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I agree with all posted. I have Coleman, Yeti and a new Orion. The roto molds keep it cooler longer, but the trick with any cooler is to " PRE COOL" it with a bag/block ice and keep it inside and covered before you leave. Pre freezing as many items as you can like juice, water bottles etc.
 
Another topic where consensus may not be attainable.:)

I will not speak of the Yeti, or any other high dollar cooler, but I will speak of the Coleman Extreme. I've owned many coolers in my lifetime, and even the respected brands and models of the past were not really very good at keeping things cold.

This Coleman Extreme I now own is by far, the best cooler I've ever used. After a long weekend, my block ice comes home intact. In the mountains hunting for a week, the ice is mostly gone, but the food remains safely cold.

Two tricks I use when I have time to prepare...I freeze the gallon jugs of water from Bimart instead of buying blocks of ice. Ice in these jugs lasts far longer than a block of ice swimming around in a pool of water. And, I drape an emergency space blanket over and around the food and water bottles.
 
I use the Coleman Extreme all the time, and I usually get 3 to 5 days of Cold out of it when packed in ice. I can extend this by more then double with the bottom 1/4 packed in Dry Ice. I can usually keep frozen things frozen for the days I listed using Ice or Dry Ice! I also use packing tape to "seal" the lid while in transit or between long times between opening while loaded and this works very well, but the dry ice needs to breath, so I leave an inch or two on taped and it seems to work out this way! Note, If you do use dry ice and don't vent it, you could literally blow the whole thing up with enough power to kill you and those around you, and damage a lot of property in the process! o_O

BOOM! Nailed it.
I have cycled out my other coolers for the Extremes and down here in the 90 degree heat and 90% humidity they will hold ice for 5 days doing like @Ura-Ki says. The dry ice is the ticket.
I will add this:
https://www.amazon.com/ENGEL-COOLER...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B006OH5F9Y

The above is my lunch box. This thing is da bomb. Every welder/ironworker I know down here has one. They make a great seat, and keep stuff cold. A friend of mine from cajun country says he fills his with drinks,ice and snacks on top of the ice and it will last for 2-3 days in the La heat. I've never used anything but blue ice in mine but after 25 hours the blue ice is still frozen and the drinks still cold.
 
BOOM! Nailed it.
I have cycled out my other coolers for the Extremes and down here in the 90 degree heat and 90% humidity they will hold ice for 5 days doing like @Ura-Ki says. The dry ice is the ticket.
I will add this:
https://www.amazon.com/ENGEL-COOLER...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B006OH5F9Y

The above is my lunch box. This thing is da bomb. Every welder/ironworker I know down here has one. They make a great seat, and keep stuff cold. A friend of mine from cajun country says he fills his with drinks,ice and snacks on top of the ice and it will last for 2-3 days in the La heat. I've never used anything but blue ice in mine but after 25 hours the blue ice is still frozen and the drinks still cold.
That Engel is a nice lookin' unit !
 
It comes down to convienece. Same reason we are not melting down steel and fabricating our own firearms right? Some one builds them, we just buy them because its easier, same with coolers. :D


"" Screw you Yeti and Coleman."" <<<<< It looks like Chewbacca and Hans not Yeti and Coleman.. LOL
 
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All this talk about who's cooler is this and that seems crazy. This winter I'm going to buy some sheet metal, foam insulation, some hinges, and a latch to make my own.

Screw you Yeti and Coleman.

Use the 2" pink or blue foam board. Years back I made a cooler for salmon and Steelhead like that and it worked great. Instead of hinges make the lid so it fits down inside the top of the cooler snugly-works way better.
 
Use the 2" pink or blue foam board. Years back I made a cooler for salmon and Steelhead like that and it worked great. Instead of hinges make the lid so it fits down inside the top of the cooler snugly-works way better.

Good idea. 2" pink foam is what I'm planning on going with. my concern is making a good seal between the opening and the lid.
 
I use 35-40 year old Coleman, metal box coolers.

I used granny's old green steel-box Coleman for nearly 40 years & it finally got to where I couldn't drive around the block & keep stuff cool. It had a long life & & was quite nostalgic about actually *replacing* it after all those joyous times.
 
Good idea. 2" pink foam is what I'm planning on going with. my concern is making a good seal between the opening and the lid.
Look at how a driftboat dry box is made.
That is how you create a sealing surface using sheet metal for a box.
The seal can be one of several "peel and stick" gasket types.
The most common I run into is "smoke gasket" for commercial door jambs.
Hardware store weatherstripping would work as well.

And Southco for the latches.
World's best and inexpensive.
 
I didn't read all of the replies, but what I usually do if I need something to last a long time in my coolers is put 3 inches of water in it and freeze it in my bin freezer. Then I throw a couple bags of ice on top of whatever I'm trying to keep cold. Even in my cheap-o cooler I can keep something (usually adult beverages) ice cold for several days at a time. Works well for me.
 

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