I picked up a "super cooler". BP had a clearance on the Coleman ESKY coolers. So I "saved" about $120 off of what they normally sell for. That's what I tell myself...
Coleman does make a 5-day Xtreme cooler that is plenty of cooler for almost anyone and they actually do what it says. I have a few of them and I have seen that you can still have ice in them 4-5 days later. They also run about $25 at Wally for the same size cooler that I just bought. Much lighter and portable... I use mines on a regular basis and I highly recommend them.
I got the Esky in hopes that it will server as a portable deep fridge for my hunting trips. These coolers offer 7 days of ice rention and an antimicrobial lining for the blood and guts side of things. The places I hunt are hours away from home and I may be gone for 4 days or so sometimes. The people I will usually encounter probably won't have room or desire for a entire deer carcass to go in their refrigerator or freezer. If I should get a deer the first morning into a 4 day trip I want to know it can reliably be kept cold for a few days. I also factored in that when I do finally get home there is still the chance that it may take me a day or two before I'm able to get the meat freezer ready. So the idea of 6 or 7 days from the time of the kill to the freezer is not really a stretch.
So if anybody ever wonders why spend $300-$400 on a cooler, that would be at least one perspective on it. I consider this type of purchase as an invest for folks who intend to be life-long or "serious" sportsmen. It may seem like overkill but for some fokks it's the right tool for the job.
Good coolers come in handy for all sort of at home prep scenarios. We use are quite a bit and you are looking at about a dollar a day for the ice to keep stuff cold in a good cooler.
