Pelican cooler

[wincrasher]

I got a Pelican cooler recently. The box says guaranteed to hold ice 7-10 days. Sounds fantastic. I filled it with ice on Sunday and will check in on it Friday night.

Anyone have one of these? How do you like it? Seems extremely durable. Says lifetime warranty.

[Racquetman]

I'm looking for a good ice chest my self, I will be interested to see what kind of performance you get from the pelican.

[mikerueve]

I bought one right after Christmas. Got to use it once for a Super Bowl get together. Put ice in it on Sunday morning and used it that evening. Everyone left and I forgot about it until the next Sunday. Over half the ice was left. They are bulky and HEAVY! But work as advertised.

[doug hodder]

How many pelicans can you fit in it? Doug

[48Rob]

They have good reviews, so it is a good start.

I have to wonder; when they decide on the length it will hold ice, how often do they open it, and what ambient temperatures are they conducting the tests in?
In real world use, it may be opened 10-15 times a day. If they are testing, and only open it after several days for a second to verify there is still ice, then it isn't really giving an accurate idea of how it will work for normal folks that use it like a picnic cooler in hot summer time conditions.

Not trying to say anything bad about them, just wondering.

Rob

[Shadow Catcher]

A we mite expensive http://www.pelican-case.com/coolers.html and how many pelicans you can put in one depends on which size and whether they are eggs, juveniles or adults.

[MtnDon]

I don't have a pelican cooler but we do have almost two handfuls of assorted size Pelican equipment cases. They are super tough cases. The equipment cases seal so well with the lid gasket, that they have a purge system to make sure you can open them with a change in altitude. (Close at high altitude and then try to open at a lower altitude.)

[citylights]

I saw some of those at a sportsmanship warehouse near me. Really nice! Quality construction. Rock solid. I wasn't thrilled with the rubber bungee closers though. Seems to me those would have to be replaced every couple of years.

But the price! The size I wanted was $350. Or I could get a cheap $50 one plus $300 in ice.

If you are way out in the boondocks for a week and can't replace ice, maybe it is worth it. For me, on 3 or 4 day trips, with ice readily available... Not worth it.

[teamredjeep]

I saw some of those at a sportsmanship warehouse near me. Really nice! Quality construction. Rock solid. I wasn't thrilled with the rubber bungee closers though. Seems to me those would have to be replaced every couple of years.

But the price! The size I wanted was $350. Or I could get a cheap $50 one plus $300 in ice.

If you are way out in the boondocks for a week and can't replace ice, maybe it is worth it. For me, on 3 or 4 day trips, with ice readily available... Not worth it.

Rubber bungee closers? I think you might have been looking at a Yeti. Pelicans have a hard plastic latching system.

[razorback]

Rob has the right approach with his questions about frequency of opening and ambient temps.
I have a large pelican purchased in June 2013. If you are opening 8 to 10 times a day with temps in the 90's, you will get between 3 1/2 and four days in my experience.
That is way better than an above average cooler under the same conditions.
In November the same Pelican cooler held ice for 7 days with highs in the 50's with only one or two openings per day.
My reasons for buying a Pelican over a yeti:
1. Yeti has rope handles and bungee type closure. Pelican has molded heavy duty handles and great water tight locking mechanisms.
2. If you lock a Yeti you have to unlock to open. Pelican has two locking ports,for anti-theft purposes, but you can still open without locking, or you can also lock the contents.
3. Yeti drains are not as good. Pelican drains are large and threaded to add a water hose for a long distance drain, away from your immediate area.
4. Both are very expensive, Pelican is about 45.00 cheaper for the size I bought.
5. In my opinion the only advantage to a Yeti over a Pelican is that the Pelican, in my size is 6 lbs heavier.
A local sports outdoor columnist did an extensive comparison of the Yeti and the Pelican and one other. The Yeti held ice for 7 days and 14 hours. The Pelican held ice for 7 days and 1 hour.
Just my humble thoughts and experience.
Larry

[wincrasher]

Our sporting goods store had the Yeti. I didn't like the rubber closers either. So after some research, discovered the Pelican.

Bought on Amazon - got the 45qt model. Glad I didn't go bigger, as it's pretty huge.

The exterior looks like PVC to me. Inside the walls is spray foam. Yes, they are quite pricey. Mine was $250 incl shipping. Lifetime guarantee is what makes it worth it, as well as not having to constantly get ice.

Last year I spent a week at the beach. Each day we bought 4 bags of ice @ $3 a bag - so that was $72 for ice. Funny that the contents of the cooler was not worth $72!

So the payback is not too extreme I think. Usually I don't worry about someone swiping a cooler, but with this one, I may have to take some precautions.

[wincrasher]

Update:

Nothing but cold water when I got home last night (Friday night). So that is 6 days. No telling how long it lasted.
It was between 50-60 in the house while I was gone all week. Nobody was there to open the cooler.

Maybe this wasn't a great test. I dumped the contents of the ice bucket from the freezer and closed it up - probably 4 inches of cubes in the bottom with nothing else. A packed cooler may fare better. Maybe I'll redo my test with some cold beers and see how it does.