So far the pelican is the leader by a small margin I would say- I can't tell the difference between most of the others!

I broke down and bought a yeti and to say that i am not impressed is an understatement , i think i will go back to my cheap coleman and use the yeti as a piss tank at my stand lol .

What type of Coleman Ice chest???

My wife and I are quite interested in the findings of the cooler test. We'd like a good one, but don't have a clue as to what's best.

$30 one from academy does me just fine for drinks and keep lunch meat cold.

I've had to throw away 400 dollars worth of colemans and igloo's last 6 years.

Never again

X2!!!

I loved my yeti....
Till some Prick decided to go into my back yard and steal it

And what is your point ? Not being a smart butt
I think the Y's are good if your just going to store ice and not open it up but it's not for the drinking man, I guess

All these coolers won't hold ice if they are opened and closed a lot. Like Bobo I have gone through many coolers at work and when going to the cabin in just the last few years. The reason I like my Yeti is not because it holds ice for a few days but because no matter how much stuff I put it through you just can't break them, and they last me more than one year.

Walter

EXACT reason I bought mine. I could give a who ha how well they hold ice. I got sick of replacing 3-4 broken coolers a year. Ice retention is just a bonus.

Busted lids, cracked bottoms, broken hinges...ect

Nothing worse then buying a brand new cooler and dropping a bag of ice in it, and cracking out the bottom. Not an issue any more for me.

More or less I use a cooler year round

I now have 3 Yetis and yes if you don't open them much they will hold ice. I recently got a Roadie and use it as drink cooler, which constantly opens and closes especially with kids. It won't hold the ice in this application. But like mentioned I can throw it around, sit on it, stand on it, drop it, and don't have to worry. I am hard on my stuff! I now use my old cheap coolers for fish boxes in the boat.

I do the same, I have a roadie in the back seat of my truck all the time with water and dr peppers in it, and open and close it atleast seven or eight times a day if not more. I put ice in it about every three days. On the end of the third day the ice is all melted but the water is still very cold. That is also in the truck with the windows open so it is very hot inside. But like I said I don't buy them to hold ice forever. I have an ice machine at work that will make 600lbs a day so I have plenty of ice.

Walter

We just got back from camping in Meridian.

Yeti test: I put an empty 45 qt Yeti in me deep freeze on Wednesday night, filled with ice on Friday around 1500 and opened it less than 5 times all weekend. It was used for "extra ice" and for anyone to use ice out of. The cooler was kept in a shelter and mainly used it to put my fan on.....

Igloo test: I put a case of cold water and a case of cold 12oz Gatorades in my Igloo Ice Cube (that was room temp) on Friday around 1500 and filled with ice. We opened it several, several times (way more than the Yeti) as with the heat, we stayed hydrated with water and Gatorade. It was kept in the same shelter.....

Pound for pound, price for price, quality for quality.....the Igloo smashed the Yeti. Not to say that the Yeti didn't hold ice (about 1/2 and 1/2 ice and water) but let's just say it's a good thing I bought the Yeti for $75 (and not for $300). As a table, the Yeti did hold my fan and never faultered. I'm sure the Yeti will last longer than the Igloo (already 10+ years old) but from now on, no more special treatment for the Yeti.

oh heck- I meant igloo not Coleman- It was an igloo cube- it was the first to fall. I want to redo a head to head test against the winner and a Coleman extreme if I can get my hands on a loaner.

So far here is what has happened:

Day 5, about mid day the igloo lost it's ice...I was shocked it lasted that dang long!
Day 6 the ice hole lost it's ice by 9:30 that morning. the high was 101 degrees and late that evening the Yeti lost it's ice- only about 38 hours after the igloo!
Day 7 early morning the Brute was out of ice.....

The remaining coolers are (in the order I expect them to place)
Pelican
Frio
Grizzly.


It has been totally fun watching this challenge.

If you want to follow more closely check out https://www.facebook.com/VisionsRanchandWildlife

While ice retention is the bonus...if I am gonna spend that much on a cooler and they are all rugged as all heck why not get one that holds ice the best? Of all of the ones that I tested there isn't any of them (besides the igloo cube that says don't sit or stand on the lid) that I wouldn't sit or stand on or put through hell. But they are all priced about the same so lets go for the longest ice, and to me..the best handles.

Handles are a small thing for some folks but I move my cooler a lot and as a yeti wner (who bought one a year before deciding to do this test) I HATE the rope handles, and there are no other handles to use if you are using 2 people to carry it- the sway kills me- Of all of the ones I am testing I like the grizzly and pelican handles the best. everyone else has rope handles.

Always like to see how we stack up.

It's interesting that the darkest colored cooler is hanging in there with white coolers, the ecomate foam is doing it's job.

If the Grizzly would have been white or tan, I'd expect even better results since we've tested surface temps of white vs. any other color and the differences are substantial.

I was wondering about the color on that one to! It was the only substantially darker cooler but I couldn't get my paws on a white one. I love the grizzly handles and the drain plug is different than the rest and I also like it.

I started out doing this test because I needed a new cooler- beside being able to test their ice retention I have effectively "used" all of them, I have stood on them, carried them around in my truck, filled them, drained them, filled them and used all of their latches. It has been a great way to figure out what I like as I prep for buying a large cooler for my outfitting and also for hauling my grass fed beef that I produce.

One thing I didn't expect was to get so disillusioned with my Yeti- I already did not like the handles- but now that I see how far own the ladder it has fallen I am sad to have spent the money on it! I would have gone with something different if I had it to do all over again.

Igloo needs to get in the frat boy hat and truck sticker business. That obviously makes the coolers work better.

Day 9- This morning the Frio lost it's ice. The Pelican is still holding on but just barely- I expect by the end of the day it will be out to.

I find it interesting that the Frio, a relatively unknown baby to the others placed second- and...it has a lower price point than most of the other coolers tested. Here is the final placing along with their prices and the things like like or dislike about them. please keep in mind that these are just my own opinion in the form of a review on my likes and dislikes.

all of the coolers are well built, they are all tough as all heck. All of them have rubber feet, good drain plugs, and nice latches- in the end all of that comes down to preference.

1st place: (still holding ice on Day 10 in the morning) Pelican Extreme Marine 65qt $359- I love the handles in this thing- very versatile. It has a larger footprint than all of the other coolers in the test. It claims to hold ice for 7-10 days and it has lived up to the challenge. It also has a lifetime warranty. It's latches are unusual with a button on them but they work week and seem sturdy.

2nd place: (Day 9) Frio 65 qt. $319.00- This cooler is pretty new on the market. It has nice metal latches and a good drain plug system. You can customize this cooler any way you like- which makes it an excellent corporate gift idea or giveaway item. I am not a fan of rope handles but I would the smaller cooler has an over the shoulder strap that I like. I think this is the best value of the coolers tested- it is one of the two lowest priced coolers yet still placed in the top 2- I was impressed and maybe a little shocked.

3rd place: (Day 8) Grizzly 60 qt. I need to do a little disclaimer here- The grizzly was the only darker color cooler we used- only because we could not get a white one in time for the challenge to begin. I love the Grizzly's handles- some may not like them because they are not flush to the sides (although their other models do have rope handles) I prefer handles that don't sway. The drain plug was my favorite- it is huge- it drained the fastest by far. One thing I was curious about was that when I carried the Grizzly to drain it water leaked out the lid seal. that was the only cooler that had that happen. I checked the latches and they were closed so I am not sure why it would have leaked. My thought on this is: if water can get out then air can get it. Regardless, the grizzly placed third even with it's dark color. I would love to retest the top three using all white coolers and see how it does! I love the Grizzly cooler's smaller footprint, being build more in a cubed shape, it makes it easier to carry than other coolers with the same capacity.

4th place: (Day 7 in the a.m.) Yeti Tundra 65 qt. $369 Ok I think we all know the Yeti by heart but here is my break down- I dislike the rope handles, I do like the latches because they have a little give to them- I have filled my cooler a bit too full on accident a few times- latch them down and once the ice melts a tiny bit the cooler closes itself. I know- seems silly but I like that.

5th place: (Day 6 P.M.) Brute Box 50 qt. $319 I wasn't all THAT impressed with the brute box. It had probably my favorite latches but that's about it. It has a dual drain plug which might have been neat if both of them weren't pretty small (compared to other coolers) and you have to tighten them pretty hard to keep them from leaking slowly. I found this out during the pre-chill process. The cooler itself is lightweight, and has thinner walls than it's competitors. I did like the handles- can be carried with no sway.

6th place: (Day 6 A.M.) IceHole M35 35 qt $365.00 I put this cooler in the running even though I didn't have the right size because the dealers I know really wanted it in there. They are considering switching to a different dealership and wanted to see how the icehole stood up. That said- I loved the latches- I like that they can be customized. The criteria were the same even though the cooler was smaller- it was still filled to capacity with ice and the M35 makes the same claim as the M60 as to time frame so I wasn't worried too much about the difference. Icehole recently came up on their prices, the 35 qt Icehole is priced higher many of the 60 qt coolers in the contest. the 60 qt retails for $435- the most expensive I have seen. Other than that- pretty standard- rubber latches, good construction- nice drain system. Rope handles though!

7th place: ( Day 5) Igloo Cube 60 qt. $24.39 I threw in my trusty old cube because I wanted to see how it did truly. I was shocked it lasted this long but the coolers were opened less than it usually is on a camping trip with my kids. this cooler is NOT rugged- It even says not to use the lid as a seat....what?! The only things it has going for it are that it is cheap, it comes in lots of colors, it has wheels and drink holders on the lid. No latches means...they won't break! It it's defense- I have had mine for 3 years and it hasn't died yet. We don't exactly baby it but I sure dont chunk a hard bag of ice in the bottom like I would my other coolers.

Ok- that's the run down. Let the questions begin! Feel free to PM me any questions or just post them here. Keep in mind I did the best I could with what I could get my hands on. This contest was NOT sponsored by any of the cooler companies. I bought a couple of the coolers to be included and some were loaded to me by outfitters and dealers who had them. All of the above reviews are only my opinion (opinions are like belly buttons, we all have them and they are all a little different) so play nicely!

Thanks for the great write up and reviews.

I'm still pretty dang happy with my Coleman Extreme (really hard to beat for the price), but am looking to add a more rugged and versatile cooler for ice storage. Think I'll have to take a hard look at that Frio.

The folks who lent me the one I used are at http://www.texasicechests.com/ Super nice folks

The Xtreme line is really good. Walmart has great prices on them too.

Thanks for the write up.

Looks like your real world ice test mirrors what we've seen in our testing of premium coolers, the higher the capacity the longer ice will last.

Pelican 65 - 72.75 QT
Frio 65 - Assuming 65 QT
Grizzly 60 - 60 QT
YETI 65 - 57.2 QT
Brute 50 - 50 QT
Icehole 35 - 35 QT