It's not just about Ice retention, it's also about how well the parts stay together and do what they are supposed to. I am not a Yeti guy, and I am not knocking Larry's cooler, but I have owned some Ozark Trail stuff and I think I will wait to see how his fares in the long run. Plus, that gives me time for them to actually be in stock on a regular basis.
Ozark Trail is one of those brands that has the manufacture of their products contracted out and each product is literally made by a different vendor. There are many variables that can affect quality control. A non-existent QA department, mis-interpretation of the specs, no oversight from the customer that made the order, (In this case, WalMart) A bad batch of material from a supplier, even something as mundane as an employee just forgetting to add the right binder agent when blending the plastic to be used in a product can have a negative impact on a product. Sometimes a line manager will just not follow the specs of the order because, in his mind, he thinks he knows what will work better.
For example, I had a tent once that was good for about 4 times before all of the stitching came undone. On the flip side, I once had a one of those backpack things that has wheels and a handle for carry-on use and it lasted 12 years of rough use on outdoor trips and even rougher baggage handlers and never busted a stitch, tore up or anything. Even the telescoping handle was a solid as an anvil and never had any problems.
I figure I will wait six months. By then WalMart will have the supply chain for these figured out and the people that have them will be able to attest to their quality.
And sorry for my long-winded post about Quality variables. I work Safety/QA and I am a Root Cause Analysis SME and I can literally talk for HOURS about this stuff. It bores the crap out of most people but I find it fascinating how a seemingly benign condition can cascade into catastrophe.
