Esky Coolers – Tough, Useful, and Pretty Cool

   01.20.15

Esky Coolers – Tough, Useful, and Pretty Cool

One nice surprise I found while walking the floor at SHOT 2015 was Esky coolers. I’d seen some of the other high-line iceboxes, but this name was new to me. I quickly learned that it’s a young brand, just a year old, and a division of Coleman, which has been selling coolers for a long time now.

The Esky line of coolers are interesting, and have been designed thoughtfully. A cutting board stores inside the lid and nests nicely when placed on top of the lid for use.

The latches are rubber and are catch-free. In other words, the sides of the cooler are flat with no humps or other protrusions for the latches. Nice.

The interior is antimicrobial and includes a basket for suspending some stuff up out of the ice and water. That hearkens back to the good old days when any good icebox came with a plastic tray for the same purpose.

Drain via water hose, or open wide.
Drain via water hose, or open wide. (Photo: Esky)

The drains look impressive. You can open a small drain cap (which is sized to accept a garden hose, if you prefer), or remove the large cap and create one heck of a large, fast-acting drain.

Some folks will love the non-skid feet. I might not since I often slide my coolers in and out of my truck, Ranger, etc. But they might keep Esky coolers from moving around too much in your boat or wherever.

Tough, integrated hinges are another plus, along with the handles that have rugged tie-down points built in. They can be locked to the lid using a long-shank padlock and can even serve as a bottle opener.

Esky coolers look to be very durable and stain-resistant, and they ought to keep ice for a long time. They’re available in white and khaki and are made in USA.

If you’ve been thinking of getting a better cooler, I’d say Esky is well worth a look.

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Editor & Contributing Writer Russ Chastain is a lifelong hunter and shooter who has spent his life learning about hunting, shooting, guns, ammunition, gunsmithing, reloading, and bullet casting. He started toting his own gun in the woods at age nine and he's pursued deer with rifles since 1982, so his hunting knowledge has been growing for more than three and a half decades. His desire and ability to share this knowledge with others has also grown, and Russ has been professionally writing and editing original hunting & shooting content since 1998. Russ Chastain has a passion for sharing accurate, honest, interesting hunting & shooting knowledge and stories with people of all skill levels.

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