Honest, 100% independent outdoor gear reviews and insightful tips for camping and outdoor adventuring.
People come here for super in-depth reviews of both cheap and expensive outdoor gear so you can really know what it's like before you spend your money on it. You want to see the gear and understand how it compares to similar products and what the tradeoffs are. I want to show you that.
I'm Chase and I'm a family man who doesn't take myself too seriously. I'm a jack of all trades who loves the outdoors and I tend to analyze my gear purchases to an annoying degree. This is where I share my thoughts and observations with other folks who like to camp, hike, hunt, or otherwise spend time outdoors.
Besides reviews, I sometimes share stories about my outdoor adventures as well as tips, tricks, and some how-to videos. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy the videos.
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Just picked this up on sale for $49.99. Watched your review after purchasing and I'm glad to hear that it seems to be a good product. Planning to test this out this weekend camping in 90+ degree weather in Idaho. Thanks for the detailed review. I learned a lot!
Stagnant air is relatively a terrible conductor of heat. However, moving air is a good conductor of heat. This is the same for liquid. stagnant liquid is a worse conductor of heat than moving liquid. So each time you open the cooler, you create drafts in the airflow, moving the air. But opening the lid does not disturb the water the same way it disturbs the air. You summed it up very well at the end of the video, but after doing all that work, you really should have tested the temperature of a coke from the not drained cooler and one of the top cokes from the drained cooler.
Decathlon is great, they have a competitive price, but the quality of products varies. Camping, outdoor brands are great, bicycle or fishing are really terrible for example. I have worked there during college and I have to say, the sportswear has the best quality I've ever seen. I have a 15 year old Artengo shorts, that survived everything so far. Really crazy.
The main thing I didn't hear you mention is; how cold the drinks are with/without water. I know for a fact that cans in ice water get much colder, much faster with the ice water vs ice alone.
No. Not everyone is right. You should leave the water. Half or more of the sodas in that cooler with a little blob of ice left standing in the middle are hot. All of them are the same, and likely cold temp in the cooler that in the end only had water left. Waste your money on redneck science all you want, more thermal mass will win every time.
Menards Tahoe Trails 25 quart rotomolded how do they do more reasonable 89.99 for use one person camping tent or car camping and day trips WHats your recommendation under 100.00
It's sad to spend $100+ and plastic can't even tolerate the sun. At least the light color ones should. Midous well by cheap ones, much less of a loss if it warps.
Did you place the ice and test these in the exact order same order and time how long you had each one open each time you opened it? Do you have the data?
The answer is in observation of icebergs. Occasionally, the iceberg will flip. The reason is due to atmospheric temperature is higher than the temperature below the water line. The near freezing water provides an insulated barrier around the ice.
Hi @OutdoorEmpire, thanks for this perfect overview, I do have 1 question though, would you also recommend these pumps (after seeing your review I’m thinking of buying the Flextail Tiny Pump 2x) but I would want to use it for a bigger 2 person inflatable mattress, should I look into the other flextail pumps that are advertised for the mattresses, or the pumps for sleeping pads will do the job? 🙏
Previous comments about thermal mass are spot on. Additionally this test is flawed in several ways. The biggest flaw concerns the purpose of a cooler, to keep your drinks / food cold. These items should be below the water / ice line, not clinging to the top of the cooler. Placing the thermometer on the lid doesn't indicate the temperature of the food / drinks.
I take 2 coolers, one with only ice in a large cooler that has been frozen solid in my deep freezer overnight and I only open to replace ice in my second cooler and drain 2 two times a day, and quickly close the drain once it starts to drip. I place drinks in a second smaller cooler and top with ice, food, and pre chilled drinks. I keep water level at no more than 6 inches up from the bottom and ice keeps for more than a week with no issue.
Man I saw your video that you did with the other coolers and this one was in the competition and it lasted like 5 days holding the ice I was super impressed with the results with this cooler being 60 bucks 😹I just wanted a small cooler and this make me get it today thanks for well precise review🎉❤
I've got the same knife but mine has a sharpening stone between the plastic and nylon on the sheath. Might be worth checking yours to see if you have that too
It seems like the opening of the bung at the lowest point in the chamber would let cold air out and warm air would come in at the top by way of convection. My guess is that the air in the chamber got changed any number of times in the test for the open drain sample. putting a rag across the opening on the inside could have let water out, but also retain the air.
if you are trying to save the ice for consuming the ice cubes...drain the water. Air is a better insulator than water and the ice cube will last longer in air than in 32 degree water. If you are trying to keep other stuff cold in the cooler, let the ice melt and keep the water, more thermal mass.
Regarding these coolers, what about leaks from the drain plug? I ask because I recently bought an Igloo Maxcold Latitude model based on ice retention. Compared to a Coleman I've been using, the Igloo Maxcold did a far better job with ice, but their screw in drain plug constantly leaked water and soaked my carpet; thus, I returned it after less than a week. I like drain plugs, but not when they're leaking, especially if they're brand new. Were any of these coolers reviewed leak proof from the drain plug?
Thank you for the honest reviews glad to see someone pointing out that these coolers are not rotomolded. Yeti seems really sleazy to me in that a lot of reviews and descriptions of the roadie line say they are and Yeti really says nothing as to how they are manufactured and just continues that myth. Really like my coho $50 well spent.
