Item: "Square Welded Cooler Grey - Embark"
Capacity: 24 cans
Source: Target
Price paid: $60
Lifelong camper here. I’ve always used a full-size, hard-plastic cooler, but when the fam stopped camping with me, I decided to downsize. The soft-sided coolers from Yeti were appealing but way out of my price range. So I took a chance on this one from the local Target store.
I owned it for months before getting a chance to use it. During that time in the house, I did a test: put 8 bottles of frozen water inside and zipped it up. The A/C was off, so house temps ranged from 65 at night to 93 during the day. I opened it after 2 days and found approximately 40-50% of the ice remaining. After another 2 days, I opened it again and found only water.
Last week, I took the cooler on a 9-day trip in the mountains. Again, I chucked in 8 frozen water bottles, then added various beverages and foods. The first 6 days were spent in temps that ranged from 20 at night to 70 during the day. The whole time, the cooler was either in my car or in a bear box. It was opened many times each day for access. I don’t think any refreezing occurred at night.
On day 7, I moved to a lower, warmer elevation and found that my original ice had melted (but the contents were still cold). So I dumped in a bag of cubes and resumed using it. When I got home on day 9, about 25% of the cubes remained.
Overall, I’m pleased. My only complaint is the zipper. When it was new, it was hard to operate, probably because it's waterproof, so I used the silicone lube that came with it, and that made it much easier. On those 20-degree mornings, however, it was really hard to operate -- so much so that I worried the zipper would break.
I plan to lube it up like a condom before I go out again. I’ll report back if the zipper ever gives up the ghost.
Capacity: 24 cans
Source: Target
Price paid: $60
Lifelong camper here. I’ve always used a full-size, hard-plastic cooler, but when the fam stopped camping with me, I decided to downsize. The soft-sided coolers from Yeti were appealing but way out of my price range. So I took a chance on this one from the local Target store.
I owned it for months before getting a chance to use it. During that time in the house, I did a test: put 8 bottles of frozen water inside and zipped it up. The A/C was off, so house temps ranged from 65 at night to 93 during the day. I opened it after 2 days and found approximately 40-50% of the ice remaining. After another 2 days, I opened it again and found only water.
Last week, I took the cooler on a 9-day trip in the mountains. Again, I chucked in 8 frozen water bottles, then added various beverages and foods. The first 6 days were spent in temps that ranged from 20 at night to 70 during the day. The whole time, the cooler was either in my car or in a bear box. It was opened many times each day for access. I don’t think any refreezing occurred at night.
On day 7, I moved to a lower, warmer elevation and found that my original ice had melted (but the contents were still cold). So I dumped in a bag of cubes and resumed using it. When I got home on day 9, about 25% of the cubes remained.
Overall, I’m pleased. My only complaint is the zipper. When it was new, it was hard to operate, probably because it's waterproof, so I used the silicone lube that came with it, and that made it much easier. On those 20-degree mornings, however, it was really hard to operate -- so much so that I worried the zipper would break.
I plan to lube it up like a condom before I go out again. I’ll report back if the zipper ever gives up the ghost.
