What sets the Coleman cooler apart from its counterparts is the brand’s signature TempLock FX Insulation, which offers multi-day ice retention, according to Coleman. In fact, one reviewer was happy to report that the heavy-duty cooler “kept our ice solid for four to five days” while they were “traveling in 100-plus-degree Fahrenheit temperatures.” Both Pelican models we tested — the Pelican Wheeled and the Pelican 20 stand out to our testers as having exceptionally easy to use latches. Keep food and drinks cold as you head out to a tailgate party, a camping adventure, or anywhere else you may go with a new Coleman cooler from Kohl’s! No matter if you’re heading out for just the day, or need a cooler that will ensure freshness for days on end, Coleman is a name brand you can trust. Closed-cell foam is considered a better insulator than open-cell foam because the tiny bubbles of gas in closed-cell foam remain independent from one another.
That’s all well and good, but I worried that a standard ice retention test on its own wouldn’t tell us the whole story. Sure, some coolers would probably keep the ice frozen for a lot longer than others, but using the melting point as your metric seems to disregard everything that comes before. I wanted to get a good sense of performance not just days in, but hours in, before any of the ice had even melted at all. The last time I tested coolers for this list, I had Cabela’s 60-quart version of this cooler listed as the best large cooler.
We’ve seen people start to think of their cooler as an investment that will last a lifetime rather than just a few years. If you have any questions about our products or your purchase, make sure to visit our customer service page. Here you’ll find our company details, answers to frequently asked questions and different ways to get in coleman instant tent touch with us. If you’re an angler, you might appreciate a model with an integrated ruler across the top to measure your catch. Many of the options we tested have this feature, including the Pelican Wheeled, Arctic Titan, Xspec, and Igloo IMX. Still, others have specific slots to tie them down in your boat, backseat, or truck bed.
Lower volumes of drained water indicated more ice retention and better insulation. Although this cooler was the cheapest in our test, the Igloo BMX can be found for not much more. The Xtreme will do the trick for backyard cookouts, or for someone who doesn’t store much perishable food at camp.
Most of the hard-sided coolers on our list have drainage systems to help you empty out water once your ice has melted. Typically, this comes in the form of a screw-on or pop-off cap at the base of the cooler—simply take it off and let the water pour out. Some also boast drainage channels that funnel water through the opening, which is a nice touch for helping with the clean-up process. Yeti’s Roadie 24 and Pelican’s 20QT Elite are two notable exceptions that don’t come with drain plugs, which can make dumping out extra water a bit of a hassle.
That translates to the Coleman Xtreme being 20% more efficient than the Igloo MaxCold overall in ice retention during the same time period. We also started tracking the internal temperature of the coolers with the ThermoWorks Signals thermometer to see exactly when temperatures began to rise. That’s because rotomolded coolers tend to be substantially larger than a coleman ice chest more basic hard-sided cooler of the same capacity. Their thick walls can quickly eat up a lot of vehicle space without any added storage space. The Xtreme’s light weight also made it relatively easy to carry, though we couldn’t get past the awkward plastic handles. We had to resort to an awkward waddle when carrying it with two people due to their short design.
This metric is also the source of many extraordinary claims from manufacturers. From models with “5-Day” in the name to stickers boasting up to 16 days of ice retention, it seems that just about every product out there will knock your socks off. While all these things will help extend the life of your ice and, therefore, the freshness of your food, it’s unlikely that every consumer will follow these stipulations for each use. So we tested these coolers the way that we, and most consumers, would use them. We bought some ice, filled each model about ⅓ full, and put a mixture of cold and room temperature cans in them. Then we simulated a hot summer trip by sealing them in a heated room for over a week while tracking and recording each unit’s internal temperature.
You’ll also be impressed by the multipurpose lid, which is stocked with four cup holders and doubles as an extra seat if needed. This makes it more comfortable to carry but also frequently positions the handle in a way where it inhibits opening the lid. It also lacks a drainage port, and this version doesn’t boast the IGBC certification of larger Yeti hard coolers.
After the 4th day, the Coleman was about 90% water and 10% ice but still very cold. It still has high-end cooling capabilities but at a much cheaper price than the big boys. There is little concern about sun damage or leak paths forming and the hinge should hold up to quite a bit of abuse. That being said, it is somewhat annoying having to deal with the lid since it won’t stay open. It would be nice to have some sort of lock that allows it to stay open for extended periods but we assume this was Coleman just trying to maximize ice life.
We put 5 of the best camping coolers through months of field testing and rigorous experiments to test their insulation, durability, and camp-worthiness. Although expensive, it was the top performer in all of our categories. There are no latches since this is a soft-sided cooler, just a zipper. We put that to the test during our capacity evaluations, where the entire cooler is filled to the top with water, then closed. In its closed state, full of water, I sloshed it around without spilling a drop, so it’s safe to assume that leaks won’t be an issue. Our recent Magellan Outdoors soft-sided cooler (title holder for Best Soft-Sided Cooler) has the same zipper setup.