A higher quality ice chest cooler

[livemusic]

I am tiring of buying what I would think would be a decent quality, name brand ice chest and then have it fail within two seasons of light to moderate use. Hinges are plastic and break or poor quality snap lids fail. Anyone find a decent quality ice chest? I shudder to think of buying one of those high dollar Yeti coolers but wonder if they last a long time. It's just hard for me to pull the trigger on one that costs that much! Please let me know if you know of a good cooler. I am talking about one big enough to hold fish, not a lunch box size. I guess 48 quart or larger.

["G"]

You can buy replacement hinges and latches for Coleman and Igloo at Academy Sports.

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[Locator79]

My Engel has held up pretty well, no complaints

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[Swampseed]

I bought a small 20 quart RTIC on sale for 105 bucks with shipping. Very nice and lot less than other brands. Was going to get a 48 or 60 quart but my problem with all the high dollar coolers is weight. Think a 48 quart weighed about 30lbs empty. Put couple bags of ice, drinks and food in it and I need a fork truck to get it in and out of my truck. LOL

[Ketchn]

I have some kind of Coleman that keeps ice for a long time , 25 bucks and I have it going on 3 years no worries ......but I don't store it outside

[buffleheadnc2]

I am pleased with my Ozark trails cooler so far. I was tired of busted hinges and nothing frustrated me more than trying to open one of the cheaper coolers when it was empty and it falling over backwards which also held true when trying to clean the thing. The weight on the nicer coolers is a huge plus for the most part I can sling the lid open on that Ozark trails and it stays put. When I wash it out I open the big drain plug and clean it up without it ever tipping over. I can also put it in the boat empty and it dosent move one bit on the other hand if you got a lot of fish and or ice in it you will need to empty it some to get it out of the boat or have two people. I have the 52 qt which can be bought for under $150 which is a good deal I think. I will see how it holds up over the next few years so far it has been on about 10-15 fishing trips and is doing great for me. I am rather gentle on my equipment I use it but I don't abuse it I don't see the point in beating something to pieces then have to pay to replace it.

[deltarat]

RTIC just as good as Yeti for half the price. I have the lunch box which is just right for just me on the lake and a 20 Qt that is right for 2 of us, in the soft sided coolers.

[huntinslabs]

Coleman Marine with stainless hinges work hard for me. 70 quart only $50.00 at wallymart. I get ice from work around noon on Fridays and still heavy ice on Sunday. Not sure how long it will last total but I bet 5-6 days depending how often its opened.

[Hanr3]

I too like Coleman coolers. My last one lasted 20 years, and when I replaced it I put the old one in my boat as a live-well. Going on my 10year on the new Coleman. I generally camp 1 weekend a month almost every month of the year. Since the kids moved out, that has been cut in half. However it sees more booze than before.

[jdfisherman]

I have an old igloo that the plastic hinges broke on as well . I went to menards and just bought some small metal hinges . They had them in stainless as well. They were a cheap fix and I think they'll out last the cooler! I figured plastic replacements would just break again . I just used short screws to fasten them on just next to the old broken plastic ones. After I had them on , I took them back off and put a little epoxy in the screw holes and a tiny bit on the hinge flaps and then put me back on. Don't know that it was necessary but I had the epoxy and thought it might keep screws from coming loose or pulling out of the plastic. Cooler is working fine now! I'll bet you could find something in metal there that would replace a broken plastic latch as well. Amazing what a guy will do in the garage when he's bored