We purchased four bags of ice – two for each cooler – and got started. The Ozark Trail held ice one day longer than the Coleman and in general, the cooler felt cooler inside than the Coleman. Unfortunately, the deal breaker is that it intermittently leaked water from the drain spout. The majority of coolers on the market claim to hold ice for an extended period of time. Temperature, how many times the cooler is opened, whether or not the cooler was pre-cooled, the type of ice being used, the type of insulation in the cooler, ect. If you’re on the fence about spending the money, consider how long you will be gone and what it would cost to add ice to your cooler everyday. For us, while a YETI required a larger initial investment, we will save money (and use less water) over time. Many companies and sporting stores make or sell rotomolded coolers. If you are interested in purchasing one, considering waiting for a sale, like the REI 20% off member sale. It’s definitely heavier than its more expensive friends on the market. Whether or not these fit and finish issues haunt you almost seems like luck of the draw. To achieve these asking prices, some shortcuts in manufacturing and quality were necessary. We offer Standard Shipping (3-8 days) and Express shipping (2 days). The Ozark Trail cooler is made from polyethylene, which is the most common kind of plastic in use today. So, I have to say that I was really surprised with how this test turned out. You can see from the images below that there was consistent ice melt, however two of the three were better performing. Fishing is an excellent way to spend an afternoon in the Buffalo National River Park, where trout can be found in the cold waters. Try Ozark Mountain Cabins for a rustic, intimate retreat perfect for a family getaway. There are still storms that will impact the country over this period. A storm moving into the Southwest right now will slowly move out over the coming days. As it spins away in the Southwest, it will sling waves of clouds our way. We have a hunch this is because their testing was performed under more optimal conditions. Sure, if we were to fill the cooler up to the brim with nothing but ice, never open it, and leave it in a cool/dark area, the ice life would go way up. Here the ice retention is pretty impressive if Ozark’s own numbers are to be believed. The smallest hard-sided cooler is supposed to last 4.5 days, the 52-quart one is supposed to last 7 days, and the largest one is supposed to last 9 days. We have the hard coolers under the Ozark Trail high-performance line of coolers, then we have the 36-can Jumbo soft cooler, and finally the backpack cooler for the more mobile among us. Ozark Trail coolers have similar features to the Yeti Hopper Flip coolers with thick insulation, a waterproof zipper and shoulder strap. If you ever experience a product defect, we'll repair or replace your cooler for free. Depending on what you’re using the cooler for, the leaky drain spout might not be a big deal. For us, however, we keep our cooler in our car while traveling and we often camp in bear country. I don’t want any cooler water intermittently leaking and leaving food smells. The other downside to the Ozark Trail cooler is that it weighs 31 pounds empty. There’s a tick on that little detail on Ozark’s part because their coolers are, in fact, rotomolded. Ozark Trail decided to pass up the opportunity to create a simple cooler for the medium price range to the lower price range. The only group that isn’t served here is the group of people looking for coolers over 100 quarts in capacity. However, that kind of handle won’t work for the larger coolers, so they utilize side handles made of rope for those ones.