Coolers

[Jeff350]

I had looked in to getting a high end cooler this summer. Never could justify one for my use, but Sams club has the Igloo Sportsman 20 and 55 qt roto molded coolers. The one in Aurora had some a month or so ago. The 55qt is $200, which is significantly less than a pelican or yeti of the same size.

They felt decently built. Not as well built as the pelican I handled though. When I was standing in Sams club trying to decide if I was going to buy it, I was honestly thinking to myself that for $200 I wanted better quality.

FYI walmart was carrying 65qt pelicans earlier this year. I've seen forum posts where they weren't moving so Walmart marked them down to less than $200.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

I'll buy a big grizzly next year.

[sniper7]

Good choice!

[kfr]

I picked up the large pelican at sportsmans. It held up well on a week long camping trip. Lifetime warranty vs 5 year warranty on the competition. If you go the pelican route, costco.com has them for a bit cheaper. $280 at costco.com. The 65 qt cooler weighs 50 lbs.

[ben4372]

For the price, I've been pleased with the coleman extreme 5-day coolers. Keep them out of direct sun and ice will last days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqlE585PmxM Coleman beats Igloo

Yep. I got back from camping left it in the trailer for another 3 days. Still cold, still had a bit of solid ice, 8 days of cold. Under 50 bucks 5 years ago. Good coolers.

[Hummer]

Thread bump because Field and Stream published a pretty decent review of 12 high end coolers: Ice-Chest Throwdown: 12 Top-End Coolers Ranked and Reviewed

Last fall the weather stayed warm for the second rifle elk season and I knew my frozen foods wouldn't keep for ten days, so I popped for the Igloo Sportsman 55 rotomolded cooler. Sam's Club sells the Sportsman 55 for $200, a bargain in the lineup of high end coolers. Field and Stream rated it as the best value, and ranked it 4th in overall performance just behind the Yeti 50. I'm not surprised given my experience with it.

Most of my hunting meals were hearty soups and stews made at home, vacuum packed in food saver bags and frozen. I could have cooked them sous vide (in a pot of boiling water on the stove), but it's faster and easier to empty the package to heat in a sauce pan. I took two coolers: the Sportsman 55 held only frozen foods, the old Coleman was for cold foods likes veggies, eggs, juice, and for partial thawing of the frozen items a day or two in advance. Both were pre-cooled with gallon jugs of ice. The Coleman went with 2 gallon jugs of ice and ~3 lbs of dry ice, the Sportsman was filled full with the frozen food, a gallon jug of ice and ~5 lbs of dry ice. The dry ice transferred it's cold and evaporated after a day in the field, but the all the leftover food remained frozen for 10 sunny, warm days. On day ten it was more like "iced", slightly soft, not hard frozen.

The coolers were stacked as in the photo, on the partly shaded side of the camp trailer, and covered with a tarp. From experience, there's no way the old Coleman would have kept things frozen beyond 3-4 days in those warm conditions, even starting with 5-8 lbs. of dry ice. Two hundred bucks seems like a lot of $$$ for a cooler, but I'm really impressed with how it performed. These super insulated coolers are great for camping in warm weather where you can't easily get ice or dry ice.

We're planning to take it to Moab in a week or two....

[Jefe's AR]

Perused the thread and didn't see it yet. So...

For the money you spend on one of these "high end" coolers that seem to work about as well as any cooler made in the last 70 years or so.

Just pony up for an ARB fridge and a battery w/ some alligator or direct plug to your truck battery.

I have one and use the OEM plug in the back of my Tacoma. I also have used a lithium ion battery pack set up with good results. It cools quickly, runs efficiently, have been proven tough and reliable, can freeze ice, quiet, can be used as a second fridge/freezer at home when not on the road/camping, etc, etc.

The 50 QT. seems to be the Godielocks size and price. It's what I have and rarely need all the room. Although I do try and keep it full using water bottles to fill empty space. Which can be frozen in anticipation of lack of power and use the fridge as a cooler.

http://www.amazon.com/ARB-10800472-F...b+refrigerator

IIRC, this is a decent price. I paid $750 for a 'used but in new condition' from a CL seller. I RARELY see them for sale used, especially on CL.

The battery pack I use.

http://www.amazon.com/Antigravity-Ba...ilpage_o03_s00

Needed this to make it work.

http://www.amazon.com/BiXPower-Cigar...ilpage_o09_s00

The fridge can be plugged into 12v/120v.

I saw it as a lifelong purchase much like my Honda generator.

[O2HeN2]

Had this for years. Works well: http://www.target.com/p/igloo-iceles...h_viewed|slph1

O2

[hatidua]

www.frigidrigid.com

[Rumline]

Anybody make use of the "bear proof" feature of the Yeti etc? As in, use for dispersed camping in bear country?