Best 100ish qt cooler for ice retention

[Blandry]

I use ice packs pretty exclusively now or with a 10lb bag of regular ice. Easily a week in any cooler but the coleman xtremes are great coolers for high capacity (120+). I just won't spend $300+ on a cooler when the coleman xtremes do 90% of what the high dollar ones do. I do own a pelican extreme 65qt and a few really expensive 20-40qt soft coolers, but that;s the max I would spend on a small cooler that's not being used to keep game cool.

Get any 5lb ice packs and a couple bags of ice and you're good for a week at least.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

The Pelican elite series always outperforms my yetis side by side when camping and hunting.

Freezing one gallon jugs and using them as your ice will result in keeping ice WAY longer. You also don’t deal with water getting everywhere and having to dump a heavy cooler full of water.

 

[ramsdude47]

If the plastic doesn’t crack when it expands lol.

Grand Canyon outfitters use block ice and utilize the drain hole to let out water (which only needs done every 3rd day or so). I can’t imagine there are many other operations pushing the limits of ice retention harder than Grand Canyon outfitters. I don’t have any data but would imagine the majority of them use Canyon Coolers.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

If the plastic doesn’t crack when it expands lol.

Grand Canyon outfitters use block ice and utilize the drain hole to let out water (which only needs done every 3rd day or so). I can’t imagine there are many other operations pushing the limits of ice retention harder than Grand Canyon outfitters. I don’t have any data but would imagine the majority of them use Canyon Coolers.

Yeah you have to pour some of the water out before freezing. I think my dad taught me that when I was about 4 or 5 years old.

 

[SloppyJ]

I live in the south and deal with this extensively. I use an RTIC ultra light 55qt in my boat all summer long and I do quite a bit of fishing. Talking 8-12hr days in 95-105° temps with no shade. I've had nothing but good luck with this cooler and will buy one of their larger coolers for use on big game this year.

Around June, the water temp rises and you can no longer keep fish in the livewell or they will go bad. That's when I switch to putting them in coolers. I have a cheap cooler for fish and I keep the RTIC loaded down with drinks, food, and about 45lbs of ice. I use the ice in the RTIC to top off of the fish cooler all weekend. It will last for days in that kind of heat if you don't keep opening it up all the time. In the winter, a cooler full of ice will last around 2 weeks or so. For the price, they can't be beat IMO. Keep in mind, this is the "light" version too.

 

[Blandry]

This guy does good cooler reviews..

 

[TheHammer]

Between my dad and I we owned igloos a cheaper 120&a bmx72, an older metal Colman(I’d guess 50ish qt), a cabelas/orca 65, lifetime 77&yeti 75…. I set all of them in the deck one 95* afternoon to do my own test. I put the same 2 7lb bags in each. The igloo’s were the worst, the metal Colman lasted almost 6 full days, the yeti was 6.5days the lifetime was 7.5 days and the orca was almost 8.5 days before the ice was fully melted. needless to say I bought another 77lifetime. Now I have 3 lifetime 77s and the igloo120.I lined the inside w/1/2” pink foam board in the 120 and it seems to do it’s job keeping ice in the back of the truck. I would highly recommend the lifetime coolers, atleast pre2020 ones.

 

[mountaingoat08]

I personally like the Canyon Cooler Navigator pro 150. It’s a local company here for me and it is designed to fit quarters of meat.

 

[snowymtnwolf]

I’ve too used Canyon coolers for about 12 years now. I went that route because of their “ice test” vs yeti and igloo.

It def holds the ice.

It all comes down to environment too and duration. Shade vs sun, 2 days vs 5 days, etc etc.

Even in a hot environment - if you can somehow find a way to keep cooler in the shade, that helps immensely.

Good luck


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Boarmaster]

My guess is most rotomolded coolers perform about the same when used properly. When I bought mine I was looking for a cooler (s) that had simple and durable hardware and a simple rectangle shape that would pack easy without wasting space. After decades of having hinges and latches fail or get sheared off while hunting and fishing. I always kept spares but I was just tired. I notice some of these rotomolded coolers have sort of complicated latches that look like they might fail. I wanted a built in rear hinge with a stainless steel rod through it. I cant image that will ever fail. So far after many years of hard use none of my hardware on my RTIC s have failed.

 

[Boarmaster]

Between my dad and I we owned igloos a cheaper 120&a bmx72, an older metal Colman(I’d guess 50ish qt), a cabelas/orca 65, lifetime 77&yeti 75…. I set all of them in the deck one 95* afternoon to do my own test. I put the same 2 7lb bags in each. The igloo’s were the worst, the metal Colman lasted almost 6 full days, the yeti was 6.5days the lifetime was 7.5 days and the orca was almost 8.5 days before the ice was fully melted. needless to say I bought another 77lifetime. Now I have 3 lifetime 77s and the igloo120.I lined the inside w/1/2” pink foam board in the 120 and it seems to do it’s job keeping ice in the back of the truck. I would highly recommend the lifetime coolers, atleast pre2020 ones.

My cousin uses Lifetime coolers. He really likesvthem.

 

[philos]

I've used the lifetime coolers and I like them but one of the lids warped in the Wyoming sun. I still use it but I wrap a ratchet strap around it and get it tight if meat is inside.

I now have 2 Cabela 80 qt coolers and I am going to add some food grade silicone to the area where the gasket has a split in it. Seems all the coolers need a bit of work eventually to work at their best.

 

[SquatchN]

I have 2 of these. They hold ice for an entire week in the shade.

https://www.amazon.com/Igloo-Polar-Cooler-120-Quart-White/dp/B004QILD6W/ref=sr_1_3?crid=M7K5C7Z2RL7C&keywords=igloo+100+quart+cooler&qid=1690292720&s=sporting-goods&sprefix=igloo+100+quart+cooler%2Csporting%2C88&sr=1-3

Thanks. This is exactly what I've been looking for.

 

[labs17]

Looking for tough high quality cooler recommendations that are under 20.5” tall (needs to fit in a truck bed with the cover closed) and will hold ice/meat for roughly a week in September. Currently have a 65qt Yeti that I like a lot, but need something bigger. I’m not opposed to another Yeti but I know there are a lot of different brands these days that compete with and even exceed Yeti these days.

What do you guys recommend?

I have a couple of white igloo coolers (120 I think ) that I got at Costco for about $100 each. I pre-cool them, fill with bagged ice and lay a 1# dry ice on top. Need to allow for some sort of venting. When I return to the truck after 5 days, it is still completely solid.

 

[NoLa]

It's been said a couple times but absolutely prechill the cooler. Get it as cold as you can. I also have thrown the ice I plan to take in my freezer for a few days. I swear anytime I buy ice it is already starting to melt a bit.

 

[WeaponX]

Having a couple of very long trips in the planning stage, I was looking for solutions to this problem. The solution I've come up with, coupled with this thread is: A portable freezer that comes equipped to run off of 110 or 12V cigarette lighter outlets; a large, less expensive (Igloo?) cooler.

Freeze ice jugs while on the road, transfer ice jugs to cooler, put meat from (it's, uh, BOAL, right?) into freezer and cooler (it'll take both because, well, it's a BOAL), rotate frozen meat and ice jugs into cooler and unfrozen meat and ice jugs into freezer.

Again, this is in the planning and research phase, but it looks like this can be done for $500 or less, depending on capacities, dimensions, etc. someone is looking for.

TxLite here are a couple of links, but look around there are quite a few makes and models out there with different dimesions.

https://www.amazon.com/Whynter-CUF-110B-Energy-Upright-Freezer/dp/B01N6X34NV/ref=sr_1_8?crid=3G7M59OFO3PSV&keywords=portable%2Bfreezers&qid=1692319563&sprefix=portable%2Bfreezers%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-8&th=1

Outdoor AC/DC Portable Freezer | Beat the Heat | Whynter

Looking for portable freezers that are perfect for outdoor living? Check out the selection at Whynter. Beat the heat with our AC/DC refrigerators and freezers!

www.whynter.com

 

[Elk Wallow]

I have a canyon cooler and have been really happy with it.

 

[Caseknife]

I bought two of the Canyon Outfitter 125 coolers last year. They were the "B" stock, which are their seconds, cosmetic blems etc, for $300 each. They are right at 20.5" tall and fit easily under my wife's hard tonneau cover on her 2019 Chevy. Took one hunting and for fun when I got home, took everything out except ice and left it in the garage, still had ice 5 days later after a week long hunt. https://canyoncoolers.com/collectio...neyard-b-stock-coolers?variant=42361622855855

 

[SivvyB]

Couldnt you just spray inside the hollow shell of a cheap cooler to hold a much longer cold duration?

 

[ramsdude47]

Not quite 100qt but you probably won’t beat this deal:

Orca Hard Side Cooler - 75 qt. - Save 50%

Orca Hard Side Cooler - 75 qt. in Green at Sierra. Celebrating 30 Years Of Exploring.

www.sierra.com