120 QT COOLER FULL
Instead of a full load of ice in each cooler, I went with an amount of ice equivalent to 10% of each cooler's total volume. To do that, I started with a modified version of the ice retention test. I wanted to get a good sense of performance not just days in, but hours in, before any of the ice had even melted at all. Sure, some coolers would probably keep the ice frozen for a lot longer than others, but using the melting point as your metric seems to disregard everything that comes before. That's all well and good, but I worried that a standard ice retention test on its own wouldn't tell us the whole story. The new, expensive options all hang their hat on this test, with roto-molded coolers specifically designed to ace it (and in doing so, to justify their price tags). water, isn't as good at keeping drinks cold). The big differentiator that you'll hear a lot about as you shop for a cooler is ice retention - specifically, how long a cooler can keep a full load of ice frozen (melted ice, a.k.a. The worst offender, offering only 65 percent of its claimed 30-quart capacity, was the Tourit Backpack Cooler. Claiming space for 20 12-ounce cans at a 2:1 ice-to-can ratio for a total of 22.5 quarts, I found the internal volume of the soft-sided cooler to actually be 26.42 quarts, which is 117 percent of the stated volume (about one extra six-pack compared to other 20-quart coolers). Yeti's Hopper Backflip 24, a soft-sided backpack cooler, had the most understated volume of all coolers we've tested so far. Meanwhile, for almost half the price, the 55-quart Lifetime High Performance Cooler came in well above spec at 62.4 quarts measured - and while it didn't hold its ice as long as the RTIC did, it still finished an excellent performer. That's several quarts less than the 45 quarts they spec. The $219 RTIC wasn't as spacious as expected, either, holding just 39.6 quarts of water before overflowing with the lid closed.
Rovr pegs the capacity of its $400 Rollr wheeled cooler at 60 quarts, but I could only fit 52.8 quarts of water inside when I measured for myself. If anything, the smaller, cheaper models were mostly conservative in their estimates, with ones like the Coleman Xtreme and Igloo Latitude wheeled coolers coming in several quarts more sizable than advertised. Then I measured out the exact number of quarts each cooler could hold - important information to have when you're dealing with large quantities of melted ice. To that end, I carefully filled each cooler with water to the point that closing the lid would cause some water overflow. We'll show the testing processes, and Andrew and I have a poolside chat about cooler features.
120 QT COOLER UPDATE
I update this list periodically.Īlso, don't forget to check out our handy dandy video buying guide for coolers with Andrew Gebhart. (Bonuses like a cup holder or a bottle opener are important, but the most critical thing a quality cooler does is keep your cold drinks cold.) Here's everything I learned, starting with the coolers I think you should rush out and buy before your next camping trip or big family gathering. Whether it is a soft-sided cooler, a hard-sided cooler, one that has foam insulation or a removable liner, I've considered all these and more to come up with the list of best coolers for you.Īfter several weeks of hands-on testing and countless ambient temperature readings, I've separated the winners from the also-rans. My mission? Find the best coolers of the bunch based on size, features and, most importantly, how cold they stay over time, and then categorize them in a way that will make it easy for you to find the best cooler for your needs. That's what I wanted to know, so I grabbed the usual suspects - Magellan Outdoors, Coleman, Orca, Igloo, Frosted Frog, Yeti, Pelican, RTIC, Cabela's and more - and lugged their most popular models into the CNET test lab.
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