I bought a cabelas polar cap and I couldn't be happier, in fact the only thing I don't absolutely love is that it is a bit bulky with the handles but has yet to be an issue,
I use my Yeti Tundra and Igloo Sportsman coolers together at the same time, and they both keep ice the same amount of time.
I got the RTIC version of the Yeti Roadie, it's been fantastic. And it was $70 less. They sell direct from their site, so places like Amazon will actually have higher prices.
now that this has been resurrected -- if anyone is still looking for a good alternative to a Yeti, check out "lifetime" brand coolers at Wally World -- American made, 55 qt under $100. 20 qt under $80, 65 qt around $130. and it has pelican style cammed latches instead of the rubber T's the others all seem to use.
All of these coolers need more expat stickers and esee stickers. Its time i ran a challenge that rewards with stickers for you poor folks.
Im poor so I went with a free cooler from my old man. Its a 70s steel belted coleman. Ive used it once so far and the ice retention was pretty awful. Tossed a 10lb bag of ice,case of water and juice boxes for kids in it on fathers day and set it in the shade. Got home that evening and the ice was completely melted...I would love a nice rotomolded cooler but its just not in the budget...plus after checking them out in stores they are so bulky (the exterior of a 25qt roto cooler is the same as my 55qt coleman). But I really want that level of ice retention... So, since this one was free I'm gonna drill some holes in the inside along the top and spray foam insulation down into them and possibly mount some sort of latches to hold the lid down tighter... Heres the steel belted one...(my son and I scavenged my house for stickers, stuck them on magnet sheets and cut them out)... Ive also acquired some cheap wheeled igloo coolers that mostly are junk but work for water and pop on the boat or a bbq. Sadly the best cooler I own is this 50 qt coleman. Its about 20 years old but kept ice for 4 days while at the lake (it went back and forth between an air conditioned room and the boat from Thursday to Sunday and was still 50% ice when we got home). I like the handle on this far more than those junky telescoping handles on my other wheeled coolers
I use a gallon jug of frozen water to pre chill the cooler the night before I am going to use it. Get whatever you are putting into it cold before hand. This way your ice doesn’t melt cooling down your items. If you grab a cooler out of a hot garage or attic and fill with room temperature items and then some ice, it will never last.
Like the above post say, pre-chill your cooler before hand and put cold stuff in if you can. Those two things along with good ice will help out a lot. That bulk stuff out of the machines needs to be put in a freezer and frozen, since it is wet coming out. I usually keep 3-4 bags of the bulk stuff in my deep freeze and replace it as needed. Also, no matter what cooler you have, getting in and out of it for drinks will melt the ice a lot faster. I use two coolers if camping, one for food and one for drinks.