Pelican 30 or 50

[Twalt87]

I've decided to go with the Pelican cooler as I've seen lots of reviews of it actually holding ice for 10 days, plus lifetime warranty.

What I can't decide on is the size. Do most of you run a 30 or 50qt? There are only 2 of us. We are planning a trip from Vancouver island to Alaska.

Anyone who has gone with the 30qt. Any regrets?
The 30 qt is about 24" wide and the 50 is about 30".

[KTM_Guy]

Keep in mind those ice test are filling the cooler full with ice and nothing else. And by the 9th or 10th day there might be a few pieces of ice floating around. We use a cooler to keep food and drink cold not to just hold ice. We have a Rtic 45 and it works well but I thought my ice buying days while camping were over seeing the reviews and all the hype. Sure a long weekend trip starting with block ice no problem. On a week long trip to Death Valley we were buying ice every few days but we did use a lot in our drinks and Camelbacks.

My neighbor borrowed my Rtic cooler for a party along with his Yetti and it did just as well as the Yetti. For less than half the price.

Oh, and to your question we have a 45 quart and I would not go any smaller. And if I was doing it again I use skip the cooler and put that money into a 12v refrigerator/freezer.

Have good trip.

Todd

[tony.latham]

I have no experience with the Pelican coolers. We've got a small Yeti that hasn't seen daylight in a couple of years. It's just too big and heavy even for a small cooler.

We used a 48 qt Rubbermaid for years. We were lucky to get three days out of two blocks in hot weather. Recently, we switched over to a Coleman 54 qt Steel cooler.

I would think a 30 qt cooler would only hold two or three days of food. Look at it from that angle.

On our six-week SW trip, we ended up picking up a five-day Coleman 70 quart cooler just to keep extra ice and a few packs of meat. We kept that inside the truck canopy. Running with the "active" cooler in the galley and the backup ice worked great. Really stretched out our town runs.



Tony

[razorback]

I am a fan of Pelican products. I have a 50 quart. In my opinion, Pelican has better handles, better latches, and a garden hose fitting drain. Cheaper than Yeti, though a bit heavier. I have had the 50 quart for about 7 years. If I had to do it over I would get the 30 quart because the 50 is HEAVY when full.
Lots of variables on how long things stay cold. Ambient temp, relative humidity, how cold contents are when put in, did you pre-chill the cooler, how many times a day did you open, did you protect from direct sun, etc etc etc.

[gudmund]

before you buy, check out the new "Lifetime" brand cooler that just showed up at W-M in their camping section this last week or so. It is a 55 qt size with a claimed 7 day ice retention rating. (400 lb "sit" on rating) For the $97 cost so far I have been impressed with it - this company known for their folding camping tables they sell. just a thought.......................

[Twalt87]

Keep in mind those ice test are filling the cooler full with ice and nothing else. And by the 9th or 10th day there might be a few pieces of ice floating around. We use a cooler to keep food and drink cold not to just hold ice. We have a Rtic 45 and it works well but I thought my ice buying days while camping were over seeing the reviews and all the hype. Sure a long weekend trip starting with block ice no problem. On a week long trip to Death Valley we were buying ice every few days but we did use a lot in our drinks and Camelbacks.

My neighbor borrowed my Rtic cooler for a party along with his Yetti and it did just as well as the Yetti. For less than half the price.

Oh, and to your question we have a 45 quart and I would not go any smaller. And if I was doing it again I use skip the cooler and put that money into a 12v refrigerator/freezer.

Have good trip.

Todd

I realize that the 10 days is nothing but ice, but even with just ice my current cooler gets 3 days before water is warm without opening it once.
As for the 12v fridge, won't work. Out of everywhere id be camping, there is maybe 1 or 2 areas with power hook up, and id rather not run a generator all day.

I will go with the 50 over the 30 though. I could also buy a cheap cooler to fill with nothing but ice for in the truck box if i need to.

[tony.latham]

I could also buy a cheap cooler to fill with nothing but ice for in the truck box if i need to.

The one we grabbed for that task was a Coleman Extreme "5-day". Picked it up in a Walmart in Page for about $45. Works great. Saved our bacon. And our chicken.

Tony

[KTM_Guy]

Keep in mind those ice test are filling the cooler full with ice and nothing else. And by the 9th or 10th day there might be a few pieces of ice floating around. We use a cooler to keep food and drink cold not to just hold ice. We have a Rtic 45 and it works well but I thought my ice buying days while camping were over seeing the reviews and all the hype. Sure a long weekend trip starting with block ice no problem. On a week long trip to Death Valley we were buying ice every few days but we did use a lot in our drinks and Camelbacks.

My neighbor borrowed my Rtic cooler for a party along with his Yetti and it did just as well as the Yetti. For less than half the price.

Oh, and to your question we have a 45 quart and I would not go any smaller. And if I was doing it again I use skip the cooler and put that money into a 12v refrigerator/freezer.

Have good trip.

Todd

I realize that the 10 days is nothing but ice, but even with just ice my current cooler gets 3 days before water is warm without opening it once.
As for the 12v fridge, won't work. Out of everywhere id be camping, there is maybe 1 or 2 areas with power hook up, and id rather not run a generator all day.

I will go with the 50 over the 30 though. I could also buy a cheap cooler to fill with nothing but ice for in the truck box if i need to.

No need for a generator with the newer fridge/freezers from ARB, Engel, and Dometic. I learned about them at Overland Expo and was still skeptical. Got talking to a guy that had a ARB in his offload teardrop and he said with his 100AH battery and 50 watt solar panel he never needs any other power source. But he can also charge the battery from the TV when he is moving, so the only time the solar comes out is when he will be at one place for more that 3 days. When he travels with friends he will set his temp to 0 degrees and freezes ice packs that he uses in a Yetti cooler and gives to friends to keep their coolers cold. He said he can keep 0 when it was 115 when in Death Valley.

The down side is the price. So we will probably be using the Rtic for awhile still.

With any cooler you have to be smart how you load it. We will freeze some 1 gallon milk jugs with water and a day before a big trip we put them in the cooler to pre cool it. we freeze as much as we can and we freeze iced tea in 2 liter containers. We don't have to buy ice for 3-4 days into the trip.

Todd