HD Coolers

I know there's more to the roto molded coolers than the cups, but the cups are just as nice. Even if the coolers aren't quite as good, $150 for a 52 qt that would fit perfectly on my camper sounds pretty good.
I am wanting one of those as well. Due to the fact they are perpetually out of stock, I am not convinced that they actually exist.
 

LBarr2002

LIFETIME
SUPPORTER
20160618_192651_zpsascdn7zt.jpg

Happy Father's Day to me. Burgundy was searching at 4:00 am when she was up with Bennett last week and found them in stock in Camden. Her sister was meeting us for dinner that night anyway so she picked it up and snuck it into Burgundy's car.
 
20160618_192651_zpsascdn7zt.jpg

Happy Father's Day to me. Burgundy was searching at 4:00 am when she was up with Bennett last week and found them in stock in Camden. Her sister was meeting us for dinner that night anyway so she picked it up and snuck it into Burgundy's car.
Have you had a chance to do anything with the new cooler yet? What do you think about it?
 
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.
 
Last edited:

LBarr2002

LIFETIME
SUPPORTER
Have you had a chance to do anything with the new cooler yet? What do you think about it?
Used it for the first time today. We made a day trip to the beach and it spent the majority of the time in the bed of my truck under the black tonneau cover in direct sunlight (it's like a freakin oven back there). All I did to pre chill it was toss a couple ice packs in there last night. This morning I filled it half full of drinks and dumped in an 8lb bag of ice. 15 hours later it has probably half the ice.

20160715_213028_zpsnpnzjfyy.jpg
 
I am not sure why people feel the need for ice to last for so long. I just want a cooler that will last a couple seasons of football and wheeling. My commercial grade igloos have held up well but I think a Roto molded cooler would last a lot longer. I am tired of replacing hinges.
 

LBarr2002

LIFETIME
SUPPORTER
I am not sure why people feel the need for ice to last for so long. I just want a cooler that will last a couple seasons of football and wheeling. My commercial grade igloos have held up well but I think a Roto molded cooler would last a lot longer. I am tired of replacing hinges.
My biggest problem with ice melt is everything getting soggy and water seeping in to my lunchables... I have to remember to put everything in ziplocks.
 
I imagine I will be getting into those problems soon. Lucas is still young enough that his food is sealed. My igloo has a basket for those things but it reduces my beer storage space. I definitely want to upgrade to something more rugged though.
 
On my trip out west we were constantly looking for ice. We borrowed a whatever cooler, and we were putting ice in it at least once a day. It was annoying having everything get soaked in water and constantly draining.

Also whenever I go to windrock, I typically stay in there for a few days, never leaving the park or the campsite. Its super nice not having to hurry back before they close the office to get a new bag of ice or whatever. My old cooler was going through a bag of ice every 18 hours or so.

When moving my g/f back from grad school, I had to load up her cold food and then bury it in the back of the 4Runner. We had to load the day before graduation and finally unloaded it 3 days later. Everything was still cool. Super nice not to have to worry about it.

With my engel, I have four half gallon milk jugs. I use two to pre-chill to cooler, then use the other 2 as ice blocks. Very convenient not having to stop at some sketch gas station near my hood on the way out of town to get ice.
 
Top