest color has relatively little impact if the insulation is good. Perhaps hours of difference but not really days. But I'm not opposed if I can swing it!
Appreciate You sharing your research very much! ✌🏼☀️
My pleasure! Thanks for stopping by.
Should have bought a KONG and saved doing all this.🤣
Can't stop, won't stop. 🤣
Great! Thank you!
You are welcome!
I feel like the Otterbox coolers have never gotten their proper due. Incredible products.
Ya they're pretty solid. Unfortunately it seems unclear if OtterBox will keep making them or not.
That ice would've been gone 2 days faster if it wasn't leaking. If that ice was in water like the rest it would be gone
I have an Otterbox Venture 25 and I love it. Just got back from Teton NP where I only had to fill it with ice twice over 7 days
I don’t think the otter box would have held I’ve as long if it didn’t leak. Not saying it’s a bad cooler it just wasn’t a fair test because of the leak.
I own an otterbox 45qt, it is a beast, beat all my buddies coolers over the long weekend camping. But like you said, it's super annoying because it's almost like they don't want part of the cooler market anymore
should have tested the brand blue. I have one and it is great! other videos I've watched it's done very well!
Good choice! I'm working on getting a Blue.
What would be the best bang-for-the-buck (value) out of all of them?
Probably that Coleman Xtreme Marine. You gotta get the Marine one (white) though. It's pretty darn cheap and held ice as long as YETI and other big brands. But if you want a bear proof cooler that's pretty cheap, probably that Xspec.
Nice video. I've been needing to replace a 30+ year old Coleman marine cooler due to the lid warping over the years, and after watching your video grabbed the same Lifetime cooler in your test on sale today during Amazon prime day. Got a nice discount compared to the price at other places.
Sweet! Glad to hear it and that's great there was an Amazon Prime Day deal on it!
@@theoutdoorempire Yeah, it was a nice discount. I was looking at getting another Marine cooler, but the price difference was small enough that it didn't make sense not to get a better cooler.
Not sure what those old Igloo coolers did differently - maybe the type of foam they used for insulation, a closed cell vs open cell kind of thing - but compared to other coolers of their vintage, at least in the boating world (this is long before Yeti existed) they were THE brand. They were always expensive, but worth every penny.
I still have my Dad's old 162 quart Igloo Marine Ultra, and it's over 20 years old. Lived outside for almost all of it, year round and in the sun, and even though the latches broke a decade ago, the side is cracked, wide open the lid is caving in a little bit, it still keeps ice no problem (though it's about time to replace it, which is what brought me to this video)
The Coleman Marine vs the high performance difference could be as simple as the color and type of the plastic. Marine coolers are typically white / light grey because it doesn't absorb as much heat in the sun, and I'm sure the good marine plastics have some extra anti-UV coating mixed in as they almost NEVER seem to cloud, yellow or even really fade with age - minimally nothing a quick scrubbing with some soap won't clean right up. And when you consider the different styles of boat they could be used on - bow riders, center consoles, bigger boats like a sport fish, trawlers, house boats, etc. and especially sailboats (where deck space is truly at a premium) you don't always have shade - they need to be able to stand up to the sun, potentially 24/7/365
All great points and keen insight! Thanks for sharing.