Coleman Steel Belted Cooler

[kcscout]

I'm sure there are other threads, but I didn't get very good search results.

Ok simple question is are these worth the money and what if any advantages do you have with a steel belted cooler versus one that is half the price and made from a different material (not plastic) but whatever they call the material that most coolers are made out of ?

The only advantage I see is that one of our scout leaders has one that looks like it has been through war/bombing exercise and when the scouts need to borrow a cooler that works well, and not afraid to get beat up by kids, this is his go to cooler. By comparison I had seen an igloo work site series looking cooler in orange safety tool man colors... it actually looked pretty cool and much less expensive but with the concept of supposedly being more rugged.

What is the flair with the steel belted coolers?

[Mike]

Re: Coleman Steel Belted Cooler

I personally despise the steel coolers. They are heavy, prone to rust and don't keep ice for very long. I'm sure the insulation has improved in recent years but the weight and rust issues remain. As a caveat though, I do spend a good deal of time around saltwater so metal anything is always a candidate to be replaced by something that won't corrode.

I agree with HS. Unless the new versions of the steel coolers are much better than the old, there is no reason to use them except for the nostalgic look.

At least the old versions were not much better at insulating than a plain wooden box.

I think people like them for the look more than the practicality

[ddrinik]

Re: Coleman Steel Belted Cooler

Not that I take glass bottles with me camping, but those look like they ought to have have a bottle opener mounted on them somewhere.

As for your question, I've never used one, new or old.

Dan

[frank6160]

Re: Coleman Steel Belted Cooler

The Coleman extreme coolers work better than the steel belted at a much lower cost. I have one that's 8 years old. It's used camping and hunting season each year. Has held up well. Doesn't always keep ice 5 days but keeps MUCH longer than a standard cooler.

[NYCgrrl]

Re: Coleman Steel Belted Cooler

I think plastic technology has surpassed the need for the steel belted coolers. They do look cool in a nostalgic type manner though.

[Coastie]

Re: Coleman Steel Belted Cooler

I personally despise the steel coolers. They are heavy, prone to rust and don't keep ice for very long.

Maybe newer models, I grew up with a Coke Metal cooler that we took everywhere. No it did not keep ice 7 days or 5, but it was a great 2 Day cooler. Never did rust and kept thing cold long time.