Pelican 45QT Elite Wheeled Cooler

These things are not cheap to be sure, but I wanted something that would hold up for several days at a time without replenishing the ice. This cooler from Pelican definitely handles that request. The skinny: 1) held ice and keep things frosty in 90F+ temps for 4+ days. Temperature in the cooler never rose above 36. We opened it about 4x a day on average but never for very long. We topped off with 1 more 1/2 bag of ice late on day 4 but it could have gone even longer. 2) holds a lot with still room for your ice; we had: 8 small tetra-pak smoothies, 2lbs of carrots, 12 bottles of Mexican coke, 14 cans of beer, some medication, 6 cups of yogurt (individual), qt. sized zip-lock of sliced turkey, 8 pudding cups, & 3 cycling water bottles and two pints of hummus. 3) the wheels are a big help as this cooler is heavy (+/- 40 lbs) even before you load it up. Plan on two people to lift in and out of the vehicle when full. 4) sturdy as can be. Stand on it, sit on it, cut on it, drop it, etc. It will handle it all with only minor nicks 5) the latch system works well and is easy on everyone's fingers The "bad", tho not really bad: 1) weight, see above. The wheels make this manageable though and they roll over grass, gravel and even sand with ease, but plan on two people to lift it once you fill it up. 2) the drain valve on ours leaked at first (not sweating but an actual leak.) However, with some rubber-handled channel locks you can use the handle of your pliers to slot into the notches on the drain plug and give it some extra torque without damaging the plastic cap. This worked fine and never had a leak after that. 3) the pull handle is, to my taste, a little short for long-legged strider, like me; it occasionally clips your leg when pulling it. However, the wheels roll well enough and the handle is sturdy enough, that you can push it instead which I found easier. 4) bulky--this is not small cooler, plan on it taking up a lot of space in your car or back of your SUV--think medium sized pet kennel I recommend this cooler whole heartedly if you take the above factors into account!

Very pleased with the 45 quart unit.

I purchased this 45 qt cooler because it has wheels. It is too heavy for me to lift by myself when fully loaded but is easy to move due to the wheels and sturdy handle. the latches are easy to open. I can attach my garden hose to the cooler and drain water without having to wrestle it from the back of my car. It keeps food and drinks ice cold for at least 4 days. That is the longest continuous period of time I have used it for storage. This cooler is really sturdy and has dropped off the truck tail gate several times with no damage whatever.

Interior size is smaller and exterior is larger but I guess that’s what it takes to keep things cold. Good cooler.

Online reviews seem to never include things people really care about. I don't want to know how much ice is left at day eight. I don't want to know if a bear can open it or not; are you going to interrupt a bear trying to open your cooler because you know it isn't bear safe? What I do care about in my cooler is will the ice last a few days, is it rugged, what are the real internal dimensions (not Yeti's made up 46 cans of beer and some random amount of ice BS), what's the warranty, and for the love of God, please tell me if regular cans, as well as today's common slim cans, can stack and the top still close. Starting with the most important, and why I posted a photo of it; YES, the top will close even with the thing filled with slim line cans stacked two-high around the edge. It may look like it's going to be close, given the cans pop up above the ridge of the base of the cooler, however, the interior of the top is recessed and this puppy will close just fine. No more fussing around with getting ice around the edges, or trying to lean cans inward just to get the stupid top to close; there are no problems here. So, stack it with your White Claws, your Michelob Ultras, etc., you're good to go. Lifetime warranty; nuff said. Pelican has been around a LONG time, I use them for gun cases, they have never let me down on warranty claims. I don't do extended treks into the wilderness with this, so I can't comment on ice longevity beyond the five day mark, but I can tell you it works fine for four or five days no issues at all.

Kinda heavy, bigger on the outside than the inside, but great overall, should last a lifetime. 9 out of 10, do recommend.

405$ for a defective cooler? See pictures my words would not do justice,got it from Amazon ,took it on vacation to Canada,next day got the goodies out to find out they smelled chemical ,upon unpacking we smelled but expected to go away as usual plastic new things,unfortunately it didn't washed it and left with the solution for allmost a full day and we found out it leack too thats when i start to check it closely,lid has a bulge ,gasket little short ,the drain plug is black but cooler is gray so were they connect it leacks ,by the way because of gray color there is no way to check it for insulation smart ass move pelican,now i call amazon with Prime member and under 30 days should be a brease.unfortunatly no return can be maid from Canada and we ask for extension for return until we get back in USA,Amazon says yes no problem,now we got home 22 days later to find out it would be 50$ restocking fee! not good,no exchange -return only,called pelican to find out they can send me a new drain plug and nothing else can be done and that is my experience of buying a expensive cooler.

My husband did his research on coolers. It came down to the Yeti hauler and this one won out. The Pelican has better wheels and sturdy handles to lift it. He loves the latches that when you click them shut you can hear the air squeeze out for a tighter seal. We took it on a 4 day vacation with us - 90 degree heat days. We only had to add ice once just because we added more beverages! Definitely Happy with our choice! As a side note, one day we were looking out our hotel window, saw a family unloading their things - one was a yeti hauler cooler. The Dad and son struggled to carry the cooler due to the straps causing the cooler to swing. It seemed like it was heavy and awkward to carry.

UPDATE 21-May-2021 REVIEW This cooler doesn't fit in any car trunk, so I purchased a Yeti 45 to replace it. I thought I'd do the ice test with both of them to see how they compare. For the huge size of this cooler - it looks like you gain maybe half a day of ice retention. I measured the actual internal capacity of this with water. It can hold about 35-26 liters of water and still have the lid close (but also has a little lift in the lid that would allow a bit of extra dry space over the Yeti). For comparison, the Yeti 45 measured in at exactly 32 liters . New Pros * 10.5 day ice retention seems great, especially in a compact size. * Solid: doubles as a seat, step stool, etc. * My favourite cooler lid closures by far. Cons * Price. * Such a beast, doesn't fit in any car trunk at any time for any reason. Well, at least not a 2004 Civic Sedan or a 2015 Kia Optima! :) THE TEST I wanted to know how long this cooler will keep ice before I did a review, but I didn't want to wait for next summer, so I set up another indoor test. Test conditions: * 23 degrees Celcius for ~12 hours a day and 18-23 degrees Celcius for the other 12. * Lid opened briefly once a day at the same time to check ice level. * Cooler pre-cooled with icepacks for one hour before starting. * Cooler filled to the top with large ice cubes (you know: the kind your grandma/great-grandma made manually in the freezer trays), these cubes are much larger than store bought cubes and will last longer as a result. Test Result: Still had a little ice after 10 days and a couple cubes left in the cold water was all that remained on day 11. So I give this cooler 10.5 days, since usually the coolers have a fair float of ice on the last day. I don't like other tests where they "simulate real world useage" by opening the cooler multiple times a day and digging around in it. I want to know how long a cooler keeps ice, not how long ice takes to melt in a cooler that is open...so I kept opening to a minimum. I know the cooler will keep for a shorter time if I'm opening it and keeping food in it instead of solid ice, but that isn' the point. See pictures for the start of the test and the various milestones (Starting, two days, six days, eight days, and 10 days). ORIGINAL REVIEW We bought this as our drink cooler to supplement our food cooler (an Igloo Yukon 70). I haven't used this for a trip yet, so here are my initial thoughts. I'll try to come back to update after I've used it. If is retention is good, I'll leave this at five stars, otherwise it will drop. Pros - 10 day, should save us money on ice. - Built like a truck, with no visible flaws. - Love the closures; easy one handed use. - Solid molded handles are always nice. - Very straight sides, will avoid more fitting at the top than the bottom. - Big enough to hold two gallons of milk and a number of other drinks with our ice. - Wheels don't expand the footprint of the cooler much. Last cooler with wheels needed 10% more space just for the wheels. Neutral - Wish I could have gotten one without wheels. Cons - As with all coolers of this type, this is heavy. - This cooler is huge! The outside dimensions equals or exceeds my Igloo Yukon 70 liter in but one direction - height. The price you pay for 10 days versus 5. - Handle for dragging on the wheels seems just okay.

Es muy importante preenfriar la hielera para que el hielo dure más tiempo, pero aún así no dura tanto como se anuncia, parece que la tapa no sella completamente hermética. En general estoy satisfecho porque duran más que con una hielera convencional, pero el precio creo que es demasiado alto para el desempeño. creo que en un futuro querría probar una Yeti menos voluminosa

Look like a good quality cooler, the latches are pretty slick, the wheels are pretty big, rugged and seem to move well. However it is missing the pulling handle and there is a gap in the seal at the top. I will try to update after usage. Update: Works amazing and the dealer satisfied my issue.

A very good product.

Great cooler at a great price. Heavy as mentioned by others but thats what makes it rugged and stay cool so worth it for me. As mentioned by others the seal has a big gap in it which is disappointing and I will have to do something about it since it will affect its ability to stay cool. Very happy with everything else.