Customer Reviews

Coleman 6-Day 58 Qt. Ultimate Xtreme Cooler

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This review is for two similar Coleman Xtreme coolers, which are virtually the same size on the exterior: the 70-quart, 5-day, BLUE cooler and the 56-quart, 6-day, GREEN cooler. By the way, these coolers do not come equipped with a plastic shelf to keep food suspended above the melt water.

First, let me say that Coleman made its reputation years ago with its workhorse, white-gas cook stoves and lanterns. Today Coleman mostly makes products for backyard use and casual family camping. Coleman generally does not make quality products for avid outdoors people operating in rugged or demanding conditions, so you can't expect too much when purchasing a Coleman product.

That said, I went through Amazon.com to purchase a Green Coleman 6-day cooler because I didn't want to shell out hundreds of dollars more for a tougher product and because I needed a cooler that would fit comfortably between the gunwales of our canoes. So far, I have used this cooler on two river trips, the first of which lasted seven days in southern Utah during September, 09. The weather was hot, but could have been hotter. Our block ice lasted 6 days, and on the 7th day we had plenty of ice water, so the cooler achieved its 6-day rating.

This was followed with a 4-day trip in October, which wasn't long enough to test the cooling performance of the cooler, but did reveal the cooler's low-quality construction. On the second day out, one of the handles came off when its plastic retaining pin fell out. A member of our party had with them a smaller Coleman Xtreme cooler, and both of its hinges were broken off and useless. So, if you plan to use this cooler much, I would suggest taking the preventive measures described below. And then try to be gentle with it.

A few weeks ago I purchased a 70-quart, 5-day Blue cooler at Wal-Mart for $30. At this price I couldn't pass it up. Apparently the store had a few of these left over from last year, and they were being sold at a deep discount because Wal-Mart is featuring a different Coleman Xtreme product line this year. I haven't used this cooler yet, but I can describe how the two Xtreme coolers compare physically.

NOTE: See my "customer images" available under the main product photo to see what I am describing here.

On the exterior, the two coolers are indistinguishable except for the colors. Same cheap plastic hardware on both. On the interior, the 6-day green cooler has noticeably thicker walls implying more insulation, and thus 20 percent less volume than the blue 5-day cooler.

Here are the fixes I have adopted in an effort to overcome the flimsy hardware issues. When I got home from the second river trip, I used a screwdriver to pry out the plastic retaining pins on the two handles (two pins each) and glued them back into place with Gorilla glue. This I expect will hold the pins in place for a while. On the newer cooler, I removed the plastic handles altogether and replaced them with rope handles. This type of handle has the advantage of remaining in a fixed position (unlike the original sliding plastic handles) allowing me to run a strap between them to secure the lid in case of a canoe upset.

On the interior of each cooler, I have screwed into place a short nylon strap between the lid and the side wall. The strap is long enough to allow the lid to open beyond 90 degrees and remain in an upright and open position, but the strap is short enough to prevent the lid from extending backward far enough to place excessive strain on the hinges. I am hoping this will keep the hinges from snapping anytime soon.

I ordered the cooler for a five day river trip. It held ice six days, despite not protecting it from the sun while we were on the river. We started the trip with two and a half 10 pound blocks of ice. (If you buy cubes, don't expect the ice to last six days). As far as I am concerned, it met the 6 day specification. Our friends has the Coleman Xtreme cooler, which did just about as well, so that would also be a good choice.

Note that it is smaller inside than you would expect from the outside dimensions, due to the thick insulation. The thick insulation is needed to keep things cold for six days.

These coolers have a push-in drain, rather than the screw type available on some models. I ordered two coolers, and one leaked like a sieve - the case was mis-drilled such that the inside drain gasket could never seal. The other only leaked a little bit - still unacceptable. I sent them both back - really appreciate Amazon's return policy.

We always use frozen 16 oz. water bottles to keep our coolers cool because as they thaw, they don't make a watery mess and we can drink the water. This cooler has kept bottles frozen for days in a metal bear box in the sun. It's a great cooler, but the hinges are cheap, thin plastic that break almost every time you use it. You can order new hinges and replace them, but it gets old.

I bought this product through Amazon for a great price in the summer of '09 before we went on a 3 week camping trip. We already have a larger cooler that has lasted us for quite a few years, and although it has thicker walls than the average cooler, it is not quite as thick-walled as the Coleman. The Coleman worked fine for 10 days or so until my wife tried to slide the packed-full cooler to the back of our truck. The weight inside the cooler was too much for the cheap plastic handle and the handle broke right off!
Next time, I'll spend more money and buy something that lasts. I'll be looking for something with much stronger handles. There are certainly better options out there; even the rope style we have on our old cooler are still going strong in a much larger and heavier cooler when packed full of ice and food.

This cooler really works! It kept the contents plus the ice cold while sitting in the back of my pick up truck while temps were hitting 90. I rely on it regularly to transport food to my vacation home four hours away.

I bought this for the Next Hurricane. But I found I needed it immediately to store tea, dips, cokes, etc. for an up-coming party.
I placed two 64-oz plastic jugs of hard ice and two 1/2 quart containers of hard ice in the chest. Then I put in one chilled 2-quart container of tea, two small bowls of chilled dip, and several chilled 8-oz Cokes. This was done by 10 p.m. one evening. By 8 a.m. the next morning, the ice in the containers had thawed by half. By the next day, all ice had thawed to cold water. The chest was in 75 F. ambient temperature, no where near the sun.
Here's what really chapped me. On day three (the day of the party), I raised the lid into the open position and took out the dips to take to the kitchen. I inadvertently left the lid open From the the kitchen, I heard an awful noise. l went into the room where the chest was sitting and discovered the lid had fallen off, a victim of gravity (hey! aren't we all!) and popped out all the hinge screws!!!
So, I don't recommend this product at all.
Jim Averill

Brand new cooler fell out of back of pickup onto asphalt highway going 55 mph. Hit the asphalt and bounced up like a perfectly executed on side kick, spinning end over end until it came crashing back down and tumbled to a stop. Luckily no one was following closely and I backed up and retrieved the cooler, expecting both handles to be broken off. Incredibly, the handles were intact with no damage. There were a few marks on the cooler from the collision with the highway, but it was in like new condition. I used the cooler for 10 days with a wheat harvest crew. I put 1 block of ice and several bags of ice in it every morning. After the third day I decided to see how long a block of ice would last. It was in the 90's every day and a block of ice lasted 4 days before needing replacing. This is the best cooler I have ever owned and I bought a 52 quart Xtreme cooler as soon as I returned home. There may be better coolers available, but they will be priced many times higher than the Coleman Ultimate Extreme cooler.

This cooler keeps things icy cool in 100+ degree heat while my friends coolers held nothing but ice water after 2 days. I have no doubt things would have been cool after 5 days and into the 6th. The handles seem a bit flimsy and it is bulky, but it does its job.

I bought this cooler about 2 months ago and just recently used it. The drain is leaking and leaking bad. I have tried sealing around the drain with caulking and after 3 applications it is still leaking. I am beginning to think the cap might not fit tight enough and I will have to caulk over the drain to get it stopped. I resent buying something and having to work on it from day one. I am satisfied with the way the cooler cools, but Coleman needs to work on this drain problem. I have talked to others and it seems to be a very common problem with a Coleman Cooler.