When it comes to budget-friendly camping gear, perhaps no name is more respected than Coleman, whose legacy started 125 years ago this year. And its current lineup is stronger than ever, featuring tents, sleeping bags, portable grills, and, of course, ice chests.
Coolers are a crucial piece to your camping loadout but a good unit will likely cost you a few hundred bucks. However, Coleman’s coolers have often been such a ubiquitous site around campgrounds simply for how they’ve balanced price, quality, and ruggedness. And while that ethos isn’t tossed aside with its latest top-shelf Pro Cooler, it now offers a more premium — albeit still highly-affordable — addition to its catalog.
The Coolers
Debuting in Blue Sky and Neptune (a darker blue) colorways, the Pro Cooler is available in 25-, 45-, and 55-quart sizes — all hard-shelled. These join the 9- and 17-quart versions (not in blue). The blue colors have also carried over to the already-existing soft-shelled polyester Pro Coolers, available in 16- and 24-can versions.
Headlining the range, the 55-quart model doesn’t aim to reinvent the wheel, literally. It features oversized rubber wheels on one side, with a telescopic handle for rolling and side handles for carrying. The 45-quart version has a very similar construction, save for the wheels and telescopic handle. Meanwhile, the 25-quart option ditches the side handles for a shoulder strap.
All three coolers come with an oversized draining spout, tie-down straps, and non-sleep feet. A major selling point, however, is the single-handed steel latch for closing. Most hard-shelled coolers feature two latches, which requires, obviously, two hands to operate. But Coleman has made opening their coolers significantly easier.
If you’re curious about the soft-shelled coolers, they’re already an industry favorite for a reason. Above the main zippered compartment, there’s a non-cooler zippered pocket for stashing items you want to bring with you on your outing, such as your wallet or phone. The cold retention isn’t as good as the hard-shelled counterparts, but should still give you up to 35 hours.
Better But Cheaper
A result of over 1,000 hours of real-world testing, including drop tests, the new hard-shelled Pro Coolers feature rotomolded construction boasting 2-inch-thick walls and up to 5 days of ice retention (estimated) for the biggest model. However, they claim to be between up to 30% lighter (depending which model) than other rotomolded coolers of the same capacity.
These are clearly aimed to compete with the higher-end YETIs and RTICs, but with a significantly smaller price tag. Even the press release states that the Pro Coolers are “built to outperform premium brands, at just 60% of the price.”
They’re not wrong. The top-end 55-quart wheeled model is $300 compared to the YETI Tundra Haul at $450. What’s more, the Coleman can fit 92 cans, while Yeti’s holds 82. Only time will tell how Coleman might change the landscape for the future of budget coolers. I’m just glad they didn’t go uber-cheap with these and actually succeeded at making fairly priced ice chests at a high quality.
Spec Sheet
Model: Hard-Shelled Pro Cooler
Sizes: 25Q, 45Q, 55Q
Materials: Rotomolded plastic
Ice Retention (estimated): 3 days (25Q), 4 days (45Q), and 5 days (55Q)
Weight: 11.4lbs (25Q), 19.8lbs (45Q), 33lbs (55Q)
Pricing & Availability
Priced between $160 and $300, the new hard-shelled Pro Coolers are available now from Coleman’s website. Meanwhile, the new blue soft-shelled options start at $60 like before. Best of all, these coolers are backed by Coleman’s 10-year warranty.
Recap
Coleman Pro Coolers
Coleman drops its new Pro Coolers in 25-, 45-, and 55-quart options. Claiming to be up to 30% lighter than the competition, they’re also nearly half the price.
