It features rubber latches which I am a huge fan of for boating applications. When you are out on the water, people often sneak over to grab something from the cooler and may not latch it back up. With a hard plastic latch, you run the risk of brushing by the cooler and hitting your shin, which I have done and is awful.
These models feature incredibly tough, wear-resistant outer fabric, durable components, sturdy zippers, reinforced stitching, and a design made to be used and abused. Even after several years of regular use, they work just as well as when they were new and still look nearly as nice. In an interesting twist, the Arctic Zone Titan Deep Freeze has neither a zipper nor a roll-top — it’s not even fully sealed. It closes like an old-school hard cooler, with a plastic lid that nestles snugly into the top of its plastic body. Despite not being airtight or leak-proof, it managed to hold ice for 40 hours during our testing. Other coolers have more traditional zippers that aren’t watertight yet still provide effective insulation, like the RTIC Backpack, REI Pack Away, and AO ozark trail canopy 24 Pack.
I use the 52-quart model every week to pick up groceries in Hawaii and drive them home. It fits easily in my trunk, and I can count on it, with a few ice packs, to keep dairy cold even after hours driving around in tropical heat. In our testing, we also found that the Ultra-Light Cooler consistently keeps ice frozen and maintains a food-safe temperature (40 °F) for up to three or four days in the ozark trail chair shade with use.
The soft internal material tends to get soggy and needs extra time to dry out. All things considered, the bag is fairly inexpensive, so if you’re only needing the occasional soft cooler, this will do the trick. And if you’re looking for an even more affordable cooler, you can also check out the Lifewit Large Insulated 24. We enjoy the premium soft coolers and hard-sided coolers the most.
The other two colors will have different rims and accents, so if you don’t love the orange you have options. My own personal beverage drama every summer has really pushed me to do this review. To me, worrying about the temperature of the drinks I have on my boat is the absolute last thing I want to be thinking about when I am heading out on the water. It can keep drinks cold for several days and the wheels on the bottom are great for hauling it from place to place.
This is about average among premium coolers that we have tested in the past. And these thick walls are coated in a UV-resistant layer that helps to protect the cooler from sun damage over time. When it comes to ice retention, this Pelican cooler outperforms even a Yeti, retaining a temperature under 40°F for 135 hours in our tests.