Best Cooler for Multi Day Camping...

[sajohnson]

I've used a Coleman Xtreme 5-Day Cooler for several years now and it's been great. It keeps ice for days, even in hot weather. It's also very durable and can withstand a lot of abuse.
Recently i bought an Bougerv electric camping coolers and I'm very impressed with it. It's a huge cooler, but it's still very affordable. It's also very well-built and seems like it will last for years.

I'm curious about your Coleman.

From my post above (#28):

"Perhaps Coleman changed the design, but if not, buyer beware.

<Later> I see that model is sold out. The new one is $75, and they seem to have replaced the 2 lame hinges with a sturdier integrated hinge design."

Do you have the older model that I reviewed, or the newer one? The newer one looks like it might hold up pretty well.

When the hinge screws on ours ripped out of the plastic (photos at the Amazon review) because the lid was left open, it occurred to me that the problem could have been minimized had Coleman used lid straps to tie each side of the lid to the cooler. A Google image search for "Coleman cooler lid hinge repair kit" turns up dozens of products, some with lid straps -- so apparently it is a problem (with that design).

Maybe ours was supposed to have lid straps and they just weren't installed? If you have the older model, did it come with straps?

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[WildFord]

I got this at its introductory date less than the current price.
https://rticoutdoors.com/Ultra-Light-Cooler

I think it works great. it's priced much less than an Yeti.

I know the ask was for an "affordable"...but you have to look into this:
https://oystercooler.com/products/1st-edition-tempo-23-liter-introduction-pack

Perhaps not big enough for multi days camping. But it works as they claimed. for a day trip, the stuff sitting on their ice block (at the bottom) will develop frost (or freeze some water).

Yeti has a similar but bigger one for $800!
https://www.yeti.com/coolers/hard-coolers/v-series/vseries.html

 

[sajohnson]

I got this at its introductory date less than the current price.
https://rticoutdoors.com/Ultra-Light-Cooler

I think it works great. it's priced much less than an Yeti.

I know the ask was for an "affordable"...but you have to look into this:It looks like the
https://oystercooler.com/products/1st-edition-tempo-23-liter-introduction-pack

Perhaps not big enough for multi days camping. But it works as they claimed. for a day trip, the stuff sitting on their ice block (at the bottom) will develop frost (or freeze some water).

Yeti has a similar but bigger one for $800!
https://www.yeti.com/coolers/hard-coolers/v-series/vseries.html

The top link reminds me of the one I ended up getting after I returned the Coleman Xtreme -- except at 28 pounds, no one would call it 'ultra light'. In fact, that's a bit of a drawback. It's a Cascade Mountain, about 45 quarts. Thick walled, "Grizzly resistant" -- has holes for padlocks on both corners (attached stainless steel plates). I think it was ~$250. That's a lot to spend for a cooler, but it is built tough and will never need to be replaced. Best of all, like the BS, it has a built-in bottle opener (actually 2).

It looks like the price has dropped a lot -- $170 at Costco:
https://www.costco.com/cascade-mountain-tech-45-quart-rotomolded-cooler.product.100476367.html

Unfortunately it's out of stock at Costco and at the mfr:
https://cascademountaintech.com/collections/super-coolers

Those other 2 coolers you linked to are way out of my price range!

 

[kshaw]

Any recommendations for the best affordable cooler for multi day camping. I dont want to spend hundreds of dollars if I dont have too and I also dont want to get one of the electric ones just yet. Would love to hear what everyone is using.

I make two camping trips a year: Sun N Fun at Lakeland, FL and Airventure at Oshkosh, WI. I stay over a week at each location. Last year, I made the mistake of using a folding cooler. The ice melted and water ran all over the inside of the tent. This year, I will use an Apicool solar refrigerator. I found the Apicool on sale for about $110. You can set the temperature and it will either cool or freeze items. Uses about 45 watts to get to temperature and less to maintain temperature. The Apicool runs off 110v or 12v. I run it off my Jackery and use a folding 100w solar panel to recharge the Jackery during the day. If you have a semitransparent tent, you leave the solar panel inside the tent and it will work fine. Biggest advantage to this is you no longer have to make ice runs and pay the high prices for ice at the convenience stores.

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