New Pelican Cooler

[Pat Anderson]

Well, Costco had a good price on the 65 quart Pelican cooler, so we got one to match our (stupendous) ARB 50 quart freezer. The ARB proved out on the Pender Harbour trip, low current draw even holding it at 15 degrees F. A "good price" on a Pelican is still about three times what we have ever paid for a cooler, but this one is really built and just has the thickest foam walls we have seen. The reviews were pretty good, too. So we should be well set for Lake Powell! A couple of big blocks of ice in the Pelican for what needs to stay cool, and keeping frozen food frozen and making ice for sundowners in the ARB!

[Tully-B]

Could you give me a source of information on the ARB 50 that you mentioned in your post? Best Regards, Lee on the "Tully B"

[Pat Anderson]

Lee, if you Google "Pelican coolers' you will get a ton of hits describing them, showing YouTubes of ice retentiion tests, etc. There are other great coolers, expensive and otherwise. Here is one site sellling Pelicans. I just really liked the very thick walls on the Pelican, which means to me more insulation to hold the cold. The Costco price was considerably better than the online price! It is $323 at this site, and was "only" $250 at Costco - still a lot for a cooler. The Coleman Extreme at under $100 also performed very well in some comparison tests. We were just looking for a cooler that will do us as well as possible on Lake Powell for three weeks, and our old Igloo was not cutting it.

[redbaronace]

Fisheries Supply in Seattle has some on clearance right now. Im now sure of the sizes but noticed that the smaller one was over $100 off. There were some larger ones, but I was not paying close attention.

Might be worth a try for Seattle area folks who might be looking for one of these.

[PaulNBriannaLynn]

We have the Pelican 65Q and we love it. Its actually our 2nd one after the first one got stolen last year. They are basically bomb proof and hold ice for days. Getting ice can be really inconveniant sometimes!

I bought a cable lock to secure this thing in the cockpit, because expensive coolers tend to sprout legs and walk off.

[Casey]

Good idea on using the cable lock. We do the same thing to lock our WAECO freezer in the cockpit while trailering.

We don't have a solar panel to keep the battery's up, so I installed two 12V sockets on the cockpit bulkhead of the splash well. Each socket is fused and runs to a separate battery. We plug the WAECO in to one 12V socket and the other socket takes the homemade charging cable. The #10 charging cable runs from the RV plug on the back of the pickup, back to the second 12V socket. I keep the boat's Perko switch on "both" so the charge from the truck charges both batt's as we drive down the highway. And because is runs off the pickups RV-charging circuitry it doesn't drain the truck battery when we're stopped. Works like a charm.

Best,
C&M

[Doryman]

We have a WAECO freezer and our usual practice is to freeze 2 gallon jugs of water in it at any given time and swap them (daily, if necessary) with another 2 gallon jugs in the cooler. That way we don't need an expensive cooler. We use a Coleman Extreme (? -- has an extra-thick lid) with a cushion that snaps on top for an extra seat.

Warren

[AK Angler]

I put three blocks of ice in the bottom of our Pelican cooler. When we get back home, we pull the ice out and throw it back in the freezer to use on the next trip. So far, those three blocks have lasted through three 3-4 day trips. Might have to replace them for the next trip... My only complaint is that the cooler takes up a lot of deck space relative to the space inside. But, it does make a pretty good place to stretch out and relax while soaking bait...

[Pat Anderson]

Lee, Patty here. Pat misread your question. Just Google ARB freezers. Lots of info. We compared reviews & AMP draws for 4 makes & chose the ARB 50 quart. One week long trip & it performed beautifully. Solar panels, too.