I do think the Pelicans pull handle is the lowest on my list of the three. The coolers in competition were the Ozark Trail 45QT Rolling Thermocooler, The Pelican 45QW Elite Wheeled Cooler, and the Yeti Tundra Haul. I chose these coolers because they were the closest among the brands when it came to internal storage. Bought this for backpacking because it is lightweight and packs small, but it is a complete waste of $45. Even with clothes, a thin liner and a fleece liner inside it, the bag could not dispel the cold. There was zero insulation properties as far as I could tell.
For fifteen dollars I wasn’t expecting (or needing) anything that would stand up to freezing weather. Unfortunately the workmanship was more than a little upsetting, even for that price. I notice this isn’t the first review with this complaint. The zipper broke on my warm weather bag on the second night out.
Overall the Pelican coolers have sharper edges and a bit more of an industrial feel than the competition. One of the first things to note about it’s design is that it has a larger drainage hole and a tethered drain cap, which is a nice feature. I have lost a couple of drain caps in my day which makes the cooler unusable until a replacement arrives. I’m using my North facing deck as the staging area which receives direct sunlight at almost all hours of the day. I also placed a small weather system on the deck rail to help get a sense of how hot surface temperatures are in the area.
I could have gotten better quality from a teenager’s home ec project and lighter weight. Similar to the Ozark Trail cooler, the Pelican features orange wheel rims and also has orange clasp accents. You can get this cooler in three colors, Tan which is featured here, as well as graphite and white. The other two colors will have different rims and accents, so if you don’t love the orange you have options. Pelican is a newer entry in to the world of rotomolded coolers and have taken their own spin on design and function.
If you have a boat and bring kids or friends on the water, you know that once you leave the dock the requests for drinks start rolling in fast and furious. Sure, you can load a cooler out each morning packed with fresh ice, but it is just so much easier to cut down all that work with a cooler than can keep ice for days on end. I used this bag two nights last weekend and found it was too cold on its own—lowest temp was 51 degrees each of those nights. The bag is very lightweight and comes with a compression sack. It’s compact, and keeps you warm and comfortable throughout the night.
With a hard plastic latch, you run the risk of brushing by the cooler and hitting your shin, which I have done and is awful. One of my favorite features though is the rubber wheels vs. the hard plastic wheels on the Pelican and Yeti. Not only will the rubber allow for a slightly smoother roll when you are pull this cooler along, but it will also be quieter. You won’t wake the neighbors up when you are pulling this down your dock. Rounding out the exterior is a lid that features 4 cup holders and inch notches for measuring your catch of the day. Our sister site Alloutdoor.com recently reviewed a hiking backpack sold by Ozark Trail that had an overall stellar performance and it triggered a question among our staff.
Backpacking Light community posts are moderated and here to foster helpful and positive discussions about lightweight backpacking. Please be mindful of our values and boundaries and review our Community Guidelines prior to posting. The bag uses Climatech fill, a down alternative, making it very light. The roomy bag, 33 inches wide by 75 inches long, rolls up to a compact 14 by 8 inches.
Find the best sleeping bag/pad for your next outdoor adventure using our independent reviews and ratings. So there you have it, when looking at just the ability to keep ice cold over a period of 6 days the Pelican has just slightly won, but we are talking about decimal points. I have to say that I am very impressed with the performance of the Ozark Trail 45Q cooler. This cooler is not only smaller in its overall size but also a fraction of the price of the competition. The Yeti has the most streamlined design of the three coolers, staying true to the original Yeti look and feel.
Yes, you will most likely see differing results when adding cans or bottles into the mix. If you are adding warm drinks to your ice, you will see reductions ozark trail sleeping bag in the overall length of time your ice will stay cold. The Pelican also features a different pull handle than the Yeti and Ozark coolers as well.
Made with soft polyester, the outer layer being a diamond ripstop material, the bag is both comfortable and durable. The zippers are sturdy, with no problems in the two years we have used them. I would not recommend this product to anyone unless I wanted them to freeze and get a terrible night’s sleep. I nearly froze to death on the trail, and craftsmanship is garbage (to put it mildly). We are committed to finding, researching, and recommending the best products. We earn commissions from purchases you make using the retail links in our product reviews.