A cooler’s latch or closure system is one of the defining characteristics of a premium model and plays a significant role in overall cooling performance. Among high-end hard-sided coolers, you’ll commonly find two rubber T-handles along the front that keep the lid locked securely in place. These handles are fairly user-friendly, extremely strong, and minimize any openings for cold air to escape.
Many companies have spent an astronomical amount of money and time to convince people that they need to spend ridiculous sums just to keep a drink cold. Coolers aren’t complicated, which is a good thing to remember in the face of all that advertising. After spending many years evaluating more than 40 cooler models, we’ve chosen eight that are well made, well insulated, and well suited for a range of outings.
I suspect that one of the ways Coleman keeps costs down is by making the Xtreme 5 out of traditional injection-molded plastic rather than the insulated polyethylene you’ll see on some coolers. I’m sure it’s easier to dent this kind of material, but it looks like it will hold up well as long as you don’t abuse it. The Original is made with an exterior of 840-denier UV-resistant nylon wrapped around open-cell foam. Technically less insulating than closed-cell foam, open-cell foam performs fairly well for most applications as long as the cooler isn’t left in the open sun. The Original can do exactly what you need it to do, which is to keep things cold for the day while you focus on the fun at hand.
Though it doesn’t have the same rock-solid feel that many of the rotomolded coolers have, the Coleman seemed to have no problem being an impromptu trampoline. If you treat the Coleman Xtreme nicely, you may be able to get a bit more life out of it, but if you’re rough on your gear, this cooler probably isn’t the right choice for you. Personally, I don’t love the rubber latch style because sometimes I struggle to pull the latches down hard enough for them to secure in place. But I think a lot of this design has to do with keeping it bear-proof.
A. Coleman claims that the Xtreme 5 can preserve ice for five days. Your results will depend on the ambient temperature, what kind of food and drinks you store, how much ice you use, and how often the cooler is opened. The temperature hovered there for two hours before dipping further to 38 degrees. I checked every hour, expecting to monitor a gradual increase as the sun and warm air saturated the insulation. When lunch rolled around, the cooler was at a happy 34 degrees with solid ice cubes still holding strong. I’m not about to phone it in for my loyal readers, so I ran down to the gas station and picked up three bags of ice and a 12-pack of Spotted Cow.
However, if you decide to fill the Coleman to the top with ice and soda, you may soon be wishing you hadn’t! So depending on how you pack your Coleman, you may have no problems wandering through the city park with it, or you may have a tough time merely loading it into the back of a Subaru. I’ve been told that Yetis are most effective (like any other coleman instant tent cooler) if they are chilled before putting ice in them. If I’m using the Yeti at home, I’ll take whatever ice is in my icebox and put it in my Yeti before packing it up with food and store-bought bags of ice. So I think I could’ve increased the cooler chill by a day if I could keep the internal storage colder before putting my food and ice inside.
Another example came up last year during a power outage, as one of our staff members was able to store most of the contents of a fridge in a 70-quart cooler, along with the necessary ice to keep it cold. We’ve tested Polar Bear coolers for seven years now, buying them or receiving coleman camping chair test units from Polar Bear. Recently, however, we’ve been let down by the lifespan of its soft coolers (though not this backpack in particular). But with care, you can extend the lifespan of any soft cooler—the number one rule seems to be not to leave it out in the sun.