If you plan on covering any kind of distance from your vehicle—whether it be to your campsite, a spot along the river, or the beach—wheels can make transport a whole lot easier. And no cooler is better equipped for the job than the RovR Products RollR 45. This Boulder-based wheeled-cooler specialist offers its signature RollR in four capacities ranging from 45 to 85 quarts. On all models, you get big and burly wheels that truly work over a variety of terrain, a long pull handle, and you can even attach this cooler to the back of a bike (BikR Kit attachment sold separately for $70). Throw in a premium rotomolded build with excellent ice retention and a variety of fun features like optional cup holders and a side prepping board, and this cooler is as fun and functional as anything on the market.
Every time we’ve used it over the past several years, it seems to pick up numerous extra scratches and dirt, though it still works the same. We also aren’t in love with the comfort of its narrow, plastic handles in the shadow of some of the broader, more cushioned options utilized by its competitors. While we appreciate the simplicity of the pop-open drain, its small size can’t offer the same rapid flow rate as the much wider igloo cooler with wheels drains found in the competition. Still, you could purchase three or four of these coolers for the same price as some of the competition, and it works to keep your goods cold for days. The Cabela Polar Cap 80 is a top-of-the-line cooler that has been designed to keep cold for days on end. With a large 68-quart capacity, this cooler can store plenty of food and drinks — even an upright wine bottle could fit in this unit.
On the other hand, if you’re the type of explorer heading off the grid for extended periods and pushing your gear to the limits, the extra cash you’ll drop on the Cabela Polar Cap 80 is well worth the investment. This bear-resistant box provides top-notch insulation and superb usability, making it our team’s go-to companion for longer igloo cooler with wheels trips. Though our scoring system of each contender’s performance does not include the cost of the unit, we recognize that this is a crucial aspect influencing the decision of which one to purchase. This particular market includes a huge range of prices that make one wonder if a plastic ice box could be worth that much money.
Much to no one’s surprise, personal cool-boxes like the Pelican 20, Yeti Roadie, and Igloo BMX are much more portable than larger models. A combination of low weight, small size, and large carrying handles help make this possible. Among these smaller coolers, the Igloo BMX has a much broader and more comfortable handle and a smoother overall design, which makes carrying this product full of heavy glass bottles a much more pleasant experience. It also weighs less by a significant margin, which adds to its portability. The Roadie 24 has a flexible webbing strap that more comfortably facilitates an over-the-forearm carry. It also has a pair of indented handles hiding underneath both sides of the top for two-handed carry.
And we have a huge selection of hard coolers for the beach, perfect for keeping you and your crew refreshed for as long as you need. “This collaboration with Igloo solidifies how Sonic the Hedgehog goes beyond the limits of solely video games,” said Alex Gomez, senior director of licensing at Sega of America, in a news release announcing the cooler. Sure, Yeti puts up the numbers now, but has it been there all your life? Igloo’s website boasts that there’s one sitting in one out of every three garages in the U.S. The company sold the first plastic coolers, the first with wheels, and the first with speakers.
The Igloo IMX 70qt is similar, with exceptionally flexible, soft, easy-to-use latches, also giving us pause about how well they’ll hold up through years of use and UV exposure. However, this is just speculation and not something we witnessed during our extensive testing. The Igloo igloo electric cooler BMX also has T-grip latches with slightly different shapes and thicknesses that both get the job done just fine. From the Igloo IMX cooler to the classic Igloo Playmate cooler, check out the selection of hard-sided and soft-sided Igloo coolers available at Ace Hardware today.
Ensure all cleaning agents are thoroughly rinsed and the cooler is dry before storage. For now, Igloo has had far more opportunities to become frozen in Texans’ minds, to be part of the moments we hold dear, but Yeti may be built for the direction we’re headed. In this heat, though, we have to fill them both up with ice before we fill them with memories. The paper pulp of the Recool composts easily in the backyard, and it performs basically as well as any cheap single-use cooler. While the Cabela Polar Cap 80 boasts impressive features, there are some areas where it falls short.
Like many of its competitors, the Tundra 65 has a tiny lip on the inside of the bottom of the drain, so it is challenging to fully empty without flipping the cooler upside-down. Still, we think the Tundra 65 is a useful choice for almost any vehicle-powered activity. ROAM is primarily a rooftop tent manufacturer and well regarded among serious outdoor-goers like overlanders and those who like to get off the grid. But their foray into coolers hasn’t gone unnoticed, combining the ruggedness and utility that ROAM is known for with a myriad of functional features. And importantly, all these features are integrated nicely and have the same solid and confidence-inspiring feel as the rest of the aptly named Rugged. Born from a modest metalworking shop back in 1947, Igloo has been instrumental in redefining how we live, work and play.
The Roadie 24 is just over 13 inches tall inside, which allows standard wine and 2L bottles to stand upright. The Roadie also outlasted all other personal-sized models in our insulation testing. Just as its name suggests, this little box has proved itself to be our go-to road trip companion.