[JerryH]

I'm looking for a cooler in the 55 quart range that won't break the bank.

I have a Lifetime 55 quart that I'm disappointed with. I've charged and primed it before use. And ice retention is poor at best.

 

[Ray]

how many days are you getting with your lifetime? I have the 115 qt lifetime, works great for me.

is it getting direct sunlight when you’re camping?

ice retention is also better in white coolers, so keep that in mind when shopping

 

[JerryH]

In four days I burned through 4 - 2 liter blocks of ice and 2 7lb bags of cubed ice. Cooler was in the car all four days while traveling. This cooler has never had good ice retention from day one. Seals & latches are good and its built tuff. Even a day of fishing it melts quickly. Weird.

 

[DallanC]

Bigger coolers with a couple more bags of ice is much more important than the quality of a smaller cooler. We bought the largest igloo cooler at walmart long ago, its a monster. Load it up with ice, we've never had it all melt. Works great to fit in a whole antelope or two. In or out of sun... doesn't matter.

Also, fill 2ltr bottles with salt water and freeze those... they will stay colder, longer than ice.

-DallanC

 

[caddis8]

I got a Boss Buck cooler. It's great. There are a lot of Yeti type coolers that do a very good job with ice retention.

 

[Fowlmouth]

I have been satisfied with the Lifetime 77-quart cooler. I haven't used my new Lifetime 55- quart yet. I hope it doesn't suck!

 

[JerryH]

I have been satisfied with the Lifetime 77-quart cooler. I haven't used my new Lifetime 55- quart yet. I hope it doesn't suck!

I hope it doesn't suck either.

I have plenty of huge coolers from various brands that work well. The 55 is a good size for overnighters and road trips in a car. Maybe I got a lemon? I'd feel guilty selling this on ksl.

 

[Raptorman]

I was given a Rtic as a gift and I really like it. But they aren't cheap. Most of my family has Lifetime, and they work great. I was going to say that, but sounds like you've had a different experience. Wal Mart has an igloo 50 QT that looks good for the price.

 

[DallanC]

Rtic for the win. Pro 2nd Amendment, as good of build quality as Yeti, way cheaper.

But if you have space, a simple Coleman 150qt cooler with a few more bags of ice will keep items cooler longer than a smaller cooler. I love my 150qt cooler.

-DallanC

 

[JerryH]

Rtic for the win. Pro 2nd Amendment, as good of build quality as Yeti, way cheaper.

But if you have space, a simple Coleman 150qt cooler with a few more bags of ice will keep items cooler longer than a smaller cooler. I love my 150qt cooler.

-DallanC

I have a 100qt Coleman and a 150qt Igloo and both are great coolers.

Just need a 50-55qt

 

[KineKilla]

I have two RTIC 55qt ones that are my usual go to coolers. I've found that it takes a bag of ice to cool it down. Once cold, it will hold ice for a long time. Especially if you aren't opening it all the time.

Sent from my SM-N976U using Tapatalk

 

[JerryH]

I decided to try a experiment before I trashed the cooler. I bought some auto/marine rubber weather strip. I added two extra seals to the cooler lid. It appears to be holding ice much better.

 

[Vanilla]

Very surprised to hear the defunct ways of the Lifetime. In fact, I bet if you took it into them they’d exchange it. I have two and they are both the best coolers I’ve owned.

I’ve been very happy with them. I hope the new stripping helps. But you try contacting Lifetime and telling them. That is not usual performance for that cooler.

 

[Bax*]

I have two RTIC 55qt ones that are my usual go to coolers. I've found that it takes a bag of ice to cool it down. Once cold, it will hold ice for a long time. Especially if you aren't opening it all the time.

Sent from my SM-N976U using Tapatalk

I think you posted this pic to make me jealous of your awesome garage 😎

 

[JerryH]

Very surprised to hear the defunct ways of the Lifetime. In fact, I bet if you took it into them they’d exchange it. I have two and they are both the best coolers I’ve owned.

I’ve been very happy with them. I hope the new stripping helps. But you try contacting Lifetime and telling them. That is not usual performance for that cooler.

I called their north salt lake outlet store yesterday. 5 year manufacture warranty. Meaning handles, hinges, latches and defects. There is nothing wrong with this cooler except it doesn't hold ice.

With the double gaskets its definitely holding ice better.

 

[Vanilla]

There is nothing wrong with this cooler except it doesn't hold ice.

That seems very much like a defect to me! Containers that don’t hold ice are called boxes, not coolers.

I have never had to utilize a warranty from Lifetime, but I thought they’d stick by their products better than that. Sorry to hear it. Seems like the gasket was at least part of the problem.

 

[JerryH]

Did you know that Lifetime owns Summit Ice

 

[taxidermist]

It's a crap shoot at best I think when it comes to the "Super Coolers". I have two lifetime and one works good, and the other is a POS. It has become my "fish cooler" that I put fish in for a few hours before filleting them.

I've had good results with the big white coolers from Sam's Club. As long as you keep them in the shade and don't open and close them constantly, they have held ice for 4 days.

 

[Bax*]

On the topic of small coolers:

I bought the Pelican 14qt cooler like this: 14QT Personal Cooler | Pelican

I put it out in the hot wind yesterday with 10 bottles and it still had ice tonight.

Not bad for a tiny cooler!

 

[taxidermist]

On the topic of small coolers:

I bought the Pelican 14qt cooler like this: 14QT Personal Cooler | Pelican

I put it out in the hot wind yesterday with 10 bottles and it still had ice tonight.

Not bad for a tiny cooler!

The smaller coolers work better because you have less area to cool down. Same as a big chest freezer. Unless you have the stuff to fill it up, it works harder to keeping the "free space" frozen. At least that's the way I see it, I could be wrong.