Coach Potter
Life of the Party
I have a Pelican and it’s pretty amazing.
Cooler/Ice Chest recommendations
- Thread starter Gary Knowels
- Start date
I bought a 55 qt Lifetime in May. We used it on a 5-day trip in June, and kept it in the shade when we remembered to move it. It still had ice when I got home, so I just kept checking every several hours. The last of the ice melted after my 7th day evening check.
I bought the model with wheels because my back isn't much into carrying heavy stuff any more. WalMart. With wheels, $149. No wheels, $129.
I bought the model with wheels because my back isn't much into carrying heavy stuff any more. WalMart. With wheels, $149. No wheels, $129.
I recommend a styrofoam one that you cover in and out with duct tape. In my experience it works 70% as well as a yeti or Engel, for maybe 1/10th the price.
Last edited:
wanderingrichard
Life of the Party
55 qt lifetime purchased 2 days ago. So far, meh. Time to find reflectix
Might as well pile on. I also use 2 Lifetime coolers, the 55 and 28qt. Kept in the shade no problems for 4-5 days. On shorter trips I'll forgo ice altogether and just use Cooler Shock ice packs. Warning, will freeze beer... On longer trips I'll use the ice packs and add ice.
Amazon product ASIN B06XH9GB75
Amazon product ASIN B06XH9GB75
A lot of keeping things cold is cooler management. How often it’s opened, how long it’s opened, keeping it covered etc. We’ve had ice at the end of 16 day 100+ degree Grand Canyon trips with one person being in charge of managing the coolers.
Experiment with your beer. You can pre freeze! Works great just try your brands at home to see if their cans hold up. You make the call, freeze water or beer?
Also dry ice! On other long trips we freeze everything going into the cooler then add dry ice. It’s great to get to the put in after several days of driving with a solidly frozen cooler.
Good brand coolers do work better but I think the very best (Canyon, Yeti, etc really come into play when you’re looking at 7 day+ trips. Walmart/Costco types will work great for shorter trips and a little attention paid to pre freezing and management.
Experiment with your beer. You can pre freeze! Works great just try your brands at home to see if their cans hold up. You make the call, freeze water or beer?
Also dry ice! On other long trips we freeze everything going into the cooler then add dry ice. It’s great to get to the put in after several days of driving with a solidly frozen cooler.
Good brand coolers do work better but I think the very best (Canyon, Yeti, etc really come into play when you’re looking at 7 day+ trips. Walmart/Costco types will work great for shorter trips and a little attention paid to pre freezing and management.
I dunno, but if it ain't BEAR PROOF, keep it outta my sight 
I have a Lifetime cooler from Walmart that is my "high end big" cooler and works great. But in all pleasantly surprised by the Igloo Playmate cooler I bought at Walmart on Thursday. I needed a cooler for the spot shrimp I hoped to catch on Friday.
I brought the Playmate cooler home, figured out that the button is on the handle now, washed it, and put it in my chest freezer overnight with a frozen gallon of water inside.
Friday morning at 4:30am I took it out of the freezer and put it in my car, with the frozen gallon of water, a six of chilled beer, and a refrigerated summer sausage inside. It was in the back of a friend's pickup truck with a canopy in the sun all day Friday (because we consolidated the beer into another cooler).
When we got off the water at around 4pm, the gallon jug was still frozen. I put my share of shrimp in, and eventually got home at about 5pm Friday.
I put the PM cooler on my kitchen counter opened the top, prepped the shrimp, and made dinner. I left the cooler open on my counter with the mostly frozen gallon jug still inside.
Today, Saturday, the gallon jug is still about one third frozen. Not bad for a $20 cooler!
Prechilling is the key.
I brought the Playmate cooler home, figured out that the button is on the handle now, washed it, and put it in my chest freezer overnight with a frozen gallon of water inside.
Friday morning at 4:30am I took it out of the freezer and put it in my car, with the frozen gallon of water, a six of chilled beer, and a refrigerated summer sausage inside. It was in the back of a friend's pickup truck with a canopy in the sun all day Friday (because we consolidated the beer into another cooler).
When we got off the water at around 4pm, the gallon jug was still frozen. I put my share of shrimp in, and eventually got home at about 5pm Friday.
I put the PM cooler on my kitchen counter opened the top, prepped the shrimp, and made dinner. I left the cooler open on my counter with the mostly frozen gallon jug still inside.
Today, Saturday, the gallon jug is still about one third frozen. Not bad for a $20 cooler!
Prechilling is the key.
