But it does fall a bit short of the top-tier premium coolers in the industry. The ice life, well not bad, was not near what Ozark Trail stated in their specifications. We have a hunch this is because their testing was performed under more optimal conditions.
We will break down the specific features for each type of ice chest in the sections below. As is typical of most other cooler brands, the smaller coolers will utilize an overhead carrying handle while the larger coolers will stick to traditional side rope handles. We will go into more detail about the specific features later in this review.
However, the build quality and durability is not comparable to Yeti and ozark trail coolers come with no warranty. We have been receiving a lot of complaints as of late from people who are mentioning that the zippers on their soft-sided coolers are going out after 6 to 12 months. We are looking into this problem in more detail and may adjust this review accordingly once we get to the bottom of it.
However, that kind of handle won’t work for the larger coolers, so they utilize side handles made of rope for those ones. If getting a great cooler at a great price means making some sacrifices, like not having it made locally, we know there are people who are willing to pay that price. Consequently, unless you really need those extra couple hours of ice retention, you will be just as satisfied with an Ozark Trail as you would with a Yeti Tundra. Consequently, you do not have to worry about water spilling outside once the ice has melted nor water getting inside on a rainy day. Indeed, hard shell s are highly resourceful in the sense that they are equipped with everything you’ll need on your little adventure. Cover much more space is the 36 can premium model that is a much better option for picnics and small gatherings.
Whether or not these fit and finish issues haunt you almost seems like luck of the draw. To achieve the extremely attractive price point that they did, Ozark Trail likely had to sacrifice a few things in the quality department. The result is a cooler that doesn’t have quite the level ozark trail canopy of fit and finish as, say, a Yeti or an Engel. To achieve these asking prices, some shortcuts in manufacturing and quality were necessary. We will discuss these in greater detail in our reviews below. No matter which model you go with, you will get to enjoy multiple storage options.