How to Choose a Cooler

The gap between an $80 Coleman and a $325 YETI is real and it is narrower than the price suggests. Rotomolded coolers hold ice for days rather than a day, and that only matters if your trips are long enough for it to matter.

1. 1

   Count the days you need ice to last

   A weekend with a store nearby needs one day of ice retention and a $80 cooler covers it. Four days off-grid with no resupply needs three-plus days of retention, which is where rotomolded construction earns its price. Buying a YETI for overnight trips is buying capability you will never use.

2. 2

   Size it by group and days, not by feel

   Roughly 15 quarts per person for a weekend, adding capacity for ice at a 2:1 ice-to-contents ratio for long trips. A 45-quart cooler realistically feeds two people for three days with proper ice. Oversizing wastes cooling on empty air; undersizing means opening it constantly, which is worse.

3. 3

   Think about how it moves

   A loaded 45-quart rotomolded cooler weighs 60-70 pounds. If it goes from car to campsite twenty feet away, fine. If it needs carrying any distance, wheels or a smaller size matter more than ice retention. This is the specification people most often regret ignoring.

4. 4

   Decide between hard and soft

   Soft coolers are lighter, pack down when empty, and hold ice for a day. Hard coolers hold ice for days and take up fixed space whether full or empty. Many campers end up with a large hard cooler for food and a small soft one for drinks, which stops the main cooler being opened every ten minutes.

   Rotomolded vs softWhich construction suits your trips

   Read Guide →
5. 5

   Plan your ice strategy before buying

   Ice retention numbers assume a pre-chilled cooler, block ice, and a full load. Get those wrong and a $325 cooler performs like an $80 one. The technique matters as much as the purchase.

   Packing a coolerGetting the ice retention you paid for

   Read Guide →

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