Best budget coolers

[Jstumbaugh]

There's a thread somewhere about this but I bought a couple of the CatorGator rotomolded coolers. They are heavy but they work amazing and the price is right.

 

[hunt1up]

I use two 120 qt Coleman extremes for most things. Freeze some gallon jugs of water and put those in there. I'll always throw a bag of ice in my coolers the night before a trip and then when I leave I add the jugs and some ice. Makes a big difference. Keep the coolers in the shade and you're good.

I also have a Lifetime and Ozark Trail molded coolers in the 55 qt range. They're great for the money and not too heavy.

I've had all the sizes of roto coolers like RTIC and others and they're just so damn heavy when loaded. Fill a Yeti, or any heavy roto cooler with ice, and it's a bear to move. I hated even my 65 qt roto coolers when loaded.

 

[stumpknocker]

Lots of good suggestions but IMO you cannot beat a good rotomolded cooler if you're dealing with any kind of heat (does not have to be a Yeti, they all work about the same).

They simply let you do far more with far less.

I use RTIC 65 for car camping and whitetail/hog, and it became our fridge after Helene came through. Once it is down to temp it requires very little ice which leaves more room for everything else.

 

[KenLee]

I have been impressed by the Magellan 100 qt "icebox" cooler. At $300 with wheels and 2 types of handles, I'd just as soon have it as a Yeti. It has latches with push buttons in center of latches to open from either side.

 

[5MilesBack]

From my testing the best "budget" coolers have been the Coleman Xtreme 6's, haven't seen them at Walmart anymore (companies always changing things up) but they were right at $57 full price for the 120's. I have two of those. This year I was out 10 days straight in September in high day temps and lows in the 40's the whole time. The frozen gallon milk jugs were all still over 50% ice in both the Coleman and my 200qt marine rotomolded cooler on day 10. I have tried the Igloo's and just haven't gotten the same performance from them.

I also tried the 45qt Catergator last year for my milk and other drinks that I keep separate from the big coolers. I really wanted to like it, but my 40 year old Michelob cooler still keeps the frozen milk jugs longer. But my buddy has a 110qt Catergator and he seems to really like it.

 

[Erict]

I have also had great experiences with Lifetime. Keep an eye out at Wally World this time of year as they often have great clearance prices on coolers.

 

[LongWayAround]

Last week I went to Wyoming on Thursday evening with my Coleman Xtreme 120. I believe I had 5 16lb bags of ice and several frozen gallon jugs of water in it.

Monday afternoon, I gave most of my ice to my buddy who killed an elk.

I kept two 16lb bags, added two 10lb bags, and 5 gallon jugs. Plus, a rear quarter.

As of this Saturday morning, the jugs are about 60% frozen and the ice is mostly frozen at about 2.5" deep. Daytime highs around 70° outside and 30-40° lows. Cooler has been in my garage since Monday night.