It also lacks a drainage port, and this version doesn’t boast the IGBC certification of larger Yeti hard coolers. Yet, because it’s so small (relatively speaking), we hardly miss those extra features. The Roadie is not airtight or leakproof — there is a sizeable gap where the ends of the rubber seals meet that’s only covered by a piece of fabric tape. Sometimes you don’t need that much space, but you do need excellent performance. The rugged Roadie has a beefy, integrated hinge, and the sturdy rotomolded exterior protects contents from the trials of all your outdoor adventures. It’s built to be a seat when you finally reach your destination (Yeti even sells a seat cushion to go with it, though we haven’t tried that out).
On the topic of wheeled coolers, the Igloo Journey Trailmate 70qt All-Terrain cooler also came with a dizzying amount of extras and features. Overall, it wasn’t quite as durable as the Rovr, but I think they’re mostly designed for different purposes. If I’m trekking into the woods for a weekend with a couple of pals, I’m going to take the Rovr, no question. But if I’m headed to the beach with the family for a day, I’m probably going to opt for the Igloo. 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. The $219 RTIC wasn’t as spacious as expected, either, holding just 39.6 quarts of water before overflowing with the lid closed.
Downsides are even more weight (the RovR and Igloo weigh around 35 lb.), bulk, and cost. Additionally, these wheeled beasts still struggle over rough terrain and may require carrying if you don’t have a defined path to follow. But for camping, days at the beach, or even tailgating, a rolling cooler can be a solid choice. It’s the only model we tested that has actual pneumatic tires instead of cylindrical plastic chunks labeled as wheels.
The Cabela Polar Cap 80 is a top-of-the-line cooler that has been designed to keep cold for days on end. With a large 68-quart capacity, this cooler can store plenty of food and drinks — even an upright wine bottle could fit in this unit. The Polar Cap cooler is constructed with a rugged rotomolded body and a freezer-grade gasket lid, ensuring maximum durability and ice retention. This cooler has been rigorously tested and has shown an impressive ability to stay below 40 degrees for eight days. Not once did this impressive cooler leak, and it gave an impressive performance when rolled around and jumped on.
If we had to generalize it, we would say that you should expect to get approximately half of the claimed ice retention time in real-world use, give or take depending on your specific circumstances. Though nothing broke during testing, the hinges coleman instant tent and latches are a potential weak point. This indicates the freezer-grade gasket lid doesn’t actually seal shut. Though this seems like an unimportant detail, when packed with goodies, it can be a little painful to grasp onto hard plastic.
The Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee keeps a running list of certified options, which includes a number of coolers from this rundown. Several models I’ve tested from Cabela’s, Orca, Rovr, Magellan Outdoors and Yeti all make the cut. If we’re going to talk about performance, we should talk about capacity first.
Coolers are undoubtedly expensive, but having a generous warranty can help ease some of the buying anxiety. And a look at the market reveals a surprisingly wide range of available manufacturer guarantees. At the top end are Orca and Roam, which offer lifetime warranties that cover defects, while most others range from one to 10 years. It’s also important to point out that some companies provide different warranties for their hard-sided versus soft-sided offerings. For example, Yeti covers its Tundra and Roadie collections with a five-year warranty, while their soft-sided Hopper is only covered for three.
That said, if ruggedness is something you need, the Coleman may not be the best choice. Its handles, hinges, and latches don’t inspire confidence in their ability to last the years in the same way as the high-end, IGBC certified, and rotomolded models do. Every time we’ve used it over the past several years, it seems to pick up numerous extra scratches and dirt, though it still works the same. We also aren’t in love with the comfort coleman ice chest of its narrow, plastic handles in the shadow of some of the broader, more cushioned options utilized by its competitors. While we appreciate the simplicity of the pop-open drain, its small size can’t offer the same rapid flow rate as the much wider drains found in the competition. Still, you could purchase three or four of these coolers for the same price as some of the competition, and it works to keep your goods cold for days.
That being said, a high-end build like RTIC’s 52 QT Ultra-Light stacks up favorably to top rotomolded coolers in overall toughness. Many injection-molded designs also allow for various mounting locations for accessories like tables, cup holders, and cutting boards—something you don’t typically get with rotomolding. The RTIC models have visually similar rubber latches that are much more flexible. coleman sundome As such, they are easy to use, lacking the stiff stubbornness of many other latches. Still, more flexible rubber might have a shorter lifespan than denser rubber, though we haven’t had an issue after using these products. The Igloo IMX 70qt is similar, with exceptionally flexible, soft, easy-to-use latches, also giving us pause about how well they’ll hold up through years of use and UV exposure.
We previously noted that Yeti had suspended sales of our backpack pick, the Hopper M20, due to a potential safety issue with the closure, which could fail, releasing magnets, which would be dangerous to ingest. We’ve removed that pick and are continuing to monitor the situation. If you want a backpack cooler, we recommend the Polar Bear Original Nylon Backpack Cooler.