Technically less insulating than closed-cell foam, open-cell foam performs fairly well for most applications as long as the cooler isn’t left in the open sun. The Original can do exactly what you need it to do, which is to keep things cold for the day while you focus on the fun at hand. Light, simple to carry, difficult to overpack, and insulated enough for a full day’s worth of activities, the Polar Bear Original is a decent-enough backpack cooler for most activities and an especially good choice for parents. The Coleman Xtreme is extreme in name only — it’s just a typical plastic cooler that comes with wheels on it. The lid doesn’t latch shut, but you get a telescoping handle and a drainage spout inside, which is more than I can say for cheap coolers like the Igloo Island Breeze and the Rubbermaid Ice Chest. The Xtreme also offers ample room for your beer, claiming a capacity of 50 quarts.
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.
We may have wished for such niceties as a dry bin or the ability to handle dry ice, like many of the other coolers in this review, but such is not in the cards for the Coleman. The interior is rather roomy – Coleman claims 70 quarts, and we measured it at 68, which is pretty darn close. The allen + roth Emerald Cove 60-Qt Rolling Patio Cooler with a faux wood exterior finish will make a timeless addition to your home.
At the moment, you can buy Coleman’s replacement hinges and replacement handles for less than $10 each. As for performance, the Coleman cooler was one of the better options I found for less than $50. Of ice into it and recorded the minute-by-minute ambient temperature inside for 48 hours, it pulled temperatures down by about 20 degrees, which is pretty good considering that 3 pounds of ice really isn’t a lot.
At Lowe’s, we have a wide selection of coolers with and without wheels — as well as travel mugs, water bottles and other insulated items. Inside the cooler’s walls, extra ThermOZONE Insulation and Xtreme Technology holds the cold for three days in temperatures up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and still performs amazingly on hotter days. The foam of this insulated cooler is also free from CFCs, HFCs and HCFCs, which deplete the ozone. The handle and wheels makes travel simple and easy to your destination.
You can find coolers in this line that offer anywhere from 28- to 120-quart capacity, guaranteeing you have plenty of room for all kinds of food and drink. These options also ensure that ice inside the cooler remains frozen for 3-5 days, depending on conditions. Beware, the narrow plastic handles tend to dig uncomfortably into the bent fingers of whoever takes this coleman cooler cooler for a stroll. However, if you decide to fill the Coleman to the top with ice and soda, you may soon be wishing you hadn’t! If you can manage to carry this fully loaded 68-quart icebox by your lonesome, you may also agree with our testers who think that the height of this cooler lets it bash unceremoniously into the bearers knees or legs as they walk.
For soft coolers, we recommend anything in the 20- to 24-can range. That’s enough to hold plenty of ice, drinks, and food coleman canopy for a family of three. Anything smaller, and you end up carrying a lot of bag and not carrying much of anything else.