Over at Home Depot, today’s deal of the day features Pelican 20Q and 35Q coolers, in white and tan.
These coolers are made in the USA, and are said to keep your drinks cold for a very, very long time if proper ice or ice pack practices are followed.
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I’ve heard lots of good things about Yeti and Pelican coolers, but the prices are often high – too high without good justification.
Hmm… we might be taking some long road trips this summer, and it would be nice to have ice-cold drinks at the ready no matter where we are.
For those of you who have taken the plunge, would you recommend these coolers?
And is there a difference between white and tan models? The White are described as “White Elite,” the tan as Pelican ProGear, but they seem to be used interchangeably. From the images and specs, they look identical outside of color.
The 20QT white model is less expensive than the tan, and the 35QT tan model is less expensive than the white.
These coolers are often said to be capable of keeping contents cold for DAYS, not just hours.
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The 20 quart coolers can fit up to 15 cans with a 2:1 ice ratio, and have 2″ insulated walls, rubber feet, and a water and bear-proof seal. There’s a built-in bottle opener.
The 35 quart coolers can fit up to 30 cans with a 2:1 ice ratio, and have all of the same features. This size of cooler comes with a built-in drain.
The 20QT cooler weighs 16 lbs, and the 35QT cooler 32.16 lbs.
There’s a new 20QT cooler with more vertical form factor, and with 1″ insulated walls. That version is not on sale.
Sale Prices:
- 20QT White: $145.71
- 20QT Tan: $181.97
- 35QT White: $210
- 35QT Tan: $156.63
What do you guys think – is this a HOT deal? Err… I mean COLD?
COO: USA
BJN
Don’t believe the hype. These are rugged, as you’d expect from Pelican and any premium cooler. The difference in performance over a cheap cooler of decent construction is minimal. There is no standard for testing and rating coolers, but on our river trips the difference between a heavy premium cooler and a pedestrian one is modest. What’s more important to ice longevity is how cold the ice and cooler are to begin with (deep freeze is the trick for a Grand Canyon trip), keeping the cooler shaded, and keeping the cooler closed. Also note those pivoting plastic handles are harder to deal with in close quarters than a rope handle.
Farid
Sorry, I don’t have one of these. Being Pelican, I am sure it performs great. The walls look to be extra thick and the lid seal should help keep the heat out.
You mentioned good practices, which reminded of a few trips we’ve done a few years ago when my son was a a baby. On a couple of trips t Florida, we split the drive over-two days. I have a small Igloo cooler (the kind design to store 2-litlre bottles) that seems to hold up really well. We used to store premixed formula and milk for the road. I packed the formula and ice packs, then placed a folded towel on top of everything and closed the lid. I also laid a towel over the lid and placed something else on top to add weight – like a small gym bag. The ice kept for two days. One one trip, I used 1-lb dry ice. It kept for 3-days before I discarded what was left.
Most of the heat escapes through the lid opening and having the towel for extra insulation and the added weight to ensure the lid does not accidentally open did the trick. Minimizing time the lid stays open also helps a great deal.
Jim Felt
I agree with BJN.
The commercial grade of usually white Igloo brand coolers (60-100 qt. and up) is about all I’ve ever seen on guide boats coast to coast. Plus our multi vehicle ad photo shoot caravans.
That said Pelican does indeed make the truly ubiquitous camera gear hard cases (only Anvil like cases are heavier and more customizable) and great if heavy gun cases as well.
But not coolers. Not yet.
Blythe M
One of the biggest cooler tips that has made a big difference for me it’s to make sure the contents are as cold as possible before going in the cooler. It should be common sense, but I was guilty of putting in some ice, dumping in some pop from the storage room and then putting in more ice. The room temp drink immediately heat up the surrounding until everything is equalized.
Complicated explanation of a simple thing, but it helps me keep ice at least a day longer in a standard cooler during our camping trips when added to the previous commenters procedures
Garrick
I would need to have a higher income to be in the market for coolers in this price range,. But I do own several in the say, mid price range, of various sizes.
The main factor on how good a cooler is, is the thickness of the insulation, and how long the lid fits tightly before getting wonky. But more importantly for how long things stay cool inside, is how well you pack it. I have kept beer cool for a week in a trunk of a car (while on a 80 mile backpacking trip), by parking it the shade, and wrapping a thick blanket carefully around it.
Check this out for the best advice I’ve seen on how to pack a cooler:
https://www.outsideonline.com/2167381/how-properly-pack-cooler
Robbie Stanford
I use igloo extreme coolers, they are about 1/4 the price and will hold ice for 5 days
Robbie Stanford
I’m sorry, they are Coleman extreme, not igloo extreme.
Bremon
I have a 20 quart and the new 70 quart, and gifted the new 50 quart to my dad. They perform great and will outlast me easily. They were expensive but worth the dough imo. The 20 quart is my lunch kit/seat at lunch in working in construction.
Kent
On the pro BBQ trail coolers like these are highly regarded, when transporting hundreds of dollars of meat in the summer sun these have out performed traditional coolers and when that sort of money is on the line it’s worth it. Drinks and stuff still go in a cheap igloo but the expensive meat rides in very cold class!
Stuart
That’s also what I was thinking of.
If I’m ever going to spend a lot of money on an over-built cooler, it’s going to have to do a lot to justify the expense.
MEAT!
Tim
Good for transporting organs.
fred
Maybe expensive drugs and organs that need to be kept cold and transported – are actually the target for these ?
Stuart
No, these are largely marketed for recreational users. Some have fish scales on the lids and are rated for marine use. These have stainless steel hardware.
John Sullivan
A few thoughts, some of which will echo what’s above: rotomolded coolers are great but not perfect. The seals are generally better than a cheaper blow-molded cooler, and keeping air out makes a HUGE difference when the cooler is exposed to wind (in the back of a pickup truck or on the deck of a fishing boat). In those environments, they win. In the back seat of a sedan or the cargo area of a minivan, you’re not going to see as much of a difference. But when I’m out fishing, the so-called “premium” rotomolded coolers do seem to keep the contents colder longer than their blow-molded bretheren.
Next problem, they’re HEAVY. My Yeti 75 quart weighs about 35 pounds, EMPTY. My Igloo Marine 130 quart is lighter than that. If memory serves, you have a toddler? Hope your back (or your wife’s) is up to wrestling a very heavy cooler into the car by yourself, because the kid isn’t going to be able to heft that for a while. It’s an important road trip consideration.
Pre-chilling any cooler (but IMO especially a rotomolded one) and only putting in cold items makes a huge difference in _keeping_ those contents cold. Every BTu, calorie, or joule that’s spent bringing the cooler and/or its contents down to a common temperature is wasted, and represents melted ice.
If you’re still thinking about buying a rotomolded cooler, RTIC (one of the first Yeti clones) is having a 30% off sale on some models right now, bringing the prices lower than the Pelican. Note that RTIC’s main drawback is that it is heavier than the comparable size Yeti. Not sure where Pelican falls in the weight competition, but they seem just as sturdy as the others when I’ve come across them in stores.
John Sullivan
Sorry, one other RTIC consideration: a few members on TheHullTruth (a boating forum which is heavily populated by South Florida cooler snobs, so they know their stuff) have griped about RTIC’s customer service, while praising Yeti. I haven’t noticed a lot of Pelican-related chatter to compare. I don’t have a firsthand customer service story to weigh in, but since Stuart has recently mentioned that being important to him, I thought it should be added.
Travis Collins
Amazon pricing is still better if not equal.
Pete
Woah… what about yetis? How else am i gonna get a yeti sticker to put on my truck next to my salt life sticker to let everyone know that my tundra is the real deal and not a poser with just my flat bill hat?
Kidding aside, i dont think i’ll own a roto molded cooler for a LONG time…
Goodnightjohnboy
Please take the salt life sticker off of your truck. Nobody cares if you’ve been to the beach or if you eat too much sodium. Gotta hate those stickers. The yeti stickers are worse. Here’s a bad suggestion, get yourself a Pepper Life sticker too & you can be that much cooler than the real deal. Anyhoo, that’s a lot of money for an insulated plastic box. My white Igloo hasn’t let me down. What the hell is a rotoblowmolded yeti? Nevermind, I don’t wanna know.
ACalz
I remember Home Depot was carrying them in south FL. They went on sale at 50% off and still laid around. not until it hit 75% that people bought them all up. The starting price was 300 dollars, which mostly fishermen would buy at that price down here. Nice looking coolers.
Adam g
Here in mn you see most of these coolers in the hands of yuppies for a status symbol or in an attempt to hide the fact that their idea of roughing it is in a 100,000 dollar rv.
Stuart
That’s kind of what I’ve been wondering – if these new breed of ultra coolers are far ahead tried and true traditional designs, or if they’ve been over-hyped by people who only need an hour or two of cooling.
I’m leaning towards investing in better ice packs, such as the Cooler Shock ones. New ice packs plus cooler bags we already use for groceries in the summer.
Bremon
They’re the real deal. You just have to make sure the gasket is installed properly and has no gap or there could be a tiny air leak. They’re easy to pull out and adjust.
I’ve had hundreds of dollars of meat in mine for days and hundreds of miles. Nothing to worry about. If you’re just looking to keep your beer cold for an afternoon a Walmart special will do just fine.
taras
In my experience, rotomolded coolers, although nice, really should only be a consideration if you need the durability that comes with them. Is your coller going to be taking a beating, and needs to be strong enough to be lashed down? No? Then take a pass, save some money, and never know the difference. What sets a good cooler apart from a mediocre one as far as keeping cold is how thick the insulation is, the quality of the insulation, and how well it seals. You can get a decent blowmolded cooler that has 90% of a Yeti/Pelican’s performance, for less than half the price. Spend the savings on a chunk of dry ice here and there to put in the cooler for longer trips, and it will be decades before you eclipse the cost of a more expensive cooler.
Farid
Spot-on. We use rotomolded cases for our service gear that travels the globe and they do take a real beating (we use Hardigg, which is now owned by Pelican!)
Note that shipped mail order meats (e.g. Ham and steaks & seafood), and medicine are all placed in plain Styrofoam coolers with thick walls and they stay very cold. Again, properly secured lids are critical. The purpose of the shell is just to keep the Styrofoam from falling apart and and a way to attach handles! So, unless the cooler is taking a beating, blow molded coolers, in most cases, are enough.
Bremon
This is also a good point; if we are making the home trip from the ranch in one day the styrofoam ones do just fine if the seal is tight.
Jay
@ Robbie Stanford, ditto on the Coleman Xtreme. Have one that rides in the back of my pickup exposed to the hot sun all day. Temps of 105+ are common here in West Texas. The Coleman Xtreme cooler usually keeps ice 4-5 days as long as you start with an already cold cooler. After that, the melted ice water and drinks stay very cold another day or two. I’ve got an older model 70 qt with square corners, imho one of the best coolers Coleman has ever made. Wally World has the new 70 qt model with the angled corners for $41.36 and free shipping. Can’t beat that deal no way no how.
If Coleman coolers are not your thing then checkout the Igloo Marine Ultra. I have the 54 qt for those days I don’t need to haul around the big Coleman cooler. This is actually my favorite cooler because it is the perfect size and keeps ice for days. Wally World has them for $49.99 with free 2 day shipping.
Also want to mention the Rubbermaid 10 qt and 24 qt coolers with the bail handles, they make great lunch boxes. I use the 10 qt in the winter and the 24 qt for the summer. Toss in a couple blue ice packs and you’re good to go. Amazon has the 24 qt on sale from time to time for under $18 with free prime shipping.
Farid
FYI:
Noticed yesterday at Costco they have a bunch of coolers on sale . They have the Igloo Sportsman (70 Qt I believe) rotomolded cooler for $200.
I only had a few seconds to look at it. Very impressive and heavy, but I really don’t have a use for, for now. Maybe once we start doing the longer scouts camp-outs.