Is it worth it to upgrade my Coleman 70qt to a rotomolded cooler? (1 Viewer)

[skey44]

I have a fridge which worked great in my last truck but this time around I’m not really wanting to get into an electrical system upgrade for all the reasons (cost, points of failure…). I used my yeti 35 for my Colorado trip and it was admittedly a little small requiring a couple of grocery stops. This was also solo and I’m looking to take my daughter on some trips this year.
So with all that said… is it worth it to upgrade my Coleman 70qt cooler to a rotomolded design? It’s nice and compact, has a drain and I’ve used it for an overlanding trip before. It’s obviously weakly constructed and there’s a lot of ice melt and ice refills.
I’m looking at the Kong 70qt and plan to toss it on my hitch haul this summer. Obviously not going to do any hard wheeling with that thing on there but for beach trips and family camping trips I feel like it will work.
The Kong looks sweet with several upgrades over yeti.
Just trying to rationalize spending $400 on another cooler here. Input and practical experiences appreciated!

 

[skey44]

Coleman referred to is the orangey red one here.

 

[Rednexus]

If budget is a concern, you could always go with one of these:

Robot or human?

I have the 52-quart version and it's been a great cooler for multi-day family camping trips and float trips on the river. If I was going on a month-long trip somewhere super remote, I'd probably want a name brand cooler, but for something that gets used 10 days a year, the OT rotomolds are hard to beat. They are half the cost of a name-brand.

 

[skey44]

Thanks for the input. I will have to check out some of the reviews on this
Definitely a good price!

 

[bicycleagent003]

Those Ozark Trail roto-molded coolers are a good value and I have a buddy who swears by hers after a few years of hard use.
The other good value option (and cheaper, and lighter) are the Coleman Xtreme Marine coolers.
Both are good alternatives to Yeti, the Coleman is cheaper and much lighter to lug around.
Nice rig.

 

[Eyedaho]

It just depends on how long you need it to hold ice, in my opinion. High temps and 2-3+ days it becomes necessary, especially if not everyone with you practices good cooler management. On longer rafting trips we pre freeze everything and minimize opening the cooler, but that's not probably necessary for a day or two at the beach. The RTIC coolers hold ice quite well for the price, and they used to go on sale frequently. Not sure if that's still the case with current supply chain issues.

 

[jiggletits]

I have an RTIC 65 and really do not like lugging it around. The cooler itself feels like it weighs 60 lbs.

 

[Rednexus]

My OT 52-qt rotomolded cooler can easily do a full 3 day/2 night canoe or camping trip in the summer, when loaded with beer and food, and lots of opening to get out drinks etc. On Day 3 (the return day) it's usually down to 30% of the original ice by the time I'm home, but the contents are still very cold and able to go back in the fridge (which is really nice - when I had a crappy Coleman I wasted a lot of food that was lukewarm). Pre-cooling it first before adding food helps a lot, plus making sure it's always latched. I usually put 30 lbs of ice in it for a trip like that, so with food and beer I would not be surprised if it is close to 100 lbs. I think it could probably go for a full 4 days / 3 nights without too much of an issue.

 

[SnoopisTDI]

Take a look at Lifetime coolers for a good value. They are not rotomolded, but they are an upgrade from the Coleman in terms of ice retention and durability. You can get Lifetime at Walmart but I'm not sure if Walmart sells one that big, so you might have to buy from somewhere else or directly from Lifetime.