ORCA (Outdoor Recreation Company of America) isn’t a household name like YETI, but the Tennessee brand has gained a dedicated following of committed outdoorspeople. Their 40-quart cooler gives premium rotomolded models here a real run for their money. Its flexible side handles make carrying a breeze, and we found the exterior organizer pocket to be a nice addition for storing small items like koozies, kitchen utensils, and a bottle opener. Starting at 20 quarts and going all the way up to 140, there’s an ORCA cooler for just about any activity. Choosing the right Coleman cooler really depends on what type of trip or event you are taking your cooler to.
We are just looking for enough ice retention to be serviceable at this price bracket. As with all soft coolers, you shouldn’t leave the RTIC Soft Pack Cooler out in the sun or resting on very hot surfaces like the back of a pickup truck or on top of a picnic table for a long time. Although the exterior of the cooler is made of a durable, thickly coated nylon—waterproof and tough—the sun and heat will degrade the material and slowly wear it out. It has taken us a few years to recommend a wheeled cooler simply because none have seemed built to last longer than a season or two—especially in the handle.
Thanks to these, you can separate your cooler into compartments and keep it cool. Though it’ll still set you back a few hundred dollars, this option is on par with its competitors that go for a significant amount more. Performing well across the board, this is an excellent companion for your next trip.
That said, if ruggedness is something you need, the Coleman may not be the best choice. Its handles, hinges, and latches don’t inspire confidence in their ability to last the years in the same way as the high-end, IGBC certified, and rotomolded models do. Every time we’ve used it over the past several years, it seems to pick up numerous extra scratches and dirt, though it still works the same.
I just wanted to see how two coolers I already owned stacked up against each other under normal usage conditions. After the 6th day, the Yeti joined the Coleman coleman ice chest Xtreme and was all out of ice as well. This combination of shade and sun is typical of what you might run into if you have a cooler with you out camping.
Once loaded with ice, drinks, and food, a 37-pound cooler can more than double in weight. When someone then tilts the cooler up, all that weight goes into the wheelbase or leans into the handle hinge. The Coleman Xtreme features replaceable hardware, whereas some of the company’s cheaper models don’t.
From picnics in the park to beach BBQs, we carted these models everywhere we went to learn which models were most portable and enjoyable to use. We also went through hundreds of pounds of ice and frosty cans in our rigorous insulation tests. Whether you’re setting out on a road trip or a hunting trip, we can help you choose your perfect icebox. These coolers are in the budget tier and even then are sometimes on sale where they can dip to an extremely affordable price.