Pelican Products Progear Elite Cooler, 45 Quart

I purchased this cooler to hold water and sodas on the sales floor at work. I was looking for something that would hold up, reduce the need to buy ice everyday, and keep things as cold as possible.Overall this thing is a tank! I feel like you could drop this off the back of a truck going 45 miles an hour and it would not open. No, I did not test that but that is what it seems like it could do. The clasps that keep the lid shut are really nice! I enjoy that they are locking and not just a rubber strap that keeps it closed. One small problem I have with the durability is that the piece of plastic that is hold the screw cap to the drain already seems to be a bit worn and is discolored at the bend already. Seems like a small deal but when you fork out some good cash on something you don't want to see wear that quick. One awesome feature of this cooler that I love is that the threads of the drain are the same as a garden hose so that you can clean the chest or run the ice cold water into cups with a small length of hose with a valve. (that's the camper in me not the sales floor)As for the keeping things cold and the reduction of buying ice everyday this thing is a WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER. I tested this wonderful ice chest twice on my indoor sales floor using two methods. To give some back ground, I was using a cheap ice chest from a big box store and would have to buy ice everyday to keep things cold over 5 days. Now all I need is a grand total of 2 bags instead of 6 (includes the sacrifice bag of ice). This is used on an indoor sales floor with Multiple opens of the chest an hour so ice keeps for 4 days while on the 5th day its more of a slush but all drinks are slush on the inside also. I tried both a sacrifice method and rush method. The sacrifice method kept things ice cold for 7 days and the rush method 5 days. The chill factor will last longer if you don't have multiple opens an hour.So how to make this bad boy work. After a ton of research I found the simplest way to keep things cold over a long period of time. Use a sacrifice bag of ice. What this means is the day before add ice to the chest so that it will cool the insulation layers down and provide less work for the rest of the ice to cool down the contents. So, I found that using a 10 lbs bag of ice over night will sufficiently cool down the ice chest while still leaving room to add the drinks on top. Another major tip is to pre chilling the items in the refrigerator before you put them in the chest so that there is little heat transfer to the ice thus reducing melting. Also, Do Not Drain the Water. Water is a great insulator so keep it in the chest.

This is solid, cool and beautiful. I love it.

I havent used it much just because I havent had time. I was inspired to get it when my brother got an engel. I didnt have room for 65 quart and they only had 25qt coolers than were too small. I looked around and fojnd this. It is actually closer to 50qts were most brands are optimistic on the actual size. The latches feel sturdy. It is very well thought out product. It has steel plate to padlock. The plastic of engel and yeti can be hack sawed in seconds. The bottom is lined with soda can sized circles to help hold them inplace should you decide to organize your drinks and not just dump them in. There are angled channels between the can holders. They angle down toward the drain that has a garden hose threat. This makes it so you can drain the melt without pickup and distupting the contents of the cooler. Another impressive feature is the rubber feet. Place cooler so you open it from the side of the truck or plan on climbing in the bed. The feet stick well. You aren't going to just slide around. The handles are feel solid maybe not as ergonomic as the rope system yeti and engel use but it you are usibg yhem to ty down with it fixes may be better.As for why you are looking for a cooler in the first place. It has a true 2in insulation on every side top and bottom included. I put a case of room temp bottle water and 1 10lb back of ice in it. Around 9am. It sat in the sun all day saturday and it was a usual oklahoma july 103. I opened it several times through out the day to get water. I took the cooler inside my house that evenjng. Monday morning the bottled waters were still below room temp. Probably in the mid to upper 50's. Far from cold but still chilled.

This is a great cooler if you aren't loading in and out a couple of times a day. We went 10 days with only adding a bit of leftover ice (approx 2lb), opening and closing several times per day, 80* day and 60* night. No pre-cooling, the unit started at about 85* internal and external temp. We were down to water only, but very, very cold water and contents.I'm not going to argue about other coolers (Yeti, etc.). This cooler is built like every other bomb-proof product you would expect from Pelican. I looked at the number of times we've made ice runs from remote areas, when we really didn't need anything else, compared it to the initial cost of this unit, and it's a no brainer. Bottom line, It's worth the money. Worth every penny. I paid 250, amz has it for 188 right now. Buy it, you won't regret it.Pros: well insulated; bomb-proof; quality build; tie down points that don't interfere with the lidCons: bulky; heavy

The product is as advertised. Large for the capacity of cooler area.A little on the heavy side, plan on stationary use.High quality product.The retailer was prompt with delivery.Overall, a good purchasing experience.