Many of Coleman’s coolers have helpful little features or accessories built into the coolers to make things as convenient as possible. Examples of this include features such as molded cup holders, easy-access lids, multiple carrying methods, stacking capabilities, and much more. A lot of these unique twists and features you won’t find in many competing brands, and it goes to show that Coleman has a nice understanding of what it takes to make a coleman cooler viable cooler. If you’re worried about re-stocking, ice packs are a viable alternative. Most major brands have their own designs that work well in their coolers, and the best part is that you can use them repeatedly without ever having to drain melted ice. That said, ice packs are fairly expensive (Yeti’s range from $15 to $30 depending on size) and require refreezing once they lose their coldness, which limits practicality for longer trips.
Sign up for our T+L Recommends newsletter and we’ll send you our favorite travel products each week. No matter which product you go with, rest assured knowing that you will enjoy a cooler that has many years of experience behind it and comes from brands that know what they are doing. Sit in your aluminum-and-mesh lawn chair, prop open your Coleman Steel Belted, and pull out a glass-bottled, ice cold coke.
The major draw is that it easily fills the gaps between your food and beverages, cooling them quickly and efficiently. However, crushed ice is also the fastest to melt and you’ll likely need to replace it fairly frequently. Blocks of ice, on the other hand, take much longer coleman canopy to melt than crushed ice. However, blocks are bulky and take up a lot of space in the cooler since they don’t conform around your food and cans. If we have enough space, our preferred method is to use both block and crushed ice together, and Yeti has more great tips here.
The sanitary liner adheres to the inside rim of your cooler and is disposable, keeping the inside of your cooler clean and free of debris. A cooler that rolls along behind you is a sensible upgrade for anyone who hates carrying things, and at $45, the Coleman Xtreme Wheeled Cooler will get the job done. It isn’t the sturdiest piece of plastic I’ve ever lugged around, but it kept things colder for longer than its closest rival, the Igloo Latitude Rolling Cooler. A. All Coleman coolers are easily cleaned with warm water, mild soap and a towel.
In practice, most of the claimed ice retention times feel quite inflated to us, perhaps due to extremely favorable testing conditions (storing the cooler inside with the lid closed in cool temperatures, for example). If we had to generalize it, we would say that you should expect to get approximately half of the claimed ice retention time in real-world use, give or take depending on your specific circumstances. Previously, we tested hard coolers in the summer in Baltimore through a week that saw highs of 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit and lows of 64 to 72 degrees. And more recently we tested most of our picks again throughout the year in Hawaii.
This cooler is simple in design, with a wide-opening lid and solid lid latch. The lid latch takes some getting used to, and one must occasionally get down and visual with it in order to assure that it is secured. The latch is a two-part contraption that remains secured to the main box portion. Hooks on the latch and lid mate to secure the lid, while an articulating cam pivots to pull the lid and press the gasket tight.
Closed-cell foam is considered a better insulator than open-cell foam because the tiny bubbles of gas in closed-cell foam remain independent from one another. Air bubbles that do not share cell walls and in effect stay insulated from one another are better at reducing the overall transfer of heat through the foam. Closed-cell foam is also much more expensive to produce than open-cell foam. The resulting product is strong and especially rigid feeling, and typically it weighs more than 1.7 pounds per cubic foot with more than 90% of its air cells closed to one another.
Whether you’re headed to the beach, tailgating before your favorite sporting event, or camping in the wild, there’s a good chance you’ll want to keep your food and drinks cold. Thankfully, the market is packed with high-quality coolers that excel at everything from short day trips to week-long adventures. Below we break down our favorite hard-sided designs of 2023, including budget-friendly Coleman models, ultra-premium Yetis, and popular offerings from brands like RTIC, Orca, Pelican, and more.
A cooler of this size, even completely full, is readily transported by any healthy adult, even without wheels. If the legion of similarly designed coolers still in active use after 30 or more years is any indication, this is a very durable design. A. Yes, a model like the 5-quart Coleman FlipLid is great for making a large ice block.
Hard-sided coolers from Yeti, RTIC, Orca, and others are able to keep ice frozen for significantly longer than budget options from companies like Coleman or Igloo. And while bags of ice come relatively cheap, it can be a real pain to have to drain your cooler and replace the ice on a daily basis (not to mention having to travel and purchase more of it). Another benefit of high-end hard-sided units is durability—the difference in quality is immediately apparent and some of the best out there are truly meant to last a lifetime. All that said, if you just need a reliable cooler for days at the beach or packing a lunch on the road, it’s probably a good idea to save your cash. But if you consistently head outside for days at a time, the investment is well worth it.