Need a cooler for the beach

Wife and I love our RTIC SoftPak 40 for day trips. We meal-prep and throw 4 food trays in there for us and the kids, plus snacks, plus sodas and water. There's still ice in it at the end of the day. It supposedly holds 40 beer cans.
https://www.rticcoolers.com/shop/coolers/softpak/Soft-Pack-40-Grey

The RTIC equivalent to the Yeti 110 is $315 if you need to fit a hog or deer carcass in your day cooler: https://www.rticcoolers.com/shop/coolers/roto-molded/RTIC-110-Tan


Edit: the hard coolers are always awkward for me to carry. I much prefer the softpak for daily use, as it's much easier to just throw a strap over your shoulder if you need to walk to your campsite.

 

Its been said several times, but two 40 qts is your answer. Heres why: Because of your tonneau, youre wanting to go low and wide on cooler shape. That's a big door, with a crap ton of surface area for ice to cover. The more spread out ice gets, the faster it melts. On the inverse, the more cube-shaped your cooler is, the more efficient it is on ice. Get yourself two cubes rather than one rectangle, if you dont want to be refilling ice every two days.

 

I think the OPs objective it to find one that FITS under a tonneau cover..

 

FTR, my Yeti was "donated" (somebody left it at my house), so I didn't incur that expense, but I will vouch for it's quality. I would never personally pay that much for a cooler though....just sayin'

 

Orion Coolers or Icehole Coolers have worked great for us. 100% Made in the USA

 

Pelican coolers. They are injection molded which Pelican has been doing for ages with their cases, so they know how to do it. Benefits over roto-molded is way tighter tolerances which equals better fit between parts like lid and base which equals less air loss which equals better performance.

 

I'm fairly sure the Orion will fit also. It's about the same height as the Yeti.

 

The Ozark Trail roto-molded coolers at WalMart are no Yetis but they are quite affordable.

Block ice instead of cubes is the way to go.

 

RTIC is having a father's day sale right now.

I bought a hardshelled 65 and a softshell 30 this past winter on sale, and the 65 will fit under the tonneau. I'm using the 65 for the first time in earnest this week (I used the 30 a few months ago for a day trip and it worked great... the ice packs stayed frozen through the day, although I only opened it for lunch and it was probably 40-50 degrees outside.

 

Agreed, but a handful of times is very different than 20+. The beach is most likely going to be windy also, so there would be a total air exchange each time.

That is one thing that I like about my soft side, just open the zipper enough to drop a hand in to grab what I need. It does not keep ice for more than 2days, but that works for me and what I use it for.

 

I've had this cooler for 4 or 5 years now. Haven't tried to fit it in the back of the Taco yet but it did fit in my F150. I'll check tonight. I have the factory rubber mat and a lomax cover.

It's a pretty nice cooler and reasonably priced.

https://www.samsclub.com/sams/igloo-55-qt-sportsman-cooler-tan/prod16330005.ip

 

+1 for the Canyon, it might be too tall for your application but I love my 75qt Canyon

 

RTIC is the way to go. Have a Yeti 50 that I got in a multi-item trade a while back and it works good. Also have a RTIC 145 I bought in the after-Christmas sale for less than $300! It holds ice just as good as the Yeti and you can't beat the deals when they are on sale. Also have a RTIC 40 soft cooler that works dang good and is a whole lot easier to move around.

 

Very true. Like you said, even wheels would suck for that.

It is nice that we can drive on the ocean beaches here, but no fires or camping. There are a couple state parks that are close enough that you can at least hear the surf.

 

http://www.fourwheeler.com/product-reviews/1512-the-ultimate-high-end-cooler-shootout/
https://expeditionportal.com/the-big-chill-overland-journals-cooler-test/
https://expeditionportal.com/head-to-head-refrigerator-or-cooler/

 

My biggest complaint with the Yeti/Rtic coolers is the weight of them. They're heavy and not portable at all. I have 1 20qt Yet, 1 20qt RTIC, and 1 45qt RTIC. They are good at what they do, but if you have to carry them any distance, they suck.

I just bought my own Father's Day gift and picked up a 45qt ROVR (https://rovrproducts.com). I've only used it once so far and that was to wheel it over to a neighbor's end of the school year party. Wheels perfectly and am now scratching my head why the other cooler companies never used pneumatic tires.


And...NO this was not a paid advertisement.

 

www.maluna.com

 

I use an RTIC all week for work. I fill it with ice on a Sunday and it bakes in the sun all week and keeps drinks cold all the way to Friday.

 

Fits nicely under your cover, RTIC 45?

 

I have two Coleman cube wheeled coolers. I like having two instead of one huge one. One holds foods that *have to* stay cold, one is for *would be nice* to stay cold and are much more frequently accessed. All the stay cold technology built into the newer cooler is great, but just keeping the damn thing shut and in the shade works wonders.