Coleman PolyLite coolers, expectations?

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Coleman PolyLite coolers, expectations?

Postby JaggedEdges » Wed Mar 01, 2017 1:00 pm

Hi folks

Grabbed me a "new" cooler from a thrift for $7 Canadian, Coleman PolyLite 40, amusingly when googling for info I see "Vintage polylite 40 cooler" for sale in a few classifieds, $15 up... then I dig for ads in old magazines on google books and whaddaya know, yeah, made in the 70s and 80s so guess it is a bit vintage now. Funny though, you don't expect plastic things to be more than a few years old.

Anyhooooooooooooo.... was trying to get some idea of what performance expectations should be, is this a picnic cooler, a weekender, or might go longer? Made some while before they started doing separate ranges of products for those functions..... and dang, ain't regular coolers some kinda pricy now, c'mon, it's 2 totes with some foam sammiched between.... Well back in the day they weren't too cheap either, think we had a cheap spell late 90s to 2010 or something.

Well whatever's going on there, seem to have done alright for "any" cooler new or old usable at that price. Only a few scuffs on the outside, inside nice and clean. Nice size, not too huge. Might make it it's own little jacket of reflectix or something similar, just to get that little extra out of it.

So anyone had one? They sound popular.


Mine's cleaner, but it looks like this....

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Re: Coleman PolyLite coolers, expectations?

Postby KCStudly » Thu Mar 02, 2017 9:32 am

So the big difference I see in the modern high end coolers is the lid seal and amount of insulation, both in the tub and the lid.

Coolers like the one you bought probably don't have a sealing gasket around the lid and may not even have any foam in the lid. I have a cooler similar to that and it only holds ice for a couple of days, at best. YMMV.
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Re: Coleman PolyLite coolers, expectations?

Postby GuitarPhotog » Thu Mar 02, 2017 12:22 pm

You can improve that 2-day cooler by making a "cooler cozy" for it. I made mine from Reflectrix insulation taped together with a sewn fabric cover over. Makes a 2-day cooler into a 3-day cooler. But Coleman's Extreme coolers are much better, especially with a cozy.

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Re: Coleman PolyLite coolers, expectations?

Postby dancam » Thu Mar 02, 2017 2:40 pm

My parents have had that exact cooler as long as ive been alive, lol. Good and durable cooler. I would say 3 days.

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