Pelican 50 Quart Elite Cooler

I admit it, I have a deep love for Pelican products. I was disappointed to read about some of the coolers leaking from the drain. I was looking for a cooler that was between 50-60 quarts, was considering the Orca, Cabelas Polar Cap and this Pelican Elite. After reading hundreds of reviews, I thought I had decided on the Cabelas Polar Cap. I went to a local Cabelas and looked at the cooler. They were very nice, rugged coolers, but seemed REALLY large (exterior dimensions) for the quart capacity of the cooler, so I went back home and did some more reading. The taper of the walls (Top is wider than the bottom) is huge on the Cabelas….so much so, that the 50 quart Pelican Elite is smaller than the 40 quart Cabelas Polar Cap. The 60 quart Pelican Elite is only slightly larger than the Cabelas Polar Cap 40 quart. Both have the standard 2" insulation, just the taper on the Cabelas cooler makes it take up a huge amount of space. Now to be fair, the Pelican Cooler is slightly taller, I think under an inch, but that didn't affect me. I was only concerned about the overall footprint side to side and front to back. So I ended up going with the Pelican and I'm glad I did. First a note, I did not compare it to any other of the high end coolers. There are hundreds of cooler tests on YouTube if you'd like to see that. I did however take it out on my boat for 8 hours in direct sunlight with ambient temperatures around 90. I had 20 pounds of crushed ice in it as well as a bunch of pre chilled water bottles, soda and stuff to make sandwiches. The cooler was probably opened at least 30 times over the course of the day. When we got home that night I was surprised to find that there was very little water in the bottom of the cooler. I bet around 90% of the ice was still ice. My other cheap Coleman cooler would have been down to less than 25% ice and would have been full of water by the end of this same day (That's what I've been using for years) This cooler is nothing short of amazing. To further test the cooler, without adding any more ice I kept it inside my house (about 75 degrees) and monitored the ice a few times a day. The ice in the cooler didn't turn to ice soup for an additional 3 days (where there is more water than ice and it is like a big cup of ice water.) And, no, the cooler didn't leak a drop. Based on reviews, it looks like some people had problems with leaks around the drain, but I did not. The Pelican name and their warranty made me feel comfortable buying it knowing full well that if I did have any problems, they would stand behind their product. I have been an avid user of Pelican products and have only used their warranty once, but was a great experience and they have earned my business.Another thing that I REALLY like about this cooler that no other coolers seem to have, is the latches. I don't like the rubber latches, and I don't understand how anyone really does. When they get cold they are very stiff and difficult to use. A friend of mine has a Yeti and my wife cannot open the cooler when it is cold outside (like below 40ish) The latches on the Pelican Elite have a lock button and then fold out to release, very simple one handed operation.In all, this is a fantastic cooler that you should strongly consider.

Long story short, I got this 50qt Pelican recently and decided to do my own "test" (read: drink cold beer). I filled the cooler with 24 long neck bottles that had been chilled, as well as a half case of water and a half case of soda (48 drinks in all), and only one 16lb bag of ice.The cooler was left out in the yard, 24-7, in full sun during the days with temps averaging high of 70 and low of 40. It was opened a ton and we drank a lot of those beers! Ice was clinging to the bottles after 3 days, and the cooler held ice for a total of 5.5 days. The water inside was still a very cold 44 degrees after 7 days.Long story short: This cooler is awesome. I'll do an edit later this summer after I use it in higher/hotter temperatures.

This ice chest is amazing and solid! Quality investment!

We watched a YouTube video regarding a test for the best quality cooler. The experiment was conducted in Florida and very well done. Pelican was one of the two top performing coolers. We went with Pelican because size for size (50 quart) they were very comparable to another top brand (Orca) in performance, but they were $100 less expensive. We absolutley LOVE our Pelican 50 quart coolers. We purchased two, loved them so much, we purchased another. The quality is unbeatable. They are extremely well made with high quality materials. Pelicans are very durable and attractive. I took mine to girls camp during 115 degree weather and it kept my food cold for almost 3 days. Initially I was a little disappointed; however, everyone else around me was going through bags of ice daily in other coolers (from a variety of manufacturers). I put a couple medium bags of ice in my Pelican on the afternoon of the third day and it easily lasted until the end of the week. (Other coolers were out of ice within 24 hours). My Pelican out performed all other coolers at the camp including the overrated Yeti, which my Pelican put to shame. I HIGHLY recommend Pelican coolers! Just FYI, the higher end coolers all have smaller interiors than the cheaper coolers because of their thick insulated walls.

Well-made sturdy product. Only negative, no wheels, so need two people to carry when loaded.

This cooler does what it is advertised to do - keep items safely cold during transport. But be aware that it is weighty even when empty and is larger than lesser competitors. The 50 quart Coleman cooler this Pelican replaced was 22.6x 17.6 x 17.7. In contrast the Pelican is 30 x 20.3 x 20.4. The Coleman weighs 12.7 lbs whereas the Pelican weighs 32 pounds. Note I'm not complaining because I understand more bulk and weight enables the Pelican to perform much better. But understand that you may need two people to lift a fully packed 50 quart Pelican whereas one person might more muscle a 50 quart Coleman (or maybe you all put in a lot more time at the gym than I do) LOL

Took it to camp for 4 days (not hot weather, low 80s one day max), without any issue, open it many times a day for cooking (I had two 5 lbs Pelican ice & 10-15 lbs extra ice with full load of drinks and fresh food), I actually started putting ice into it the day before camping; the trip was 3 hrs+, leave from Vegas, high 90sI did add another 10 lbs of ice on the 2 days in camp to make sure it will keep cool, ice started to melt since we opened it very often, and the hot drive doesn't help; but I will say 60-70% of the ice were still there when we leave camp, tried to drain the water to save some weight, but not much came outLeft it in the garage after returned, all the ice melted when I check on the 8th day (water still cool, not cold), the garage is over 100 degrees during the daySo, it is expensive, but it will keep you stuff cold, it is heavy and bulky, you lose maybe 20-30% capacity compare to those thinner wall cooler with the same size; if you don't work out, don't get any size bigger than this, it will be very heavy since your will need 10-20 lbs of ice

Good quality

Très bonne achat , après 3 jours avec 2 cubes de dépanneur et a peine une tasse d'eau de vidé. Même s'il est au soleil.

This is a great cooler, better performance than a Yeti and cheaper. I also have a Yeti which is smaller on the inside but also the outside. This is a true 50qt interior capacity, so the outside is considerably larger than a Yeti. Pelican just barely fit in my truck under the tonneau cover.If you can fit this in your space it's the best value for capacity and ice retention.

Very well made.

This is my second pelican cooler. Haven't had any issues yet. These coolers are good for hunting/fishing or any activity where they will see rugged use. Definately overkill if you are just going for a picnic in the park. They are on the heavy side for a cooler so if you are a princess and won't be able to lift it buy a yeti

Great quality cooler with awesome ice keeping ability but in my view it is by design unecessarily bulky and heavy. Will probably last forever though!