****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
We were camping over the last few days and it had been over 100° with the cooler sitting in the sun for the first half of the day. They were gone three days and I’ve been back two days before I realize that the meat we didn’t use was still left in the cooler. I ran out to our shaded porch and open the cooler the meet was still cold and the bag of ice at the bottom looked like a new bag of ice!Worth the investment!From day one it leaks from the drain plug. Replaced the rubber o-ring and still leaked but pelican sent me a replacement drain free of charge and fixed problem.great cooler just my drain plug starter leaking a lilttle put some silicon & fixed itI admit it, I have a deep love for Pelican products. I was disappointed to read about some of the coolers leaking from the drain. I was looking for a cooler that was between 50-60 quarts, was considering the Orca, Cabelas Polar Cap and this Pelican Elite. After reading hundreds of reviews, I thought I had decided on the Cabelas Polar Cap. I went to a local Cabelas and looked at the cooler. They were very nice, rugged coolers, but seemed REALLY large (exterior dimensions) for the quart capacity of the cooler, so I went back home and did some more reading. The taper of the walls (Top is wider than the bottom) is huge on the Cabelas….so much so, that the 50 quart Pelican Elite is smaller than the 40 quart Cabelas Polar Cap. The 60 quart Pelican Elite is only slightly larger than the Cabelas Polar Cap 40 quart. Both have the standard 2" insulation, just the taper on the Cabelas cooler makes it take up a huge amount of space. Now to be fair, the Pelican Cooler is slightly taller, I think under an inch, but that didn't affect me. I was only concerned about the overall footprint side to side and front to back. So I ended up going with the Pelican and I'm glad I did. First a note, I did not compare it to any other of the high end coolers. There are hundreds of cooler tests on YouTube if you'd like to see that. I did however take it out on my boat for 8 hours in direct sunlight with ambient temperatures around 90. I had 20 pounds of crushed ice in it as well as a bunch of pre chilled water bottles, soda and stuff to make sandwiches. The cooler was probably opened at least 30 times over the course of the day. When we got home that night I was surprised to find that there was very little water in the bottom of the cooler. I bet around 90% of the ice was still ice. My other cheap Coleman cooler would have been down to less than 25% ice and would have been full of water by the end of this same day (That's what I've been using for years) This cooler is nothing short of amazing. To further test the cooler, without adding any more ice I kept it inside my house (about 75 degrees) and monitored the ice a few times a day. The ice in the cooler didn't turn to ice soup for an additional 3 days (where there is more water than ice and it is like a big cup of ice water.) And, no, the cooler didn't leak a drop. Based on reviews, it looks like some people had problems with leaks around the drain, but I did not. The Pelican name and their warranty made me feel comfortable buying it knowing full well that if I did have any problems, they would stand behind their product. I have been an avid user of Pelican products and have only used their warranty once, but was a great experience and they have earned my business.Another thing that I REALLY like about this cooler that no other coolers seem to have, is the latches. I don't like the rubber latches, and I don't understand how anyone really does. When they get cold they are very stiff and difficult to use. A friend of mine has a Yeti and my wife cannot open the cooler when it is cold outside (like below 40ish) The latches on the Pelican Elite have a lock button and then fold out to release, very simple one handed operation.In all, this is a fantastic cooler that you should strongly consider.I used it from the beach to hunting camp great coolerWay overrated. Save your moneyKeeps ice up to 7 days great coolerKeeps ice for days. We put a bag of ice in it and came back the next day to see the progress of melting. The I e was almost the way we put it in. Had a little water in the bottom but ice was still solid.This is a great cooler, better performance than a Yeti and cheaper. I also have a Yeti which is smaller on the inside but also the outside. This is a true 50qt interior capacity, so the outside is considerably larger than a Yeti. Pelican just barely fit in my truck under the tonneau cover.If you can fit this in your space it's the best value for capacity and ice retention.So far I'm just in the testing phase, 3 bags of ice (which is not much at all in this cooler) has lasted 4 days now. About 50% water at this point. Cooler was opened to get beer a fair few times. There was a slight leak at the drain plug but once I really put some torque on the plug it seems to have stopped. Love the solid construction on this thing. Sat on it for a few hours on the weekend. Handles are great for carrying it around, it is definitely heavy once loaded so be prepared to team carry it.First thing, this is a heavy and purpose-built cooler. Awesome look, latches feel solid and secure. To anyone reading this you need to understand one thing: these high end coolers work great but they don’t work miracles. I started with about 35 room temp beer cans and about 25lbs of ice. The ice held rock solid for 2 days then slowly deteriorated until the 5th day when I had cold water. Bear in mind, I replenished the cooler with more room temp cans which would have contributed to the ice degrading. I’ll suggest that if you tempered the cooler with ice packs and used pre-chilled cans then obviously it will hold longer. Overall an awesome buy and certainly a conversation piece.Had this product for about 2 months and have been very pleased. We were able to keep ice for 6 days while camping this summer. Sure it will last a lifetime!I've had it now onto camping trips 143 days the second one for four days. Both times I've still had my blocks and cubes of ice by the end of it. It has saved my trips to the trailer when my fridge cut out on me.
