2018 cooler showdown!

Travis Bertrand

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It’s that time of the year again and we are testing 8 coolers in the 45-55qt range. This years lineup includes-
Orion
Canyon
Yeti
Cordova
Camp chef
Siberian
Kenai (grizzly)
Coleman

***Update 8/20/18*** If you're impatient like most of us, you can see the complete test here: 2018 Rokslide Cooler Showdown

Today is the start of day 3 and if you follow rokslides YouTube channel, I’ll be posting updates there as well.

It’s a perfect week for testing these as everyday the temp is flirting with the triple digits.

Before you say” you should have included xxx brand” just know the chances are I contacted them and they didn’t want to play.

I’m on shift yesterday and today so my wife has taken over the duties of checking them.

I started off with precooling them for two days by putting a 20lb bag of ice in each cooler and filled it to the top with water. I then dumped them out and filled them to the brim with ice and left them on a southern aspect to let them soak up the sun!

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Here is a link to the initial YouTube video.

2018 cooler showdown day1! - YouTube
 
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Jskaanland

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I almost pulled the trigger on a Canyon the other day, after last year. I'm gonna hold off till the end of this one. Any major changes from this year to last(in cooler designs)?

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Travis Bertrand

Travis Bertrand

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I almost pulled the trigger on a Canyon the other day, after last year. I'm gonna hold off till the end of this one. Any major changes from this year to last(in cooler designs)?

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No not really other than a few new players with some cool designs.
 

CX5Ranch

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Watching. Looks like a cool unbiased approach.

I would like to see a price vs performance if you can. I am sure you already were going to do that. Thanks for posting.

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This should be interesting. I have an Orion 65 and that thing goes with me on just about all of my outdoor shenanigans.
 
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Travis Bertrand

Travis Bertrand

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Who's all new this year?

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Siberian has a new cooler this year , great features and comes with a few accessories.

Cordova is a new company and they really thought out problems of having an ice chest in general. More on that later.

Camp chef entered the high end cooler business and their product is as beefy as their other products. It’s going to do well.

Kenai is new well sorta. It is a new line from grizzly. I’m a little confused by the hierarchy though. Not sure if it is a sub company from kenai or a new line... great product though.

By popular request, I threw in a Coleman extreme as well! It has wheels which is pretty cool;) seriously I do like that feature.
 
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Travis Bertrand

Travis Bertrand

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Watching. Looks like a cool unbiased approach.

I would like to see a price vs performance if you can. I am sure you already were going to do that. Thanks for posting.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

I am working on a chart to compare all of the coolers! Thanks for watching/reading!
 

CX5Ranch

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One thing I do all year long is freeze ice at home. I use milk jugs mostly. But I also stack at least 1 cooler full of square blocks. I make the with little square rubbermaid containers. Fill with water and freeze.

When frozen run a little warm water on the bottom of the plastic and the ice square will pop right out. Then just take the ice square and stack it in the freezer and refill the container with water. I have what I consider to be a good cooler. It is the igloo that looks just like the yeti. Literally, in shade, it will hold ice for 2 weeks. When you tag out you have ice at the truck.

Just thought this may help someone. There is always a question about where, how, when, to get ice.

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I can't wait for the Christmas light showdown! Looks like you are prepping for that one as well... j/k Thanks for doing this test. It is always good to see how the competition stacks up.
 

303TrophyHusband

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I was honestly hoping that Coleman would stack up a little better. So far looks to be pretty close between several of them. How close are they all on price point? I know Yeti lowered some of their prices but did it put them in a competitive price point with the others?
 
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Travis Bertrand

Travis Bertrand

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I was honestly hoping that Coleman would stack up a little better. So far looks to be pretty close between several of them. How close are they all on price point? I know Yeti lowered some of their prices but did it put them in a competitive price point with the others?

I will have a great chart comparing all of that soon amigo!
 
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