Having an extra seat and place to stack your belongings is good, but I’m more interested in what that rating says about the cooler’s overall durability. It also includes four cup holders and a ruler for the anglers among us. The fit is snug — it takes some effort to open and close, coleman camping chair but that’s one of the ways this cooler keeps temperatures under control, and Coleman claims it can preserve ice for five days. For soft coolers, we recommend anything in the 20- to 24-can range. That’s enough to hold plenty of ice, drinks, and food for a family of three.
But in the 24- to 48-hour range, we haven’t seen a huge difference between using ¾ inch of closed-cell or open-cell foam in a cooler. In contrast, open-cell foam is permeable to air and water like a sponge (which is why it frequently appears in foam pillows, as it’s squishier and it breathes). But open-cell foam’s ability to insulate greatly diminishes when it’s wet because water permeates all of the open space and acts as a conductor of heat. In open-cell foam, most bubbles (more than 50%) share walls with one another. These foams, which weigh around 0.5 pound per cubic foot, are light and easy to compress. 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.
We also like the unique assortment of multi-toned colorways that add a nice dose of flair. In the world of coolers, Yeti pioneered the high-end concept, and the Tundra is its best-selling and most versatile model. This popular line features premium cooling and ice-retention capabilities with a thick, rotomolded build that’s more durable and less prone to cracking than injection-molded options like the RTIC above.
The Coleman Xtreme is a non-rotomolded cooler with a single pair of end handles and an internal height that fits most wine bottles or 2L sodas. It features an integrated fishing ruler and four cupholders in the lid. Beach, lake, backyard or tailgate—bring the party in comfort with our Southern Comfort Coleman Cooler. Since dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide, it passes directly from a solid to a gaseous state, meaning no water to deal with as it melts.
This Boulder-based wheeled-cooler specialist offers its signature RollR in four capacities from 45 to 85 quarts, with the mid-range 60-quart model offering the best versatility of the bunch, in our experience. This might not come as a surprise, but the high-dollar coolers do have coleman instant tent some justifications for their high prices beyond the label on the lid. While the Xtreme 5 performed admirably sitting in my yard, moving it made me question its longevity. My three bags of ice and 12 cans of beer combined with the cooler for a gross weight of 10.2 pounds.
Most of the hard-sided coolers on our list have drainage systems to help you empty out water once your ice has melted. Typically, this comes in the form of a screw-on or pop-off cap at the base of the cooler—simply take it off and let the water pour out. Some also boast drainage channels that funnel water through the opening, which is a nice touch for helping with the clean-up process. Yeti’s Roadie 24 and Pelican’s 20QT Elite are two notable exceptions that don’t come with drain plugs, which can make dumping out extra water a bit of a hassle.
But if you consistently head outside for days at a time, the investment is well worth it. Rotomolded coolers like Yeti’s Tundra above are made out of a single piece of continuous plastic, which is great for durability but means coleman camping chair they typically lack built-in features and mounting locations. Tack on a price that undercuts the similarly sized Tundra 65 above by a considerable $135, and the Xspec stands out as a very well-rounded design at a great value.