Grizzly Cooler Review - 60 Quart

First off: This is not a thread to bash high end expensive coolers, if you don't see a need to spend the money on the high end coolers then that is cool, please don't express your comments here. This is a discussion and review on my experience with the Grizzly rotomolded cooler.

In the beginning of June 2015 I was given the opportunity to review a 60 quart rotomolded cooler manufactured by Grizzly. If you do not know what these rotomolded coolers are about you must have been living under a rock over the past several years. These "extreme" coolers are just another contender to the numerous manufactures making them.

Over the past 2.5 months I have used the cooler for various applications, beach days, boating, canoe trips, off-road adventures, and road trips in general. I must say that compared to my cheaper coleman coolers this one is much much more well build and solid as a rock. I can't even sit on my cheaper coolers without the lids warping and don't get me started on how fast the ice melts in them.

-Keep in mind every day this cooler was "tested" the temperatures were 90+ degrees here in the summer in sunny FL (most cases 95+ degrees)

I will just copy and pasted the description of the cooler from the manufactures website below so you can read the features:



Details
Grizzly 60 Capacity:

The American-made Grizzly 60’s exterior measures 30 1/2 inches wide by 17 1/2 inches deep, and stands 17 1/4 inches high. Inside, the cooler is 23 inches wide by 11 inches deep with a height of 13 1/4 inches. 60 Quart Capacity.

Description:

• RotoTough™ rotationally molded construction
• Environmentally friendly pressure-injected insulation
• Molded-in hinge with stainless steel pin
• 2” drain plug for easy, quick draining
• Full length drain channels for complete draining
• BearClaw™ Latches require no hardware and keep a secure grip
• Non-slip non-marking rubber feet
• Molded-in heavy duty handles
• Rope Handle with nylon sleeved rubber handle
• 2” Tiedown slots
• Embossed ruler on lid
• Rubber Gasket makes a perfect seal
• Includes dry goods tray
• Lifetime Warranty
• Made in USA
• IGBC Bear Resistant Certification 3359*

Off the bat I noticed how heavy these coolers were totally empty when compared to regular coolers I have had or used in the past. Per online this particular one weighs roughly 26 lbs with nothing in it (I honestly thought it was more like 50lbs so I must be very weak) so I knew I needed a way to move it around much easier. I had a fellow local TW member fab me up some wheels that the cooler would just sit down on so I could wheel it around using the built in rope handles on the cooler. There is NO WAY I would have been able to get this thing across soft sand and down to the beach by myself without them.















pics of the measuring stick on the lid


and it fits PERFECTLY under the tonneau cover in the tacomas. This was a big concern with me when looking at high end cooler dimensions as some were too high to close my cover and I didn't want to put it in the back seat or chain it down all the time.





When getting ready to use the cooler I would "pre-cool" the cooler by throwing in my ice tray full of ice the night before. Or I would toss in a few ice packs and frozen water bottles to bring the inside of the cooler to a cold temp to make ice last longer. I also would freeze 6-8 bottles of water to use in the cooler once packed full the next day.



or



Here are several times (of many) that I used the cooler this summer and my experience with ice retention (through photos):

Taking it out on the boat using no ice blocks and packed full of water and beer the ice lasted roughy 4 days with the cooler being opened and closed a lot. It also sat in the back of a hot car for the entire day #2 during the summer.

Day 1


Day 3


Day 4
water was cold but no ice.



After this experience I started freezing water in tupperware (for ice blocks) since ice blocks melt slower than cubes (plus saves more $ than buying ice)


______________________________________________________________________
Later we went on a canoe/camping trip with 2 blocks of ice, the ice out of my freezer tray and no bagged ice and here are the results:

Day 1
(heading out) 2 blocks of ice, about 6-8lbs of ice from the ice tray. If I added more ice in all occasions the results would have been better but I wanted more beer




Day 2




Day 3


Day 4


Day 5


Day 6



______________________________________________________________________
On another trip, I took a several day road trip to South Carolina and back to Florida, spent a day fishing and kept the cooler under my tonneau cover the entire time. I soon realized that the bed of the truck with the tonneau closed is like an oven and bakes at least 15-25 degrees hotter than outside, the ice might have lasted a day or so longer if it weren't under the tonneau but it was long enough for me.

Day 1



After I left with the full cooler I decided to throw in a 10lb bag of ice since I had more room.

Day 2


Day 3
Decided to go fishing so I added an 18 pack of beer and no more ice


A few buddies enjoying



Day 4


Day 5



My overall review and opinion:

Overall I think the Grizzly 60qt is great. I love how "heavy duty" it is and how I can stand/sit on it, fish from it, cut fish, limes etc on it and not worry about anything breaking/warping. The ice retention has been awesome so far but can be shortened significantly when you are opening and closing the cooler a lot, such as tailgating or drinking a lot on the beach (keep in mind this is not a fridge and would be experienced with any cooler). I have yet to use the cooler for food storage but I am sure the ice would last a lot longer if packed full and left closed. The 60 quart is the perfect size if you are a family of four or if you just drink/pack a lot, it is not too big but was big enough for a four person canoe trip for several days and we still brought drinks back. The non skid feet are the real deal! I actually didn't think they would grip so good but they almost grip too good making it hard to slide the cooler in and out from under the tonneau to grab a drink is almost impossible. I learned to just roll the tonneau back pretty quickly since it seemed almost glued to the truck bed (it does not slide around at all while driving). While the cooler is a little more pricey than most want to spend it does have benefits. I feel I will never need to buy another cooler since this thing is such a solid beast. The ice retention is better than my couple of cheaper wally world coolers and they will be hitting the trash soon. Also the lifetime warranty make me feel better about being able to get it fixed/replaced if anything goes wrong. I really like the fact that it not only has rope handles but has the molded in handles too, as this was one of my criteria items while searching for a cooler. Made in the USA was a big factor and I wanted it to actually be a full 60 quart capacity and not under capacity like some advertise. I loved the sea foam green color because it was different and I get asked about it all the time. I did notice that adding the blocked ice mixed with some cubed ice and frozen waters were the way to go in order to maximize ice retention. Having reasonably priced removable dry goods trays were a plus (they are right at $10 as of now) because they have been great at keeping chocolate bars (smores) and other items like lunch meat and such out of the melting ice.


I am sure I might have left something out but this has been my experience this past summer with the Grizzly cooler and it has been a pleasant one thus far. I know their are many many many manufactures of these rotomolded coolers and more come out each day but I strongly give Grizzly my stamp of approval and suggest you at least keep them in mind to compare when/if you are searching for a more reliable cooler.

I probably will be updating this thread along the way with random pictures of the Grizzly's adventures and more reviews as I own it for a long time.

Thanks for reading!

Simon

 

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Thanks man. I tried to document as much as I could but a lot of the times I was having too much fun to take pictures lol

 

Among the quality and other things I wanted to review about how long ice actually would last in real situations and use. Not just when the cooler is closed all day packed full of ice but when it is being used throughout the day. Obviously any cooler that is opened and closed all day will not have a long ice retention span but this did fairly well.

 

Just now emptying the water out of the grizzly.
Can't believe it is still almost ice cold.
This thing has been in the bed of my truck since last Thursday night and it is Wed night

 

MY CHALLENGE:

I'm convinced my crappy Coleman Xtreme 58qt can do better. But I have no scientific evidence and this post is so well documented it is inspiring me to do the same for a sub $50 cooler (aka my crappy Coleman). I'll have to wait a few weeks, have a vacation coming up and still plenty hot enogh to make a comparable documentary. Stay tuned.

I noticed how the lid hinges seem better built, almost like a laptop computer hinge. Didn't get a clear look from the pics but seemed that way to me.

Anyway, I'd say that is the real weakness of the Coleman Xtreme. The lid hinges are tiny and flimsy, I've had to re-screw mine 3-4 times with increasingly larger screws (and I super glue it behind the hinge mounting points.) The other weakness is the handles. I'm afraid to bungie cord the thing into my truck bed for fear of ripping those flimsy handles off. The Grizzly seems to have awesome industrial handles and also mounting holes. Looks like an awesome cooler. The OP pointed out the main detractors:

• Weight
• Cost

For my purposes I'll always go for the light and cheap alternative if I can get comparable performance.

So, we need a side by side test I think. To bad the OP lives on the other side of the country from me or I'd suggest a camp-off! And I'm too cheap to buy a Grizzly just to prove the Coleman is better. Looks like I need to convince the OP to buy a Coleman Xtreme 58qt and pit it against the Grizzly in a side-by-side comparison.

 

Great review, thanks OP.

 

That would be interesting to see. I wish I had that cooler here to do a side by side comparison for real and I would love to if someone wants to send me one or if I could borrow one locally. I however don't think Vancouver gets anywhere near as humid and hot as down here in FL so I think the results would be slightly skewed. We defiantly need a side by side comparison here or there with exactly the same pounds of ice and drinks. Also when doing my "tests" this cooler was getting opened during the day quite often and I see many reviews out their that just throw ice and drinks in them and close the lid for days. To me that isn't "real world" testing of ice retention unless you are packing it for the sole purpose of hold ice or food. Anyway I firmly believe this thing could go several more days if I actually put enough ice in it like I was supposed to but I just wanted to carry more items and knew I would not be away for longer than 5-6 days anyway. You got me thinking about the actual weight of the grizzly cooler and while it is heavy (to me) I never knew its actual weight. I found online that it is 26 lbs empty, which I honestly can say is about half of what I estimated and I am going to update my estimate in the OP. I did find a test someone did against the grizzly 60 and an igloo cooler, and while not an extreme cooler it is better than nothing. This is actually several years old and is Grizzlys old cooler design however.
http://www.race-dezert.com/home/grizzly-coolers-product-review-46010.html

I can get some more pics for you of the hinges. And yes while this is a much more expensive cooler many people forget or don't realize just how durable they are. I sure didn't and that is why I never got one for the past 2 years I have been eyeing them and reading up about them. I know for a fact I have gone through 4 larger coolers and several smaller ones over the past 10 years and while those might not even add up to the cost of one high end cooler just knowing I finally have something this all around strong, durable and with a lifetime warranty makes it have more value in my eyes than just ice retention alone. I can't tell you how many warped lids I have seen or actually done myself from standing or sitting on mine or other folks coolers. I bet I can put the weight of my truck on this one and it won't budge. Which is awesome when I use it as a fishing platform or to stand on in a crowd at festivals and outdoor concerts to get a better view.

Anyway I am getting off topic a bit sorry about that......ship me a Coleman extreme off Amazon and I'll test em up . But we can't just do the ice test only. I wanna stand on it, slam it around a bit to simulate lots of use and abuse. Could take awhile but would be a good little science project. I also would like to get some good thermostats and check internal temps along the way and chart them.

 

I agree, both coolers would need to be put through the same situations on the same trip to totally be accurate.

I'll commit right now to buying the cooler on Amazon and having it shipped to you. It's crazy but your review of your cooler was so good and professional and I really want to see this and you'd be the best person I think to do it. I think it would be really entertaining too. PM me a shipping address and I'll order it right away. Look forward to seeing your review!

 

PM!
Haha as a full disclosure as I mentioned to @mountainwolfpup in my pm this might take me a pretty good while to do as I am back taking classes and working full time so my weekends are being consumed with playing catchup. However in the name of science it will get done! Even when I reviewed the grizzly I used it for a solid 2.5 months gathering pics and testing so hopefully any impatient followers will be ok with that

 

Coleman Xtreme 50qt ordered. Now we just wait ....

 

Oh no did you get the 50 and not the 58 or 60?
We need these things to hold similar amounts or it might mess up our results....

 

That is a great idea too whenever I make it up that way.

 

Doh!!! Good catch. Thanks for pointing that out.

OK, I was able to pull the order, whew. Yes it said 50qt

It's odd though... the 52qt says it holds 82 cans plus ice. The 62qt says it holds 85 cans plus ice. And their exterior dimensions are almost identical. I can't find any information on their actual interior dimensions. Odd.

The Grizzly cooler website has theirs listed:

Inside
Depth
13”
Length
24 3/8”
Width
11 3/4”

Guess I need to go drag out mine and measure it's internal dimensions, I believe it is a 58qt.

Anyway, I'll do some more research. Might even drop by Wallmart with my tape measure in hand and take some interior measurements until I find the most comparable one.

Stay tuned.