RTIC 65 QT Ultra-Tough Hard Cooler, Tan

Why it's worth it

The 65 QT Ultra-Tough is rotomolded, packs up to 2.4 inches of closed-cell foam, and holds 84 cans. RTIC rates it for seven days of cold with proper packing, and it's the right size for a long weekend with a family or a hunting trip where the cooler doubles as a bench.

This is the RTIC that justifies the whole brand. It's rotomolded — the same one-piece construction premium coolers use — with up to 2.4 inches of closed-cell foam and a freezer-style gasket around the lid. GearJunkie's testing put RTIC hard coolers at five to seven days of ice retention in warm weather, within about a day of YETI's Tundra line. Field & Stream's head-to-head found the two brands within a few percentage points on five-day retention.

Sixty-five quarts is the size most people actually need. That's 84 cans, or enough room to run drinks on one side and food on the other for a family weekend. Go smaller and you're rationing space by Saturday. Go bigger and you can't lift it loaded. Outdoor Life's ice retention testing ranked RTIC hard coolers in the top tier of budget-to-mid-range coolers, beating injection-molded competitors like Coleman by two to three days.

From our review of 8 rtic coolers and drinkware

What we like

• +This is the RTIC that justifies the whole brand
• +Sixty-five quarts is the size most people actually need
• +The catch is weight. It's 34.4 pounds empty, and owners are blunt about it — more than one has mentioned being surprised by the…
• +Ice retention depends on how you pack it, not just what you bought

What to know

• –Quality control isn't perfect
• –There's no drain plug convenience story here worth telling, and at 31.6 inches wide it eats a lot of truck bed